March 21, 2012
THIS WEEK: The No. 12 University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team will conclude the regular season Saturday at ninth-ranked Nebraska. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. (CT) inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: The Cornhuskers are coming off a second place finish in a tri-meet against Oklahoma and Air Force. Iowa met Nebraska earlier this season in Iowa City for a tri-meet, as Nebraska beat Iowa’s team score by two points. The Cornhuskers have five ranked gymnasts
LAST TIME OUT: The Hawkeyes came four-tenths away from tying its season high team score against third-ranked Illinois. Iowa fell short, 350.450-337.800. Iowa had four top-three individual finishes, and set a season high event team score on floor exercise, pommel horse and high bar. Junior Anton Gryshayev placed second on rings (14.850), junior Matt McGrath and Gryshayev each tied for third on vault (14.650) and freshman Mitchell Landau placed third on parallel bars (14.500).
SHEMANSKY STEPPING UP: Junior Broderick Shemasnky placed third on all-around against Illinois, scoring an 80.750. The Los Gatos, Calif., native also won his second all-around title of the season against Minnesota and Brockport, topping the field with a career best mark of 84.200.
IN THE RANKINGS: Iowa is ranked 12th in the GymInfo rankings for the fourth straight week. Three Hawkeye gymnasts are nationally ranked. Junior Javier Balboa is ranked seventh on parallel bars and 12th on all-around. Shemansky is also ranked 19th on all-around. Gryshayev is ranked 18th on rings.
BIG TEN NETWORK: The Hawkeyes had two televised meets this season by the Big Ten Network, and both days of the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Iowa April 6-7, will be televised live at 7 p.m. (CT).
HEAD COACH JD Reive: JD Reive is in his second season at the helm of the program after a record-setting season his first year at Iowa. Six gymnasts punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships under Reive’s guidance. Iowa also broke four team records and five individual records. Reive came to Iowa after serving as an assistant coach at Stanford from 2003-10, where he helped coach 44 All-Americans.
UP NEXT: Iowa will host the Big Ten Championships in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on April 6 and 7. The team and all-around competition will begin at 7 p.m. (CT) Friday. The individual event final competition begins at 7 p.m. (CT) Saturday.