Feb. 15, 2007

URBANA, Ill. - - After a week break from team competition, the No. 5-ranked Illinois men's gymnastics team returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 18 when it travels to No. 2 Penn State in a 6 p.m. (CST) meet at Rec Hall. In Illinois' last outing, juniors Wes Haagensen and Tyler Yamauchi traveled to the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas where Haagensen finished seventh in the all-around and Yamauchi carded a 27th-place outing. Sophomore Chris Lung also made the trip to the prestigious event, but did not qualify for the finals.

The meet will begin locally at 7 p.m. EST, with a full recap of the Illini's performance available on fightingillini.com following the conclusion of the meet.

ILLINI GYMNASTICS
Led by 31-year head coach, Yoshi Hayasaki, Illinois is looking to rebound from consecutive losses coming at the hands of No. 7 Minnesota and No. 3 Ohio State. Illinois opened the season placing second in the Windy City Invite in front of Ohio State and behind current No. 1-ranked Michigan. Since then, the Illini have struggled to put together a full meet. On the season, Illinois posted its highest score of the season of a 211.050 in a loss to Ohio State on Jan. 27.

The Illini are led by juniors Wes Haagensen and Tyler Yamauchi and freshman Chad Wiest. Haagensen won the all-around at the Windy City Invite and is ranked fourth nationally with a 51.883 average in the event. Wiest's top event is the floor exercise and is tied for the No. 6 ranking (9.317). Yamauchi is nationally ranked in the rings (9.300), vault (8.733) and parallel bars (8.833).

MORE FROM LAS VEGAS
Joining the Illini at the competition was former Orange and Blue gymnast Adam Pummer, who took 25th as a competitor for Team Gattaca.

Wes Haagensen tossed in top-25 finishes on all six apparatuses, with his highest a 10th-place finish on vault (30.800). The Belleville, Ill., native also carded a tied for 11th-place outing on high bar with 2006 Illini Pummer, as both scored a 28.700. Tyler Yamauchi's top finish came on rings, where he garnered a tied for 14th (29.000) outing. Pummer claimed his best performance on parallel bars, finishing just shy of first after taking fourth with a score of 30.050.

BEHIND THE SCENES: PENN STATE
Penn State is looking to rebound strong after suffering its first setback of the season, a narrow 216.750-215.800 loss to No. 1 Michigan on Feb. 3. Junior Tommy Ramos (Guaynabo, P.R.) won the still rings and high bar titles versus the Wolverines, each with season-high scores, to earn Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors for the first time in his career. Also, sophomore Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) captured his fourth straight pommel horse crown and junior Vladi Klurman (North Miami Beach, Fla.) used a career-high score of 9.250 to take the vault.

LAST TIME IT HAPPENED
The teams have not met in the regular season since 2005, a 221.825-221.350 victory by the Illini in Champaign.