Two Hawkeyes Compete in Final Day of Big Ten Championships

April 2, 2011

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CHAMPAIGN, Illinois – The University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team had two gymnasts compete in the final day of the Big Ten Championships. Senior Mike Jiang and sophomore Matt McGrath both were in action for the No. 10 Hawkeyes in the individual event finals at Huff Hall.

“This was a great learning experience for our team with such great competition,” said head coach JD Reive, coaching in his first Big Ten Championships. “We came out here with high expectations and fell a little bit short, but overall this was the experience they needed to grow as we rebuild this program.”

McGrath earned a seventh-place finish on floor exercise. McGrath, who is ranked seventh nationally in the event, scored a 14.300.

Jiang, a returning all-American, placed ninth on pommel horse. Jiang’s routine scored a 12.950. Jiang is ranked 12th in the nation on the event, and placed seventh on pommel horse last season at the NCAA Championships.

“McGrath hit his routine, but jumped around a little too much and didn’t quite have everything come together,” said Reive. “Mike was doing pretty well, but fell off the pommel. I’m proud of these two guys. They will get better from this.”

As a team, the Hawkeyes will now play the waiting game to see if they will advance to the NCAA National Qualifier. The qualifying event will be Thursday, April 14th, and the announcement will likely be made Monday to determine which teams will be in action. Iowa placed sixth in the team competition of the Big Ten Championships on Friday with team score of 339.300.

12 teams will be selected to compete at Columbus, Ohio in the National Qualifier, which will be broken down into two tournaments with six teams competing at each tournament. The top three teams at each qualifier will advance to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA Championships will be April 15th and April 16th at Columbus as well.

2011 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPSIndividual Event Finals Results
FLOOR EXERCISE1. Chad Wiest (ILL), 15.4002. Jeff Treleaven (OSU), 14.9503. Warren Yang (PSU), 14.8504. Alex Varga (ILL), 14.6505. Parker Raque (PSU), 14.6006. Tyler Mizoguchi (ILL), 14.3507. Matt McGrath (IOWA), 14.3008. Matt Chelberg (PSU), 13.9509. Rohan Sebastian (Mich), 13.9009. Zach Chase (Minn), 13.900
POMMEL HORSE1. Daniel Ribeiro (ILL), 15.9002. Ty Echard (OSU), 15.4003. Adam Hamers (Mich), 14.1004. C.J. Padera (ILL), 14.0505. Yoshi Mori (ILL), 14.0006. Tyler Mizoguchi (ILL), 13.9507. Adrian Evans (PSU), 13.8508. John Laing (OSU), 13.7509. Mike Jiang (IOWA), 12.95010 Sam Mikulak (Mich), 11.400="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>