Five Huskers Advance to B1G Individual Event Finals

COLUMBUS, OHIO --- 

On Friday night, five members of the Nebraska men's gymnastics team qualified for individual event finals at the 2016 Big Ten Championships, which take place on Saturday, April 2 at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Ethan Lottman, Antonio Castro and Jordan King qualified on pommel horse. Daniel Leal advanced on parallel bars, while Anton Stephenson will compete in the finals on vault and parallel bars. Additionally, King, Stephenson and Leal all earned personal-best scores. King posted his career-high on pommel horse, while Leal and Stephenson notched their career-high scores on parallel bars. 

Nebraska kicked off the night on high bar, where the King, Austin Epperson and Leal each stuck their landings.  The trio earned scores of 13.75, 12.90 and 13.50, respectively. Stephenson posted a 13.30, while Castro added 13.50. As a team NU earned a score of 66.95. 

The Huskers moved to floor and earned a team score of 69.05. Connor Adamsick and Andrew Zymball posted scores of 14.45 and 14.60, respectively. Kyle King and Epperson overcame falls to pitch in scores of 12.35 and 13.50, respectively. Stephenson moved to fourth place in the all-around competition after his score of 14.15. 

After a bye, Nebraska competed on pommel horse, where Ryan Irick started the Huskers off with a 13.65. J. King followed with a personal-best score of 14.85. Stephenson posted a 13.45, despite falling, while Castro and Ethan Lottman earned scores of 15.15 and 15.20, respectively. The team's score on the event was 72.30. 

On rings, Joshua Everitt led the team's effort (68.45) with 14.20. Alex Magsam and Ryan Irick supported with scores of 14.05 and 13.95, respectfully. Stephenson added 12.65, while Epperson pitched in 13.60. 

NU rotated to vault next and posted a 72.70 as a team. Stephenson (14.85) and Leal (14.65) were the team's top two scorers. Sam Chamberlain earned 14.50, while K. King and Magsam notched scores of 14.45 and 14.25, respectfully. 

The Huskers ended the night on parallel bars, where Stephenson and Leal each earned career-high score of 15.30 and 15.20, respectively. Epperson posted a 14.40, while K. King and Chamberlain added 13.35 and 13.75, respectfully. As a team, Nebraska earned 72.00 on the event. 

As a team, Nebraska finished in sixth place with a score of 421.450. Ohio State took home the trophy with a score of 434.450. Illinois placed second (429.700), Minnesota took third (429.100), Penn State earned fourth (427.150), while Iowa (426.700) and Michigan (417.250) finished fifth and seventh, respectfully. 

In the all-around competition, Stephenson placed tenth (83.70), while OSU's Sean Melton took home the title (89.75). 

 

Tomorrow's individual event finals beginning at 7 p.m. (ET). The competition will be shown live on BTN and BTN2GO.