No. 8 Iowa Hosts Nebraska for Senior Night

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THIS WEEK
The No. 8 University of Iowa men’s gymnastics hosts No. 7 Nebraska on Monday in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  Competition is scheduled to being at 6 p.m. (CT). The meet will air live on the Big Ten Network. 

PROMOTIONS

• Monday is Senior Night. Three seniors will be honored for their accomplishments after the meet.
• The first 100 fans will receive a black Iowa men’s gymnastics t-shirt.
• A Kids Zone will be available for young Hawkeye fans prior to the meet and will include coloring and tattoos. Doors open at 5 p.m. (CT). 
• Season ticket holders can pick up their free Iowa men’s gymnastics pullover at the east entrance.
• Iowa gymnasts will sign autographs on the south side of the arena floor after the meet.

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow the meet on the Big Ten Network. They can also follow online through live stats. A link 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 finished second in a tri-meet against No. 5 Minnesota and No. 15 Arizona State on March 11 in Minneapolis. 
• The Hawkeyes beat Arizona State, 406.850-391.700, and lost to Minnesota, 411.200-406.850.
• Junior Austin Hodges won the event title on parallel bars with a score of 14.050.
• Senior Andrew Botto finished runner-up in the all-around with a score of 79.950.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS
The 2017 Big Ten Championships will be hosted by the University of Illinois on April 7-8. Tickets are on sale now. To purchase tickets, visit fightingillini.com or contact the Illinois Ticket Office at 1-866-ILLINI-1. 

IN THE RANKINGS

• Iowa is ranked No. 8 in the Road to Nationals Poll. 
• The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 8 in the March 13 Coaches Poll.

AROUND THE NATION
As a team, Iowa is ranked fourth on vault, sixth on high bar, eighth on rings and 10th on parallel bars.

SCOUTING THE CORNHUSKERS

• No. 7 Nebraska finished first in a tri-meet against Iowa and Penn State on March 4. 
• The Cornhuskers are ranked No. 3 on floor, No. 5 on vault, No. 6 on parallel bars, No. 8 on pommel horse, No. 9 on rings, and tied for ninth on high bar.  

IN THE RANKINGS

• Senior Andrew Botto is tied for 10th on vault (14.667), ranked No. 13 on the all-around (80.600)and tied for 19th on rings (14.083). 
• Senior Mark Springett is tied for 17th on floor (14.183) and ranked No. 28 on rings (13.917).
• Senior Cory Paterson is ranked No. 27 on high bar with a four-score average of 13.800. 
• Junior Austin Hodges is ranked No. 20 on pommel horse (14.017), No. 24 on high bar (13.833) and tied for 25th on parallel bars (13.917).
• Junior Elijah Parsells is tied for 24th on pommel horse with a four-score average of 13.767.
• Junior Dylan Ellsworth is ranked No. 12 on vault with a four-score average of 14.650.
• Freshman Josh Zeal is tied for 29th on vault with a four-score average of 14.267.
• Freshman Andrew Herrador is ranked No. 28 on high bar with a four-score average of 13.750. 

A POWERHOUSE CONFERENCE
The Big Ten Conference has been dominant this season. Of the top 10 teams listed on roadtonationals.com, seven are from the Big Ten, including No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 8 Iowa and No. 10 Michigan.

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. 

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

FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTORS

• Five freshmen have found their way into the Iowa lineup this season. 
• Andrew Herrador has competed in every meet for the Hawkeyes this season, making the lineup on floor, pommel horse, vault and high bar. He posted season-high scores on floor (13.750) and vault (14.250) against Minnesota and Oklahoma on Feb. 10. He recorded a season-high 14.150 and won the event title on high bar at Nebraska on March 4. 
• Mitch Mandozzi has competed in six meets for the Hawkeyes this season, making the lineup on vault and parallel bars. He posted a season-high 13.500 on parallel bars against Minnesota and Oklahoma on Feb. 10. 
• Nick Merryman has competed in every meet for the Hawkeyes this season, making the lineup on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and high bar. He made to the final session at the Winter Cup Challenge on Feb. 18 where he posted a season-high 13.900 on pommel horse. 
• Brandon Wong has competed twice for Iowa on rings. He recorded a season-best 12.300 at California on Feb 6. 
• Josh Zeal has competed in six meets this season on floor and vault. He notched a season-high 14.600 on vault against Minnesota and Arizona State.

SCORING CHANGES
A new scoring system has been 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.

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 letter winner and was team captain in 2008. 

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 travel to University Park, Pennsylvania, to face Penn State on March 25. Competition is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (CT).