Jan. 15, 2011
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CHICAGO, Illinois –The Iowa men’s gymnastics team kicked off their 2011 season and also kicked off the JD Reive era tonight in Chicago at the 41st Windy City Invitational. First-year head coach Reive and the Hawkeyes opened the year with a fifth place finish out of six squads.
The youthful Hawkeyes scored a 332.800 to edge out the host Illinois-Chicago for fifth place, but fell to the other four Big Ten squads in action. Sophomore Anton Gryshayev came away with the top finish for Iowa, scoring a 14.500 on rings to place fifth. Last season, Gryshayev also placed fifth at this tournament on rings in his freshman campaign.
John Haines, one of three seniors on this year’s team, lead the Black and Gold on floor exercise with an 11th place finish and a score of 14.200. Sophomore Matt McGrath paced Iowa on the floor exercise as well with a 13.700, helping Iowa total a 54.500 team score on the event.
It was fellow senior Ben Ketelsen who led the way for the Hawkeyes on pommel horse, earning a score of 13.400 to place 19th. Gryshayev (13.200) and sophomore Broderick Shemansky (13.100) weren’t far behind, placing 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Hawkeye newcomer Javier Balboa, a transfer student from Monterrey, Mexico, walked away with Iowa’s top score on vault with a 15.300, earning a tie for 11th place as Gryshayev also scored a 15.300. Iowa earned a team score of 60.500 on the event, marking Iowa’s highest team event total.
Redshirt freshman Jack McClay scored a 14.400 to place ninth on parallel bars to give Iowa one of their highest individual finishes, while Iowa tallied a 55.300 on the event. Balboa also came in 17th with a 13.900.
Ketelsen and Balboa earned solid showings on the horizontal bar as well, placing sixth and eighth. Ketelson scored a 14.100, and Balboa earned a 14.000. Senior returning All-American Mike Jiang (13.800, 12th) and freshman Lance Alberhasky (13.700, 13th) also placed in the top-20.
The Hawkeyes competed with Big Ten opponents Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio State as well as the host team Illinois-Chicago. The Hawkeyes will debut at home for their next event, facing Illinois-Chicago inside the Field House on Saturday the 22nd with a 5:00 p.m. start time.