Huskers Sign Four to 2007 Class

Lincoln ? The Nebraska gymnastics program announced this week the addition of four newcomers to its 2007 recruiting class. Nebraska’s talented crop of future Huskers have enjoyed enormous success at the club level and are poised to bring that experience to the Huskers next year.

The class is headlined by Cory Baumgarten of World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano, Texas. Baumgarten, who is anticipated to be one of NU’s top newcomers in the 2008 season, is the reigning Level 10 Texas state floor exercise champion, as well as owning a second place finish on the still rings and third on the vault. He has also found success at the national level, finishing 10th overall in the junior division at the 2006 VISA Championships. His all-around finish was one of six top-10 finishes at the event for Baumgarten, with his highest places coming on the floor exercise and still rings, where he finished fifth and fourth, respectively.

 

“Cory is one of the top young gymnasts in the country right now,” Head Coach Francis Allen said. “He’s a tremendous ringman and he has proven time and again that he can be successful at any level. We’re very excited to have him at Nebraska.”

Baumgarter is joined in the all-around by Bear Danley of Buffalo Grove Gymnastics in Buffalo Grove, Ill. An aerial specialist and three-time Junior Olympic National Championships qualifier, Danley already boasts tremendous experience on the national level. He finished 49th overall at the 2006 J.O. Nationals after finishing 21st in his age division at the meet in 2005. In 2005, Danley posted three top-20 event finishes, placing 15th on still rings (8.75), 12th on parallel bars (8.85) and 16th on high bar (8.425). In 2005, Danley was also selected to compete at the U.S. Qualifier in the junior division.

“Bear is one of the top 10 all-arounders in the country,” Head Coach Francis Allen said. “He has the best aerial sense of any gymnast I have seen in a long time and that can really pay off in college. We’re excited to work with him because I think he’ll really turn into a great all-around competitor for us.”

Nebraska also welcomes another all-arounder in Sam Auge, from Midwest Gymnastics in Anoka, Minn., the same gym as Husker freshman Tony Maras. Auge finished 37th in the Level 10 all-around at the 2006 J.O. Nationals, including top-20 event finishes on the floor exercise (19th) and parallel bars (20th).

“Sam is really just a good, young all-arounder,” Allen said. “He’s young so he needs to build his strength, but he’s the type of gymnast that I think will come to Nebraska and develop into a solid collegiate competitor.”

Anthony Ingrelli of Swiss Turners in West Allis, Ill., rounds out the 2007 Husker recruiting class. Ingrelli’s club career has been spent in good company, as Swiss Turners is also the former gym of 2004 Olympic gold medalists Paul and Morgan Hamm.

Ingrelli was hand-picked by the NU coaches as an excellent still rings competitor, as Nebraska is currently focused on building this event. A three-time J.O. National qualifier and the reigning state and regional Level-10 All-Around Champion, Ingrelli finished 10th in the still rings at the 2006 J.O. competition and is slated to continue his work as a ringman for the Huskers in 2007.

“Anthony is one of the best ringman in the country,” Allen said. “We recruited three guys last year that are terrific on rings and adding Anthony to that mix will only build the event for us.”

Although NU’s 2007 class is much smaller than the 10 gymnasts the Huskers brought in this season, Allen still feels that this core trio could bring as much talent to the table as the larger group.

“The class we’ve brought in this year might prove to be just as good as the guys we signed in 2006,” Allen said. “They are all incredibly talented gymnasts, and we’re excited to have them as a part of our program.”