Men's Gymnastics Travels to Penn State for Regular Season Finale

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THIS WEEK
The No. 8 University of Iowa men’s gymnastics team travels to University Park, Pennsylvania, to compete against No. 6 Penn State in a dual-meet on Saturday. Competition is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Recreation Building. The meet will air live on the Big Ten Network. 

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow the meet on Big Ten Network. They can also follow online through live streaming and live stats. A link to both 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 defeated No. 7 Nebraska, 408.300-400.000, on March 20.
• Senior Andrew Botto won the all-around crown with a score of 78.700.
• Senior Cory Paterson won the event title on high bar with a season-best score of 14.400.
• Junior Austin Hodges won the pommel horse event title with a score of 14.500.
• Senior Mark Springett won the rings event title with a score of 13.750.

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 20 Coaches Poll.

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

SCOUTING THE FIELD

• No. 6 Penn State defeated No. 10 Michigan, 409.200-405.300, on March 18.
• The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 3 on pommel horse and rings, No. 4 on parallel bars and No. 9 on floor, vault and high bar. 
•  Iowa defeated Penn State, 413.550-409.600, in a tri-meet with Nebraska on March 4. 

IN THE RANKINGS

• Senior Andrew Botto is tied for 12th on vault (14.667), 19th on rings (14.083) and ranks No. 13 in the all-around (80.600) based on his four-score average on roadtonationals.com.
• Senior Cory Paterson is No. 27 on high bar with a four-score average of 13.800. 
• Senior Mark Springett is No. 18th on floor (14.183) and No. 29 on rings (13.917). 
• Junior Dylan Ellsworth is ranked No. 14 on vault with a four-score average of 14.650.
• Junior Austin Hodges is No. 21 on pommel horse (14.017), No. 26 oh high bar (13.833) and tied for 26th on parallel bars (13.917).
• Junior Elijah Parsells is tied for 26th on pommel horse with a four-score average of 13.767.
• Freshman Andrew Herrador is tied for 28th 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 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 recorded a season-high 14.150 and won the event title on high bar at Nebraska on March 4. He notched a season-high on floor (13.950) and vault (14.400) against Nebraska on March 20. 
• 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 seven events this season on floor and vault. He notched a season-high 14.600 on vault at Minnesota on March 11.

ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN
Seven University of Iowa men’s gymnasts were named to the 2017 Big Ten Winter Academic All-Conference team. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten, student-athletes must be letterwinners and be in at least their second academic year at the institution. They must also carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. Seniors Andrew Botto, Cory Paterson, David Spanier and Mark Springett, junior Austin Hodges, and sophomores Todd Beyer and Jake Brodarzon were named to the Academic All-Conference Team. 

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 Champaign, Illinois to compete at the Big Ten Championships on April 7-8. Competition is scheduled to being at 7 p.m. (CT) at Huff Hall.