Iowa Hosts UIC on Sunday

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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team hosts  University of Illinois-Chicago in its first home meet of the regular season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday. Competition is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. (CT).

PROMOTIONS

• Sunday is Kid’s Day. All Junior Hawk Club Members are invited. Virtual backpacks will be sent out to all schools in the area. 
• A Kids Zone will be available for young Hawkeye fans prior to the meet. Herky the Hawk will make an appearance for pictures. 
• Season ticket holders can pick up their free Iowa men’s gymnastics pullover at the east entrance. 
• Gymnasts will be available on the east side of the arena floor for autographs after the meet. 

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow the meet online through live stats. A link to live stats will be available on the Iowa men’s gymnastics schedule page at hawkeyesports.com. Fans can also follow along with updates on Twitter (@mensgymiowa) and Facebook (iowagymnastics). 

LAST TIME OUT    
Iowa traveled to Chicago for the 47th Annual Windy City Invitational, hosted by UIC. The Hawkeyes opened with a fifth-place finish and a final team score of 387.550. Individually, senior Andrew Botto placed eighth on vault with a score of 14.150 and ninth on high bar with a score of 13.650. Junior Dylan Ellsworth’s score of 13.700 on parallel bars earned him a seventh place finish. Four freshmen made their Hawkeye debut; Andrew Herrador (high bar, floor, pommel horse), Mitch Mandozzi (parallel bars), Nick Merryman (parallel bars, high bar, pommel horse, rings), and Josh Zeal (floor, vault).

SEASON TICKETS
Iowa men’s gymnastics season tickets are on sale for $20. Season ticket holders gain admission to three home meets. Youth, 18 and under can attend home competitions for free. To purchase season tickets, visit hawkeyesports.com or contact the UI Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-IA-HAWKS.

IN THE RANKINGS

• Iowa is ranked No. 11 in the Jan. 15 Coaches Poll.
• The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 15 in the Road to Nationals Poll. 

SCOUTING THE  FIELD

• UIC will clash with Iowa for the second straight week. The Hawkeyes defeated UIC at the Windy City Invitational on Jan. 14 (387.550-360.250).
• UIC finished the 2016 regular season ranked No. 19.
• Head coach Charley Nelson is in his 21st season with the program.

TWO HAWKEYES NAMED TO WATCH LIST
Juniors Dylan Ellsworth and Austin Hodges were named to the 2017 Big Ten Men’s Gymnasts to Watch list, the conference office announced Dec. 15. 

• Ellsworth placed fifth overall during event finals at the Big Ten Championships last season. He went on to tie for 26th on vault and 18th on parallel bars during the second day of of the 2016 NCAA championships.
• Hodges recorded a career-best score of 14.725 on pommel horse to finish seventh at the Big Ten Championships and ended the 2016 season with a 25th place finish on high bar during day two of the NCAA Championships. 

HAWKEYE NEWCOMERS
The Hawkeyes welcome six freshmen to the team in 2017: Andrew Herrador, Mitch Mandozzi, Nick Merryman, Brandon Wong, Kirill YeFremenko, and Josh Zeal. 

• Herrador placed second at the 2015 California State Championship. He competed at the P&G Championships in 2015 where he placed 24th in all-around and fourth on high bar.  
• Mandozzi placed first on vault at the Massachusetts state competition. 
• Merryman, a two-time Junior Olympics National Team member, competed at the 2016 P&G Championships where he placed second on high bar, fourth on parallel bars, and eighth on pommel horse.  
• Wong, a five-time Junior Olympic National Qualifier, placed first on rings and fourth in all-around at the 2016 California State Competition. He finished runner-up in all-around at both the 2016 Cal Benefit Cup and the 2016 Stanford Open.
• YeFremenko competed at the 2016 BlackJack Men’s Championship & Winter Cup Challenge where he placed 12th on all around and seventh on high bar. 
• Zeal placed first in all-around, pommel horse, and vault at the Illinois State Competition. 

RETURNING EXPERIENCE 
Iowa returns 12-of-18 gymnasts from last season. Senior Cory Paterson and juniors Dylan Ellsworth and Austin Hodges look to continue from their impressive showings from day two of the NCAA Championships last year. Paterson tied for 37th on high bar (13.750), Ellsworth tied for 26th on vault (14.700) and 18th  on parallel bars (13.700) and Hodges tied for 25th on high bar (14.350). 

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2017 men’s gymnastics team breaks down into six freshmen, four sophomores, three juniors and four seniors.

SCORING CHANGES
A new scoring system will be implemented this year.  The new system eliminates an element category in five of the six events, which means that each gymnast will do one less skill in their routine.  The old scoring system was based off of five element groups.  The result of the change is that each gymnast’s score will be .500 points lower than before and team scores will be 15 points lower.

2016 SEASON IN REVIEW

• For the second season in a row Iowa, qualified for team finals at the 2016 NCAA Championship in Columbus, Ohio. Iowa competed in the team qualifiers where they placed fourth overall. Five Hawkeyes qualified for individual events; senior Matt Loochtan, senior Jack Boyle, junior Cory Paterson, sophomore Dylan Ellsworth, and sophomore Austin Hodges. 
• At the 2016 Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio, the Hawkeyes placed fifth overall. Five gymnasts qualified for individual finals, including Boyle, Loochtan, Hodges, Ellsworth, and senior Doug Sullivan. Iowa scored above a 430.000 team score for the first time in team history. They accomplished this feat twice in 2016 with a 430.850 against Illinois and a 431.150 at UIC.

NEW FACE
Former University of Iowa Gymnast Thomas Buese was named the University of Iowa men’s gymnastics assistant coach in August. Buese competed for the Hawkeyes from 2005-08. He was a four-time letterwinner and was team captain in 2008. 

8 GYMNASTS NAMED ALL-AMERICAN SCHOLAR ATHLETES
Cyrus Dobre-Mofid, Austin Hodges, Jack Boyle, Cory Patterson, Andrew Botto, Kevin Johnson, Mark Springett and Todd Beyer were named All-American Scholar Athletes for the 2016 season by the College Gymnastics Association. Dobre-Mofid, Boyle, and Hodges all earned first team All-American Scholar Athletes honors, while Paterson, Botto, Springett, Beyer, and Johnson earned second team All-American Scholar Athlete honors. Iowa placed ninth in the country with a team GPA of 3.126. This marks the first top-10 finish in head Coach JD Reive’s tenure. 

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
For an inside look at the Iowa men’s gymnastics program and access to exclusive coverage, “like” Iowa Men’s Gymnastics on Facebook and follow @MensGymIowa on Twitter and @IowaMGym on Instagram.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes hit the road when they travel to Berkeley, California to compete against the University of Californinia on Feb. 6. The meet will take place at Hass Pavilion with competition scheduled to start at 5 p.m. (CT).