Nebraska Welcomes Hawkeyes in First Home Dual

The No. 14 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team opens the doors of the <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>BobDevaneySportsCenter to the No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes this Sunday, Feb. 12 for NU’s first home meet of 2006.  Tickets for the 2 p.m. event are available at the door and are free for UNL students with a valid University I.D.  Admission for adult non-students is $4.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The dual takes place following a bye week for both schools as gymnasts from around the nation took a break from NCAA action to compete as individuals at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nev., last weekend.

 

The match between the Huskers and the Hawkeyes marks the first dual for Nebraska this season.  The Huskers took part in the Rocky Mountain Open and Stanford Open in January before beginning a grueling regular-season dual schedule that includes such top teams as Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

 

Sunday’s dual will be the first opportunity for fan’s to see the 2006 Nebraska squad, which includes seven Nebraska natives, four of whom are from Lincoln.  In addition, the meet marks the homecoming for NU assistant coach Jim Hartung, who has not been part of a meet at the DevaneyCenter since he led the Huskers to four consecutive national titles from 1979 to 1982.

 

This is the first of three home meets for the Huskers in 2006, the next of which takes place on March 5 against Oklahoma, followed by  a March 19 match-up with Air Force to wrap up the regular-season.    

 

 

Husker History: Iowa in Elite Group

The Iowa Hawkeyes are part of an elite group of programs nationwide that boast a winning all-time dual record against Nebraska.  The Hawkeyes, who currently own a 10-8-1 record over the Huskers, are one of just five active programs including Illinois, Michigan, Oklahoma and Stanford who own such a statistic.  The Hawkeyes are tied with Stanford for the largest series edge at two as the Cardinal claims a 2-0 record.

 

The Hawkeyes took the lead in 2002 when they topped Nebraska 210.65 to 202.175 in Iowa City, Iowa.  With the win, Iowa took control of the nearly 40 year history between the programs that began with a 186.70 to 157.90 Hawkeye win in 1968.

 

At the DevaneyCenter, which opened in 1976, the Huskers are 4-2-1 against the Hawkeyes.  The tie is one of just eight in school history and took place in 1995 with a score of 228.675.

 

However, in the most recent Iowa-Nebraska match-up the Huskers turned the tables with a 215.325 to 214.925 win in Iowa City to break NU’s road losing streak that had extended back to a win over UC Santa Barbara in 2000.  In addition to the team win, Nebraska also boasted several event honors including a top-three sweep of the pommel horse by Paul Chumreonlert, Jason Wassung and Stephen T?trault and a first-place finish in the all-around by Mace Patterson.

 

 

Scouting the Hawkeyes: Relying on Reavis

The Hawkeyes have a busy weekend ahead of them as they prepare to take on defending national champion Oklahoma in Iowa City on Friday, before traveling to Lincoln on Sunday for a dual with the Huskers.  

 

Although the No. 5 Hawkeyes will bring a roster chalked full of talent, senior Michael Reavis sticks out above the rest.  The Tallahassee, Fla., native has set Iowa school records on the floor exercise (9.672), vault (9.70) and all-around (54.825), and owns All-America status on both the floor exercise and vault.  In 2005, Reavis took the NCAA vault title and was one of 14 members elected to the U.S. National team.

 

Most recently, Reavis repeated his national success with an event title on the floor exercise at the 2006 Winter Cup and once again laid claim to a spot on the National team with a sixth-place finish in the all-around.

 

Iowa’s supporting cast includes 2005-06 team captain Jacques Bouchard who returns Iowa’s top ring score and sophomore Curtis Kleffman who recorded 19 top-five finishes in 2005.

  

 

Burtle, T?trault Represent Huskers in Vegas

Senior Tony Burtle and sophomore Stephen T?trault went head-to-head against some of the nation’s top gymnasts at the Sports Center Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. on Thursday, Feb. 2, for the preliminary round of the 2006 Winter Cup.  Although T?trault finished 16th overall in Session I with a score of 78.90 and Burtle tallied a total of 53.75 through four events in Session II, neither advanced to the event finals.

 

T?trault’s strongest event was the vault where he notched a score of 15.75 and tied for ninth place.  However, his highest-placing discipline was the parallel bars where he finished seventh in the session with a score of 13.60.

 

Burtle followed with his Winter Cup debut during Session II.  Burtle’s highest score came off of the vault where he marked a 14.90, while his highest place was on the floor exercise where he finished 18th with a score of 13.65.

 

David Durante of Team Chevron repeated his success as Winter Cup all-around champion for the second consecutive year followed by Oklahoma’s Jonathan Horton in second.  Overall, 14 gymnasts were chosen for the 2006 U.S. National team including Durante, Horton, Guillermo Alvarez, Alexander Artemev, Sean Golden, Brett McClure, Tim McNeill, David Sender, Michael Reavis, Kevin Tan, Yewki Tomita and Jimmy Whickham.  Horton, McNeill and Sender are all members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.