March 24, 2012
LINCOLN, Neb. – The No. 12 University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team topped its season high team score by over five points in its final regular season meet of the year against No. 9 Nebraska on Saturday evening. The Hawkeyes scored a 343.350 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, besting its previous best of 338.200 set at Minnesota. The Cornhuskers won with a 349.600.
The Hawkeyes will compete at the Big Ten Championships next in Iowa’s very own Carver-Hawkeye Arena on April 6 and 7. Action both days is slated to begin at 7 p.m. in the final competition before the NCAA Qualifier.
“We put up a good score, our best of the season, even with a lot of errors,” said head coach JD Reive. “I think our guys understand how much higher we can make that score go, because we’re not anywhere near our full potential yet. We will get there if we focus at the task at hand, and we have two weeks to work on that before the conference championships.”
The Hawkeyes had three first place individual finishes and three runner-up finishes. Junior Anton Gryshayev placed first on rings, freshman Mitchell Landau placed first on parallel bars and junior Broderick Shemansky placed first on all-around. Junior Matt McGrath had three second place finishes.
“Gryshayev destroyed the record on rings, Brody (Shemansky) hit five-of-six routines, and McGrath and Landau were solid,” said Reive. “We had a lot of performances to be proud of.”
McGrath led Iowa on floor exercise with a team season best score of 15.250 to finish runner-up. McGrath, a Wheaton, Ill. native, holds the school record on the event with a 15.500 set last season. Sophomore Angelo Bronzino scored a 14.300 on floor, just one-tenth away from tying his career best mark. Freshman Brandon Field (14.000) and Gryshayev (13.950) also provided counting scores.
Landau led Iowa on pommel horse with a third-place finish. The Iowa City native scored a career best 14.150 on the event to lead the team. Shemansky (13.800), Gryshayev (13.550) and senior Zach Cazabon (13.100) also paced Iowa on pommel.
Gryshayev crushed his previous school record on rings, scoring a 15.750 on the event to place first. Only three scores nationally this season have been above 15.750. The top seven scores on rings in program history have all been posted by Gryshayev. McGrath placed runner-up on rings with a 14.900, which was a season best mark for him. Shemansky (14.550) and Bronzino (14.550) also led the Hawkeyes. Iowa defeated Nebraska on rings, 59.750-58.050.
McGrath placed second on vault, scoring a 15.050 on the event. If not for the new rule change taking a point off all vault scores, McGrath’s score would have been just two and a half tenths away from tying the school record set by Geoff Reins in 2008. Shemansky (14.550), Gryshayev (14.550) and Landau (13.850) also added counting scores for Iowa.
Landau led the Hawkeyes on parallel bars, posting a 14.650 to place tied for first on the event with Nebraska’s Wyatt Aycock and Andres Hofer. McClay was only half a tenth away from joining Landau with a first place finish as McClay scored a 14.600 to place fourth. McGrath (14.400) and junior Javier Balboa (14.300) paced Iowa on the event as well.
Shemansky set a new team season best mark on high bar, scoring a 14.650 on the event. Landau (14.600), sophomore Samuel Wright (14.050) and Field (12.250) also posted counting scores.
Iowa’s lone all-arounder, Shemansky, won the competition with an 84.200. Shemansky has won three all-around titles this season.