March 15, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The fifth-ranked Penn State men's gymnastics team will close out its regular season schedule on Saturday, March 19 when it visits Norman, Okla. for an 8 p.m. ET tri-meet with host No. 2 Oklahoma and Big Ten foe No. 4 Illinois at the Sooners' McCasland Field House. The 2011 finale completes a three-week long road odyssey for the unbeaten Nittany Lions that saw them log over a total of 7,000 travel miles on trips to two far-off regions of the United States and to the Caribbean.
Last weekend, Penn State overcame road weariness, the distraction of Caribbean climes, and a wave of illness that struck the squad to defeat the Puerto Rico National Team, 342.500-340.550, in San Juan. Despite scoring below their season average in four events, the Lions were able to win the still rings, parallel bars, and high bar.
Individually, redshirt junior Warren Yang (Nepean, Ont.) and sophomore Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) shared the parallel bars title while junior Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio) placed first in the still rings. Freshman Wasef Burbar (Arlington Heights, Ill.) set a personal career and team season best score in the high bar (15.150) for the second consecutive week to place second in the event and move into a fourth place tie in the Penn State record book. Returning to compete in his native country, freshman Nestor Rodriguez (Guaynabo, P.R.) contributed top three finishes in the still rings, parallel bars, and high bar.
A traditional powerhouse program boasting eight national championships, Oklahoma is once again considered to be one of the favorites to claim the NCAA title in 2011. The Sooners are undefeated on the season entering the final week prior to postseason, garnering signature wins over No. 1 Stanford (357.500-352.000), No. 3 Cal (360.850-357.750), and defending national champion Michigan (357.750-355.400).
Possessing a three score average of 359.933 and a season high score of 360.850, Oklahoma is nationally ranked in the top three in every event, including No. 1 in the floor exercise, pommel horse, vault and parallel bars (tie). Individually, senior Steven Legendre, a six-time national champion and sure-fire top Nissen-Emery Award candidate, is the nation's top floor exercise competitor and all-arounder and is also highly ranked in the vault (No. 2) and high bar (No. 4). Sophomore Jake Dalton has established himself as the next great Oklahoma gymnast, earning the No. 1 position in the vault and the No. 2 rankings in the floor exercise and the all-around. Redshirt senior Ian Jackson and sophomore Alex Naddour have also played key roles in Oklahoma's success this season.
Despite the loss of Paul Ruggeri, one of the nation's top gymnasts, earlier in the year to injury, Illinois remains a factor in the chase for a Big Ten and national title. Senior Daniel Ribeiro is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the pommel horse and is among the favorites to win the 2011 NCAA crown in the event. Two-time All-American Chad Wiest is highly ranked in the floor exercise (No. 4) while junior Anthony Sacramento is among the nation's top still rings performers (No. 7). Junior Tyler Mizoguchi, who is ranked in the floor exercise and parallel bars, is in position to challenge for the all-around title in 2011. Freshman Jordan Valdez has made an impact in the Illini's parallel bars and high bar line-ups in his first collegiate season.
Penn State possesses a 2-13 record in its all-time series with Oklahoma, one of just two existing programs against which the Nittany Lions are below the .500 winning percentage mark. A year ago, PSU fell to the Sooners, 359.250-354.450, in Rec Hall, the Lions' fourth consecutive setback to Oklahoma. Penn State last defeated OU in 2000, a narrow 230.350-230.100 victory, as a prelude to head coach Randy Jepson's first national title.
The Nittany Lions upped their series record versus Illinois to 23-8 earlier this year when they got title wins from sophomores Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.) (rings) and Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) (vault) to edge out the Illini, 352.100-351.000, in Champaign on Feb. 12.
Fans can follow all of the action as Penn State goes head-to-head with Oklahoma and Illinois on the Internet with live scoring updates. Find links on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State will return to action in two weeks when it travels to Champaign, Ill. to seek their third conference title at the 2011 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships. The annual competition will take place from April 1-2 at Huff Hall on the host campus of the University of Illinois. On Friday, the team and all-around champions will be crowned while Saturday's action will feature the individual event finals. Both nights of competition are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live by the Big Ten Network in high definition.