March 17, 2012
IOWA CITY – The No. 12 University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team fell to third-rated Illinois, 350.450-337.800, Saturday evening inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes had four top-three individual finishes and came just four-tenths away from tying their season high team score.
“Consistency during this week of practice led to consistency tonight in competition, which is good. That’s always something you want,” said head coach JD Reive. “We held together on a lot of things that were better, but we also dropped the ball on some things, and we left a lot to be improved upon.”
The Hawkeyes started the competition on floor exercise, where they set a season best team score of 56.300. Iowa was led by junior Broderick Shemasnky, who set a career best score on the event with a 14.500. Junior Matt McGrath (14.400), junior Anton Gryshayev (13.800) and sophomore Angelo Bronzino (13.600) also paced the Hawkeyes.
Iowa kept the momentum rolling from there, posting another event season best team score. The Hawkeyes scored a 55.300 on pommel horse, topping their previous high mark by five-tenths. Junior Javier Balboa led Iowa with a 14.050. Balboa, who has competed on all-around four times this season, didn’t compete in any other event as the Monterrey, Mexico native is battling injuries. Shemansky (13.900), Gryshayev (13.750) and senior Adam Wilson (13.600) round out the other counting Iowa scores.
The Hawkeyes had two top-four finishes on rings as Gryshayev earned runner-up honors and McGrath placed fourth. Gryshayev scored a 14.850 to place second only to Illinois’ C.J. Maestas. McGrath scored a 14.300 to place tied for fourth. Bronzino (14.000) and Shemansky (13.800) also paced Iowa on the event.
Gryshayev and McGrath also led the way on vault as each placed tied for third. Both had scores of 14.650 to led Iowa on event. Shemasnky (14.400) placed fifth. Bronzino scored a 13.800 to round out the counting scores.
Freshman Mitchell Landau led the Hawkeyes on parallel bars, posting a 14.500 on the event to place third. Sophomore Jack McClay placed tied for fourth, scoring a career best mark of 14.450 on the event. McGrath (13.800) and Gryshayev (13.250) also paced Iowa on parallel bars.
Iowa finished the meet by setting a new season best team score on high bar, scoring a 55.750 to edge out its previous best mark. The Hawkeyes were led by Bronzino and sophomore Samuel Wright on the event, as each scored a 14.100 to place tied for fourth. The score tied a new career best mark for Bronzino, and set a new career best mark for Wright. Iowa was also led by freshman Brandon Field (13.850) and Landau (13.700) on the event.
Shemansky placed third on all-around, scoring an 80.750. Shemansky has competed on all-around in five meets this season.
The Hawkeyes will finish the regular season next Saturday, March 24th, at Nebraska. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. (CT). Iowa will be hosting the Big Ten Championships inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena from April 6-7.