NU Set for Season Finale at NCAA Championships

Day I: Preliminaries
Thursday, April 9 | 1 p.m. CT and 7 p.m. CT

Day II: Team & All-Around Finals
Friday, April 10 | 7 p.m. CT

Day III: Individual Event Finals
Saturday, April 11 | 7 p.m. CT

Venue:
Lloyd Noble Center | University of Oklahoma

Live online video and stats: soonersports.com
TV: FCS Atlantic
Tickets: Click here.

The No. 11 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team (4-19, 0-14 Big Ten) remain at No. 11 in both the College Gymnastics Association poll and Coaches’ poll this week as the Huskers gear up for the NCAA Championships this weekend. Last time out Nebraska took seventh as a team at the Big Ten Championships in State College, Pa., while freshman Kyle King finished on the podium for vault at the individual event finals. The Huskers now prepare for the season finale at the 2015 NCAA Championships in Norman, Okla., featuring the country’s top 12 teams. The meet will begin Thursday, April 9 with two preliminary sessions of six teams in each, one in the afternoon and one in the evening at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. CT respectively. The following day will serve as the team finals and all-around competition, beginning Friday, April 10, at 7 p.m. This second day will also serve as the all-around finals as well as the individual event semifinals. The last day of competition will see action from the event finals on Saturday, April 11 at 7 p.m. Meet action will take place at the Lloyd Noble Center on the campus of University of Oklahoma. Tickets are available for purchase at soonersports.com. Fans will be able to follow live stats at soonersports.com, watch online at NCAA.com or watch the televised broadcast live on FCS Atlantic. Fans can also follow along with updates on the team Twitter account (@NebraskaMGym) for additional scoring information.

Breaking Down the Championships
This year’s NCAA championship field will feature the top 12 ranked teams in the nation, as decided by the CGA National rankings. No. 1 Oklahoma headlines the bracket and has been ranked the national leader the entirety of the regular season. Stanford holds down the No. 2 seed, followed by No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 Illinois to round out the top five. A quartet of Big Ten schools occupy the latter half of the top 12 seeds, including No. 6 Minnesota, No. 8 Iowa, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 11 Nebraska. California earns its berth as the No. 7 seed, while Air Force locks in at No. 10. Army takes the last spot for the national meet at No. 12.

The first day of competition will feature the team preliminaries beginning Thursday, April 9. Nebraska will take part in the afternoon session at 1 p.m. CT alongside Stanford, Penn State, Minnesota, California and Air Force for a chance to qualify to the team finals the following day. The remaining six teams will compete in the evening preliminary at 7 p.m. CT. The top three teams in each session will then qualify to the team finals the following day at 7 p.m. This second day of competition also acts as the all-around finals and the individual event semifinals. Saturday, the last day of competition, will feature the event finals beginning at 7 p.m. The top eight gymnasts placing in the all-around and on each event will earn NCAA All-America honors.
Last year Michigan took the national crown after a dominant year with a 445.050, placing ahead of Oklahoma (441.650) and Stanford (436.300). This year’s top five all-around competitors in the nation represent a variety of schools, as Stanford’s Akash Modi stands at the top with a national qualifying score (NQA) of 89.863. California’s Kevin Wolting ranks second with an NQA of 88.338, followed by Illinois’ Bobby Baker (87.025), Cal’s Kyle Zemeir (86.650) and Army’s Jesse Glenn (84.863).

As the final meet of the season, placement at the NCAA Championships will determine the final national ranking of each team. Last year Nebraska finished in eighth place overall with a team score of 426.350, the Huskers’ best finish since 1999. This year NU will look to capitalize on its improvement and will look to seek a spot in the top six of the team finals for the first time since the 1999 season, where the team took third overall.

Gymnast to Watch: Kyle King (Freshman)

• Placed third on vault at the Big Ten Championships Event Finals
• Second-Team All-Big Ten
• No. 10-ranked vault gymnast in the country
• No. 18-ranked floor gymnast in the country
• Nebraska’s first freshman to win a Big Ten medal since Sam Chamberlain (2013)

Last Time Out: No. 11 Huskers Show Success at Big Tens
State College, Pa.--The No. 11 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team battled through some individual struggles to finish in seventh place at the 2015 Big Ten Championships with a team score of 420.100.

The Big Red saw some clutch performances across all classes to help the team effort and earn berths into the individual event finals competition March 28. Freshman Kyle King put up big scores on floor (15.20) and vault (14.95) to pave his way to the finals in both events. Junior Sam Chamberlain also earned spots in the finals on two events for vault and parallel bars, earning scores of 14.95 for and 14.90 respectively. Senior Andrew House notched a career best 14.55 score on pommel horse to punch his ticket to tomorrow’s competition, while sophomore all-around competitor Travis Gollott squeezed in the top 10 on floor with a 14.95 to earn his spot. Junior Ryan Irick clinched a career best 14.30 on rings to help NU to its 420.100 team total.

Nebraska began the night on parallel bars as the team pushed through to earn a 69.950 event total. Chamberlain led the way with his near-stuck dismount, posting a 14.90 for his performance. Stephenson followed up with a solid 14.40 to keep the pace going, while Gollott achieved a 13.90. King barely brushed his hands on the dismount to notch a 13.55, as Magsam chipped in a 13.20 to round out the rotation.

