Moore Earns Second Vault Title

Lincoln ? Senior Nick Moore captured his second consecutive vault title with a career-high score of 9.45 in front of 1,437 fans at the BobDevaneySportsCenter on Sunday, as the Huskers fell to No. 1 Oklahoma 214.65-208.65. 

“Nick Moore is proof that if you come into college and you work hard then you’re going to succeed,” Head Coach Francis Allen said.  “And the way he performed today carried over to the rest of the team.  We were a lot more together today.  I’m really pleased with how we stood up against the top team in the country.”

Nebraska's 208.65 team score was its second-highest of the season, but the Huskers still slipped to 5-6 overall on the season and 0-3 in dual competition.

 NU posted its 

season-best score of 209.45 against Iowa on Feb. 12.

In the all-around, junior Jason Wassung finished second with a score of 51.85, followed by sophomore Stephen T?trault in third with a score of 50.65.  Oklahoma’s Taquiy Abdullah took top honors in the all-around with a score of 52.95.

 

The Huskers began the afternoon by setting a season-high team score of 35.70 on the floor exercise behind season-high scores of 9.0 from both Wassung and senior Nic Matthews, who tied for third place in the event.  Moore set his first career-high of the afternoon with an 8.75, while freshman T.J. Schmidt set a career best of his own with a score of 8.20.

 

“T.J. (Schmidt) has done an excellent job this season.  He’s really coming along,” Allen said.  “He’s coming his own on parallel bars and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him and been successful at it.”

 

The Huskers continued to set top scores on the pommel horse with season-highs from senior Ray Hacker (8.30), senior Derric Wood (8.50) and T?trault (8.80).  T?trault finished second in the event, while Wassung landed third (8.60).  Schmidt notched his second career-high of the meet with an 8.30 on the pommel horse.

 

After two rotations, Nebraska led Oklahoma 69.9 to 69.8, but it would be the last time NU would lead the meet.  The Huskers lost momentum on the still rings in the third rotation, posting just a 33.95 team score, and never recovered.

 

Individually, several Huskers performed well on the rings however including Hacker who set yet another career-high with a score of 8.95, the highest ring score of any Husker this season.

 

On the vault, typically NU’s domain, the Sooners swept in and posted five of six scores above 9.0 to extend their lead.  For its part, Nebraska was led by Moore (9.45), who has bettered his score on the vault in each of NU’s last three duals. 

 

On the parallel bars, Nebraska’s freshmen stepped up to the plate with Schmidt marking a career and team-high score of 8.85 to tie for second place.  Freshman James Mauldin also tacked on a career high of 8.10 after just his second week as part of the NU parallel bars lineup.  Wood also nailed a solid set for score of 8.65.

 

Nebraska finished out the afternoon on the high bar, which was highlighted by another brilliant performance from Wood who seems to have found his niche on the event this season.  The Lincoln native grabbed the attention of both the crowd and the judges with his outstanding high bar routine, earning a score of 9.35 good for second place.

 

A noticeable absence in the Husker lineup Sunday was that of senior Tony Burtle who only competed on the high bar after suffering an ankle injury in practice earlier this week. 

 

The Huskers follow the Sooners back down to Norman, Okla., next weekend as Oklahoma hosts Nebraska in dual competition on Saturday, March 11 beginning at 7 p.m at the McCasland Field House.