Seniors Shine in Win over Air Force

Lincoln ? In their last home dual at Nebraska, four NU seniors earned all six event titles en route to a 212.15-184.775 team win over Air Force in front of 1,224 fans at the BobDevaneySportsCenter on Sunday.  In all, the Huskers swept the top three spot on all six events leading to its season-high team score.

 

“The performance our seniors gave today just goes to show that if you work hard while you’re here and you do what you’re supposed to do, there are big rewards in the end,” Head Coach Francis Allen said.  “That goes for us coaches too.  For us to see these five seniors compete like they did today, that’s a great reward for the work we do.”

 

Senior Derric Wood earned a trio of event titles including his first of the season on the pommel horse (9.05).  He also tied for first with junior Jason Wassung on the parallel bars (8.95) and tied his career-high score of 9.45 for first on the high bar.

 

Senior Tony Burtle took home a pair of titles including one on the floor with a career-high score of 9.25 and another on the vault where he tied with senior Nic Matthews (9.20).

 

Senior Ray Hacker took top honors on the still rings with a score of 8.90.  The title is the first of Hacker’s collegiate career at Nebraska.

 

Sophomore Stephen T?trault earned his first all-around title of 2006 with a season-high score of 52.45 followed by Wassung in second with a score of 50.45.

 

After struggling on the floor against Oklahoma and Stanford last weekend, the Huskers quickly recuperated against the Falcons and posted a season-high team score of 35.85.  Burtle led a slew of career-high marks with his score of 9.25 behind a near-flawless routine, followed by junior Jon Charter (8.65) and senior Nick Moore (8.80).  Matthews finished second in the event with a score of 8.95, followed by T?trault in third (8.85).

 

“We came back from Oklahoma and sat down and decided we needed to get some things figured out,” Allen said.  “We took a little and gave a little and the results were a much better performance on a lot of events today.”

 

Nebraska chased its brilliant tumbling display with solid scores on the pommel horse including Wood’s score of 9.05 for first followed by T?trault in second (8.90) and Moore in third (8.10).  This is the second consecutive week Wood has posted a score of 9.05 after setting the season-high mark against Oklahoma and Stanford on March 11.

 

The Huskers were led on the still rings by Hacker followed Matthews who finished second with a season-high score of 8.65, while T?trault placed third (8.25).

 

Nebraska continued to cruise on the vault, with five of six competitors posting score above a 9.0.  Burtle and Matthews tied for top honors each with a score of 9.20, followed by Wassung in second with a 9.15 and Moore in third with a 9.05.    

 

Nebraska set yet another event high score on the parallel bars with a team score of 35.25 over its previous best of 35.20, which it set against Iowa on Feb. 12.  Leading the way behind Wood and Wassung in first was freshman T.J. Schmidt in second (8.75) and T?trault in third (8.60).

 

The Huskers ended the afternoon on the high bar where all six NU competitors posted either season or career high scores.  Wood tied his career-high of 9.45 for first, followed by Burtle and Wassung who tied for second with scores of 9.15, which are career-highs for both of them.  T?trault finished third with a season-high score of 8.85.  Nebraska’s team high bar score of 36.60 also crushes its previous season best of 35.15. 

 

The Huskers now head into postseason action next Saturday, March 25 as they travel to the Air Force Academy for the 2006 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships against the Falcons, Stanford, Cal and Oklahoma.