Jan. 8, 2007
THIS WEEK
The Iowa men’s gymnastics team will open the season at the Windy City Invitational Saturday in Chicago. The meet is hosted by the University of Illinois-Chicago. Competition will begin at 7 p.m. in the UIC Physical Education Building. Teams competing against Iowa include; Illinois-Chicago, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan.
SEASON PREVIEW
The Hawkeyes begin the season as the seventh-ranked team in the country. Iowa finished third at the 2006 Big Ten Championships.
LAST YEAR AT THE WINDY CITY INVITE
Iowa finished fourth (six teams) scoring 205.9. Hawkeye Geoff Reins won the vault scoring a 9.4 and Tom Buese finished second on horizontal bar (9.3).
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
Iowa returns 10 lettermen from 2006 when it finished with an 8-10 overall record and third-place finish as host of the Big Ten Championships. All-American Curtis Kleffman will lead the Hawkeyes. Jonathan Buese, Dustin Cranmer, Danny Kuklinski, Joel Snyder and Reid Urbain are all newcomers to the 2007 roster. Kleffman and Bryan Bourland are the 2007 team captains. Jacques Bouchard returns as team leader on rings, scoring an Iowa best 9.5 last season.
HEAD COACH Tom Dunn
In his 28th year at Iowa, Head Coach Tom Dunn, has recorded a 207-97-2 record at Iowa. In 1998 and 2006, Dunn was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and College Gymnastics Association Central Region Coach of the Year. He has led the Hawkeyes to 17 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. Iowa has competed at the NCAA meet 17 of the past 22 seasons. Dunn has also coached 32 individuals to 64 all-America honors and 20 gymnasts to 32 Big Ten titles.
HAWKEYES RANKED IN PRESEASON POLLS
The Iowa men’s gymnastics team is ranked seventh in the GymInfo pre-season coaches poll.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Tom Dunn
“The 2007 Big Ten’s Men’s Gymnastics Preseason Poll has the Hawkeyes in last place, and I am hopeful we can change that mindset right off the bat at the Windy City Invitational. We won’t be at full strength, but I think we can be competitive in a very strong field. You never know for sure what will happen in the first meet and that adds to the excitement. We are all anxious to get started.”
NEXT COMPETITION
The Hawkeyes will travel to Ann Arbor, MI January 20th to compete against the Michigan Wolverines. Competition begins at 6 p.m.