April 19, 2012
NORMAN, Okla. – The 11th-seeded University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team scored a 336.650 and placed sixth in the first qualifying session of the NCAA Championships on Thursday at the Lloyd Noble Arena. The Hawkeyes had three individuals qualify to the individual event semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. (CT).
Sixth-seeded Michigan won the session with a 353.450, followed by No. 2 Penn State (353.000), No. 3 Stanford (348.500), No. 7 Ohio State (345.350) and No. 10 Nebraska (340.550).
Juniors Javier Balboa and Broderick Shemansky qualified on all-around while junior Anton Gryshayev qualified on rings.
“We did our job and did what we have consistently done this season, so it was an appropriate team finish for us,” said head coach JD Reive. “We fell short on a couple things, but that can happen with the nerves of an NCAA meet. It was important for us to be a part of this and learn from it, and it was fun to be around this level of competition.
Balboa placed fifth on all-around with an 84.100. The Monterrey, Mexico, native scored a 13.550 on floor exercise, a 14.100 on rings, a 14.550 on vault, a 15.050 on parallel bars and a 14.00 on high bar. Balboa’s score on parallel bars broke his own school record and was the fourth best score on the event in the entire qualifier.
Shemansky, who placed sixth on all-around at the Big Ten Championships to earn first team All-Big Ten honors, placed seventh on all-around. The Los Gatos, Calif., native scored a 13.250 on floor exercise, a 13.500 on pommel horse, a 12.650 on rings, a 13.200 on vault, a 13.850 on parallel bars and a 13.950 on high bar.
“This will be a great experience for our two all-arounders to have a full competition on six events in the most competitive meet in the world aside from the Olympics,” said Reive. “They deserve to be out there, and have a big opportunity from it.”
Gryshayev, who broke his own school record on rings earlier this season, placed third on the event out of the entire session. Gryshayev, a native of Littleton, Colo., scored a 14.900.
“He (Gryshayev) was third overall in a meet with some huge guys on rings, so it truly was a great routine for him,” said Reive. “He has great potential on rings, and if he goes out and does what he is capable of, he has a great chance to be an All-American.”
The Hawkeyes scored a 56.650 on floor exercise as junior Matt McGrath led the way with a 14.550. Freshman Devin Clarke also paced Iowa on the event, scoring a 14.300.
Gryshayev also led Iowa on pommel horse with a 13.900 on the event. Senior Adam Wilson’s routine scored a 13.750 to score for Iowa also. Iowa scored a 54.100 on the event. Gryshayev (14.900) and Balboa (14.100) led Iowa on rings, and sophomore Angelo Bronzino also provided a counting score with a 13.250 as Iowa scored a 55.350 on the event.
The Hawkeyes scored a 58.100 on vault as freshman Brandon Field led the way for the Black and Gold with a 14.600. Balboa (14.550) and Clarke (14.500) also led the team.
Balboa’s big score on parallel bars led Iowa to a 57.650 team score on the event. Senior Zach Cazabon (14.300) and freshman Mitchell Landau (14.100) also provided solid scores for Iowa.
Iowa finished with a 54.800 on high bar, led by Balboa (14.000) and Shemansky (13.950). Bronzino (13.550) and Field (13.300) also led the Hawkeyes.
“This has been a great experience, and closing my second year as head coach here, we are ready to move up,” said Reive. “We expect a lot from this program next year, and we expect to be competing as a team on day two of this event next year.
Balboa, Shemansky and Gryshayev will compete in the individual event semifinals tomorrow at 7 p.m. (CT) with the chance to advance to Saturday’s finals and compete for All-America honors.
2012 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships
Session I
1 – Michigan, 353.450
2 – Penn State, 353.000
3 – Stanford, 348.500
4 – Ohio State, 345.350
5 – Nebraska, 340.550
6 – Iowa, 336.650