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Big Ten openers unkind to gymnastics

By Colin Day

Against tough foes, both men's and women's gymnastics teams fell to their respective Big Ten counterparts this past weekend. The No. 5 men's team, going up against the No. 1 squad in the country, fell short in their upset bid as they lost to the Illini 341.350 - 349.700.

Junior captain Brandon Wynn led the charge for the Buckeyes last Saturday, posting three top-three finishes. His individual achievements aside, the Buckeyes were out-manned and out exercised as the Illini dominated early. Wynn led the Buckeyes in the floor exercise, coming just short of winning against Tyler Mizoguchi, with senior Shachar Tal, sophomore Philip Onorato and senior Justin Myers taking fifth through seventh.

While no one could catch the reigning NCAA national champion from Illinois, the pommel horse was an event of pride for sophomore Steven Spencer, who easily placed second in the event and sophomore Matt Rayl who came in fifth. On rings, Wynn claimed victory for the meet by a large margin with the score of 15.850 and sophomore Mike Behles tied for fourth with a 14.300 routine.

After being swept on both the parallel and the horizontal bars, totals for the all around - which only Wynn participated in, achieving a third place finish - indicated the Illini had won the dual. This is the second time the season OSU has fallen to Illinois, the first coming earlier in the season at the Windy City Invitational.

On the women's side, traveling to Michigan State was too much for the No. 25 Buckeyes, who dropped the match 194.875 - 191.425. The loss was the third of the season for OSU and has put their record at 1-3 in dual meets.

The struggles started early for the women's squad, facing difficult competition from the Spartans on both the uneven parallel bars and vault. Hillary Dow, a senior from Yorktown, Va., posted the best score for Ohio State on the bars with a fifth place 9.675 score, followed by sophomore Casey Williamson with a seventh place finish. Sophomores Nicole Krauter and Williamson tied for fifth on the vault with Dow finishing seventh.

Oklahoma native Taylor Jones and freshman Colleen Dean provided the Bucks with the best floor performance on the day with scores of 9.775, and Dean broke into the top three on the balance beam, the only top three finish on the day for Ohio State.

Two meets into their longest road trip of the season, the women might be dismissed from Big Ten title talks, but the conference front runner, Michigan, is not that far away. After steadily climbing from No. 42 in 2004, the Buckeyes finished 2009 as the No. 18 squad in the country, a Big Ten title the imminent goal for Coach Carey Fagan.

Next up for the men's team will be the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas on Thursday and Saturday, and the women's team will take on Iowa in Iowa City. The next time the Buckeyes will be in town, is on the Feb. 21 for the women's team, and on the Feb. 28 for the men's team as both squads take on Penn State.

Originally Published: February 3, 2010

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