Wassung, T?trault Advance to NCAA All-Around Finals

Norman, Okla. ? Junior Jason Wassung (50.825) and sophomore Stephen T?trault (50.30) advanced to the all-around finals of the 2006 NCAA Championships during the team qualifier held on Thursday, April 6 in Norman, Okla. 

 

Four more Huskers advanced to the individual event qualifying round, which will be held Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. along with team and all-around finals.

 

Wassung took home top honors in the Session II all-around field, followed closely by T?trault in second.  T?trault's appearance in the individual NCAA all-around finals will be his second after qualifying a year ago. His second straight all-around bid appeared in jeopardy after the sophomore suffered a leg injury on his vault landing in the fifth rotation.  But T?trault made the decision to push through his parallel bars routine and stuck the landing despite the injury.

 

“I didn’t even think about my leg until after parallel bars because I knew I had to do my routine,”  T?trault said.  “There was more pressure to make all-around finals because I had done it last year, and I knew I had to finish the meet in order to do that.”

 

Joining NU’s all-around duo in tomorrow’s competition will be senior Derric Wood on the pommel horse, senior Tony Burtle on the vault and high bar, senior Ray Hacker on the still rings and freshman T.J. Schmidt on the parallel bars.  All four individuals finished among the top three competitors in Session II in their events to advance to the individual event qualifier.

 

As a team, Nebraska ended the 2006 season with a record of 6-8 after finishing fifth (204.975) among six teams in Session II, which advances only the top three squads to the team finals.

 

“We were a little off of our national average today and that’s disappointing, but you really have to just sit back and take what good you can from an experience like this,” Head Coach Francis Allen said.  “For our younger guys this is the best education they can have.  We threw them right in the fire and in the long run that is going to make them better gymnasts.”

 

Oklahoma finished first in the second session with a score of 217.225 followed by Illinois (214.775) and Cal (213.90) to advance to Friday’s team finals.  Michigan finished fourth with a score of 208.85, while Temple finished sixth (196.925).

 

The Stanford Cardinal took the top spot in Session I (215.90), followed by PennState in second (213.45) and Iowa in third (212.425).  Penn State jumped from fourth heading into the final rotation to eliminate OhioState from the team finals. 

 

Nebraska kicked off the evening on the high bar and posted a team score of 34.725 behind Burtle who used his status as a fifth-year veteran of NCAA Championship competition, to notch a career-high score of 9.175. 

 

The Huskers enjoyed a bye in the second rotation before moving on to the floor exercise in rotation three, but NU responded with just a 33.95 on the event.  Wood provided a bright spot with a solid 8.80 in his routine.

 

Nebraska then moved to the pommel horse, an event where it leads the nation as a team with a season-average of 34.28.  After struggling through a series of small mistakes throughout the lineup, Wood turned in NU’s top routine for a score of 8.80.  Wood’s pommel horse score was the second-highest of any gymnast in Session II. 

 

On the rings, Hacker led Nebraska to a team score of 33.10 with an individual score of 8.85.  Schmidt laid down NU’s second-best rings score (8.15).

 

Nebraska began the fifth rotation demonstrating why the vault is its highest scoring event two years running behind scores of 9.25 from both Burtle and Wassung.  However, falls from Matthews and Moore resulted in a pair of 8.40 marks, while the event ended with an 8.80 from T?trault and a team score of 35.70.    

 

The Huskers finished the competition with a team score of 33.625 on the parallel bars.  Schmidt continued his trend of leading Nebraska on the event with an 8.65, followed by Wassung with an 8.60.

 

The 2006 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships continue tomorrow with the team and all-around finals as well as the individual event qualifier all beginning at 7 p.m.  In addition to crowning a team and all-around champion, the competition will determine which athletes will advance to the event finals on Saturday.

 

Team Results (Session I)            Score

1. Stanford                                215.90*

2. Penn State                            213.45*

3. Iowa                                      212.425*

4. Ohio State                             211.70

5. Minnesota                             206.95

6. William and Mary                   202.025

*Advance to the 2006 NCAA team finals.

 

Team Results (Session II)           Score

1. Oklahoma                              217.225*

2. Illinois                                   214.775*

3. California                               213.900*

4. Michigan                               208.85

5. Nebraska                               204.975

6. Temple                                  196.925

*Advance to the 2006 NCAA team finals.

 

 

Nebraska All-Around Finalists              Score

Jason Wassung                                     50.825

Stephen T?trault                                    50.30

 

Nebraska Individual Event Qualifiers

Pommel Horse - Derric Wood

Still Rings - Ray Hacker

 

Vault- Tony Burtle

 

Parallel Bars -T.J. Schmidt

 

High Bar- Tony Burtle