Feb. 22, 2005
THIS WEEK — The sixth-ranked University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team will host the 10th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, as well as the Wisconsin Badger club team, Saturday, February 26. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the North Gym of the UI Fieldhouse.
THE CORNHUSKERS — The Cornhuskers are ranked 10th nationally in the GymInfo national rankings. They opened the season with a second-place finish at the Rocky Mountain Open before meeting up with the Hawkeyes at the West Point Open. Iowa took second, topping the Huskers, who took third. Nebraska has since fallen to No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Oklahoma. Seniors Mace Patterson and Steven Friedman have struggled through injury this season, paving the way for sophomore Jason Wassung to emerge as the team’s top all-arounder. He is currently ranked 13th on vault and 11th in the all-around. Other Huskers to watch for include sophomore Paul Chumreonlert who is ranked eighth nationally on pommel horse and freshman Stephen Tétrault who is seventh on vault.
LAST TIME OUT — Iowa downed No. 9 Minnesota last weekend, scoring a season-high 217.325 points while crowning three individual event champions. Junior Michael Reavis won the all-around competition and was crowned champion on vault and horizontal bar. He also tied for second on floor exercise. Sophomore Matt Beiler was the top finisher on parallel bars, scoring a personal season-best 9.2. Iowa also set a season-high with its team score of 37.1 on floor exercise.
REAVIS SETS TWO RECORDS — Reavis won the all-aruond competition against Minnesota and set a University of Iowa record with his six-event score of 54.4. He also set another Iowa record as he scored a 9.7 on vault to take first place. Reavis also holds the school record on floor exercise with a 9.675 set at the West Point Open in January.
NATIONAL RANKINGS — The Iowa men’s gymnastics team is ranked sixth in the GymInfo national rankings. As a team, the Hawkeyes are ranked in the top ten in all six individual events. Iowa is the third-ranked team on floor exercise, sixth on horizontal bar, and eighth on pommel horse, rings, vault and parallel bars.
NATIONALLY-RANKED INDIVIDUALS — Reavis leads the Hawkeyes in the rankings. He is the top-ranked competitor on horizontal bar, second on floor exercise, third on vault and ninth in the all-around. Junior Michael McNamara is ninth on floor exercise while freshman Curtis Kleffman is ninth on pommel horse. Senior Linas Gaveika is ranked 12th in the all-around while Kenny Lin is 17th on rings and Shawn Stone is 19th on floor exercise.
HEAD COACH Tom Dunn — Head Coach Tom Dunn is in his 25th year at Iowa. He has compiled a 187-79-2 record. In 1998, Dunn was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and CGA Central Region Coach of the Year. He has led the Hawkeyes to 18 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. Iowa has competed at the NCAA meet 18 of the past 21 seasons. Dunn has also coached 29 individuals to 58 all-America honors and 19 gymnasts to 31 Big Ten titles.
NEXT COMPETITION — The Hawkeyes travel to Champaign, IL to take on top-ranked Illinois, March 5. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Huff Hall.