No. 5 Huskers Dominate in Home Quad Meet

Lincoln Neb.- The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team won first place over No. 10 Greenville, No. 15 Simpson and No. 14 William & Mary on Saturday, Feb. 7, at Bob Devaney Sports Center. Huskers received a team score of 319.650 while the Greenville scored 309.400, Simpson scored a 298.950, and William & Mary scored 296.050.

The Huskers had three freshman make their career debut. Those freshmen were Grant Bowers, Rome Whimpey and Ethan Cox. NU also had seven athletes have career-highs, and those gymnasts are Alex Nitache, Max Odden, Nik Tarca, Nathan York, Ty Roderiques, Anthony Koppie and Asher Cohen. The Big Red swept all events. York took the pommel horse title with a 14.00. Cohen took two event titles. He placed first on rings with a 13.65 and first on parallel bars with a 13.8. Nitache took the floor title with 13.85. Roderiques earned a 14.2 on the vault and took first place. Odden took the high bar title with 14.25.

The Huskers began the meet on floor exercise. Odden led off for the Huskers and notched a 13.65 with a stuck landing. Whimpey made his career debut on the floor and had a slight fall on the last pass and received an 11.90. Chase Mondi went third and scored a 13.70. Nitache anchored for NU and stuck the landing on his last pass for a career-high score of 13.85.

NU led with a score of 53.10 after the first rotation. William & Mary was second, Simpson was in third and Greenville was in fourth.

Nebraska then headed over to the pommel horse. Odden went first for NU and had a small fall, but finished strong with a career-high of 12.20. Cox made his career debut and scored a 13.35. Tarca went third and received a career-high score of 13.90. York went last and notched a 14.00, which tied his career-high. Nebraska ended with a score of 53.450 on the event.

After two rotations, Nebraska stayed in the lead with a score of 106.550

The Big Red then traveled over to the rings. Roderiques went first and received a 12.60. Jack Critiz made his season debut and notched an impressive 12.35. Koppie went next and stuck the landing for a massive career-high score of 13.55. Cohen anchored for the Huskers and received a 13.65. NU ended with a 52.150 on the rings.

Nebraska stayed on top with a score of 158.700. Greenville was in second, Simpson in third and William & Mary in fourth.

Nebraska then moved over to the vault, and they were led off by Roderiques. He stuck the landing for a career-high score of 14.20. York went second and received a 13.30. Koppie went next and notched a 13.40. Mondi anchored for NU and scored a season-high 14.10. Nebraska ended the event with a rotation score of 55.00.

NU remained in first place with a score of 213.700.

Nebraska then headed over to the parallel bars. Bowers made his career debut and received a score of 12.20. Critz made his season debut and earned a score of 12.40. Odden followed and scored a career-high of 13.60. Cohen anchored for the Huskers and earned a career-high score of 13.80. NU ended with a score of 52.00 on parallel bars.

The Huskers extended their lead with a score of 265.700.

The Big Red then moved to their final event of the day, which was high bar. Koppie led off for the Huskers and received a score of 12.35. Tarca went second and stuck the dismount for a score of 13.55. Nitache followed and received a career-high score of 13.70. Odden, ranked second in the nation on rings, finished up the meet for the Huskers with a stuck dismount and earned a career-high score of 14.25

Nebraska won the quad meet with a score of 319.550.

As a team, Nebraska will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. (CT) at Oklahoma. On Feb. 20-22, two current Husker gymnasts, Max Odden and Alex Nitache, and two Husker graduates, Chris Hiser and Taylor Christopulos, will be competing at Winter Cup in Louisville, Ky.