March 12, 2016
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By JACK ROSSI
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The No. 8 University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team sent its seniors off in upset fashion with a victory over No. 4 Minnesota, 435.650-433.550, inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena Saturday night. Senior Jack Boyle bested his own Iowa school record of 86.800 with an 87.600 effort in the all-around to lead the Hawkeyes.
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“Today went quite well,” head coach JD Reive said. “This sport has its ups and downs. Today we came out and said, `do it for the seniors and do it as a team.’
“We did that in every sense. We still missed some things here and there, but overall this was a great competition with the team we knew we had all along.”
Iowa started the night strong on floor exercise, setting a season-high on the event (74.200). Senior Matt Loochtan won the individual title with a season-high 15.500, followed by Boyle’s 15.000 for fifth place. Freshman Jake Brodarzon used a career-high 14.850 score to tie for sixth.
On pommel horse, senior Doug Sullivan placed second overall, tallying a 14.700. Del Vecchio Orozco finished a spot back in third place with a season-best score of 14.500, while senior Emmanuel Monroy finished fifth with a score of 14.200.
Iowa moved on to rings and set another season-high team score with a 74.450. Loochtan and Boyle took the top two spots with season-high efforts of 15.450 and 15.300, respectively. Sophomore Dylan Ellsworth also recorded a season-high (14.800) to finish fourth.
Ellsworth claimed Iowa’s fourth event title of the evening on vault with a score of 15.150. Junior David Spanier tied for second, tallying a 14.650, while junior Andrew Botto finished fifth with a 14.500.
Minnesota came back strong on parallel bars, taking the top two spots. Boyle tied for third, falling 0.100 short of a season-high with a 14.900. Ellsworth followed in fifth with a 14.850, and Loochtan tied for seventh with a 14.500.
The meet came down to the final rotation on high bar with the Hawkeyes leading the Gophers by 4.300.
The Hawkeyes closed the door on Minnesota with strong performances by junior Cory Paterson and Boyle. Paterson placed second on high bar with a season-high score of 15.000 in his first competition since January 30. Boyle tallied a 14.500 to finish fourth, while freshman Rogelio Vazquez tied for fifth with a 14.200 effort.
After celebrating its win over the Gophers, Iowa recognized Boyle, Loochtan, Orozco, Monroy, Cyrus Dobre-Mofid, and Sullivan for Senior Night. Families escorted the Hawkeyes on to the floor where they received framed photos and watched senior highlight videos.
It was the perfect ending to an exciting evening and excellent careers.
“Jack crushed it,” Reive said. “The seniors came in tonight and really performed.”
The Hawkeyes are back in action on March 12 for their season finale at No. 7 Nebraska. The meet is slated to begin at 2 p.m. (CT).