Minnesota took an early lead on rings with a 72.850 total, with Ohio State trailing in second on floor with a 71.600. Iowa began on vault and earned a 71.250, followed by Illinois on high bar (71.150), Michigan on pommel horse (70.700) and Nebraska on parallel bars (69.950). Penn State began the meet on a bye.

NU next rotated to high bar where the team overcame some mistakes to grab a 67.550 score. Klein set the tone with a clean set and stuck landing, delivering a 14.30 for his performance. Epperson returned to the high bar lineup to put up a 14.05, while Stephenson tallied a 13.60. Gollott stuck to a 13.50, as Lottman overcame a fall on the dismount to notch a 12.10.

After two rotations, Minnesota maintained the lead with a 145.350, as Michigan moved into second with a running total of 143.900. Iowa was third with a 141.850, followed by Nebraska (137.500), Ohio State (71.600) and Penn State (69.200).

The Huskers took to floor in the third rotation and strung together a collection of quality routines to tally a 72.800 paced by King’s huge 15.20. Gollott delivered a clean set to post a 14.95, followed by a respectable 14.80 from Stephenson. House put up a 14.60 with a step out of bounds, while Tokar barely sat down his double front pass to achieve a 13.25.

Minnesota held onto the lead after three rotations with a running total of 219.400. Michigan remained in second with a 217.200, followed by Iowa (211.400), Nebraska (210.300), Illinois (143.700), Penn State (144.200) and Ohio State (137.550).

The Huskers moved to a bye in the fourth rotation as competition continued in full swing. Minnesota barely remained the frontrunner after four rotations over Michigan 289.750-289.500. Iowa stayed in third with a 282.900, with Penn State in fourth (217.95), Illinois in fifth (215.000), Nebraska in sixth (210.300) and Ohio State in seventh (209.250).

For the second half of the meet, Nebraska traveled to pommel horse where House paved the way with his career high 14.55 score. Irick delivered a seamless performance to put up a 13.50, followed closely behind by Gollott’s 13.40. Lottman couldn’t hold on and suffered a fall near the end of the routine, but mustered a 13.55. King rounded things out on pommel with a 12.90 mark.
The Huskers went to rings in the sixth rotation as NU put together a 70.200. Leading the way for Nebraska was sophomore Austin Epperson, who posted a 14.40 for his clean set. Irick followed up with his career high 14.30, as Magsam was close behind with a 14.20 mark. Chamberlain notched a career high 14.15, while Tokar rounded out the rings squad with a 13.15.

For the last rotation of the evening, NU finished up on vault where the team overcame initial struggles to tally a 71.900. Chamberlain and King led the way for the Big Red, putting up identical 14.95 marks. Klein and Adamsick under rotated their double full vaults, grabbing a 14.15 and 14.05 respectively. Gollott sat down his vault and concluded the rotation with a 13.80 score, bringing the Huskers’ final team total to 420.100.

It was an exciting finish to the end of the team competition as Penn State, Michigan and Illinois battled for the top spot. Penn State ended the meet on floor to put up a big 74.800 on the event, taking home the Big Ten team title with a 436.700. Illinois edged its way into second with a 436.100, followed by Michigan with a 434.750. Minnesota ended in fourth with a 433.750, followed by Ohio State (429.350), Iowa (427.600) and Nebraska (420.100).

In the all-around competition, Matthew Felleman of Penn State took the crown with a score of 87.200, as Illinois’ Bobby Baker came in a close second with an 87.100. Gollott finished the night for the Huskers in seventh with an 82.700.

Four members of the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team qualified for the individual event finals of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday evening. The top ten highest scoring athletes on each event Friday night (March 27) qualified to participate in the individual competition at Rec Hall in State College, Pa.

Freshman Kyle King led the way for the Big Red, earning his first ever Big Ten medal after tying for third place on vault with a 15.10. King also finished ninth on floor, while sophomore Travis Gollott tabbed eighth on the event. Senior Andrew House notched eighth for his pommel horse routine, as junior Sam Chamberlain finished seventh on vault and 10th on parallel bars.

King’s dominant performance on vault earned him second-team All-Big Ten honors, the only conference award received by the Huskers. Senior Robbie Kocks received a 2015 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for Nebraska.

The first half of the competition saw action on floor, pommel horse and rings in an alternating format. Gollott went first up on the first event of the night, floor exercise, and grabbed a 13.875 after setting his hands down on his Arabian double front pass. He fought back throughout the rest of the routine, sticking his triple full on the last pass.

House topped off his first-ever event finals on pommel horse with a 14.425. He delivered a seamless performance with only a minor form break toward the second half of his routine in his senior Big Ten Championships.

After a brief intermission for a second warm up period on the first three events, King led off the second half of floor with a 13.80. He strung together a beautiful routine throughout but suffered a rare fall on the last pass after his feet slid out from underneath him.

The second half of the meet held the vault, parallel bars and high bar competition as Chamberlain and King headlined as Nebraska’s last two competitors of the evening. Chamberlain opened up parallel bars in the leadoff position and suffered an early fall. The All-American fought back to finish the rest of the routine strong to earn a 13.275.

King occupied the third spot in the vault rotation, where he vaulted to a career high-tying 15.10. The Mesquite, Texas, native only took a small hop on the landing to finish tied for the third place spot. Chamberlain finished as the last Nebraska competitor of the night on vault, where he stuck for the second night in a row for his second consecutive 14.95 career high mark.