April 5, 2008

Complete Results

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fresh off a runner-up performance last night, the No. 5 Illinois men's gymnastics team came out strong again behind the efforts of senior Wes Haagensen and freshman Daniel Ribeiro, who both battled to Big Ten event titles today at Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University. Haagensen grabbed his crown on high bar with a 14.900 - his second conference title of his career, while Ribeiro wiped out the field by almost a point, scoring a career-high 15.700 on pommel horse to claim his first Big Ten event title of his career.

"I thought both Wed and Daniel came back so strong today and had a great second day at the championships," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "Both of them went out today with the mentality that they were going for all or nothing. Daniel especially had a maxed-out routine, the best performance by anyone the entire night in my opinion. Wes, he had the best high bar routine that I have seen him do all year long, whether that was in the practice gym or in a competition."

Both Haagensen and Ribeiro earned first team All-Big Ten honors for their performances tonight, marking Haagensen's second conference laurel of his career, Ribeiro's first. Second team honors for the Illini were handed to freshman Paul Ruggeri and senior Tyler Yamauchi, who both tabbed second-place finishes on the night in their respective events.

The 2008 Nissen-Emery Award finalist, Haagensen, also became the first Big Ten champion on high bar for Illinois since Travis Romagnoli captured top honors in 1998. Haagensen also finished third on floor exercise with a 15.200.

For Ribeiro - the top-ranked gymnast on pommel horse coming into the championships - he wowed the field, beating the second-place finisher (14.900) by almost a point with his career-best 15.700. The mark is just .050 off the highest score by a gymnast on the event this season. The Illini youngster also became the first freshman Illini Big Ten champion since Romagnoli grabbed the crown on vault as a freshman in 1997 - he later became a Nissen-Emery Award finalist in 2000. He is the first champion on horse since Ben Newman grabbed three straight from 2003-05. Ribeiro also was named Illinois Sportmanship Award winner for 2008.

The other notable performances came from two of Illinois' most consistent gymnasts all season in co-captain Yamauchi and freshman sensation Ruggeri. Yamauchi turned in a 15.450 on still rings to take second, matching his best finish from when he was a freshman on the event. The Illini senior also finished third on parallel bars with a 14.800.

For Ruggeri, he took eighth on floor with a 14.050, and carded a runner-up finish on high bar behind fellow Fighting Illini Haagensen to help the Orange and Blue post the one-two punch. Ruggeri scored a 14 .900 to earn the honor.

"Paul had a great routine to help us take one-two on the event," Hayasaki said. "It was good to see him and the entire lineup of guys that competed today bounce back after falling short yesterday and perform some of their best gymnastics today."

Rounding out the finishers for Illinois in the event finals were senior Jon Drollinger, who posted his best finish on an event at Big Tens of his career with his fourth-place outing on still rings (14.900), while junior Tyler Williamson followed with a 14.550 to take seventh. Williamson earned a spot in the finals after withdrawals from the field freed up a position. Freshman Roger Pasek took eighth on vault as the only Illini qualifier in the event to finish up the honors for Illinois on the night.

Penn State head coach Randy Jepson earned Big Ten Coach of the Year accolades for leading his Nittany Lions to the team title last night, joining his gymnast Casey Sandy in the league honors, as Sandy was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year after winning the all-around during the team finals on Friday. Freshman Tom Kelley of Michigan was tabbed Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Other individual event titlists included Thomas Kelley of Michigan on floor (15.500), Tommy Ramos of Penn State on rings (15.500), Mitchell Mays of Minnesota on vault (16.650) and Sandy of Penn State on parallel bars (15.300). Illinois and Penn State tied for the most titlists on the evening with two a piece. If you did not get a chance to watch the championships live, the Big Ten Network will re-broadcast the championships on Monday, April 7 (6 & 8 p.m. ET), Wednesday, April 8 (4 & 6 p.m. ET), Thursday, April 10 (team & all-around finals - 12 p.m. ET), and Friday, April 11 (individual event finals - 12 p.m. ET).

"I feel really good about where this team is right now," Hayasaki said about going from here. "We were right there with Penn State, but after suffering some losses in out lineup during team finals, I think we were rattled a bit, which hurt us on pommel horse I think. But we came back and refocused and got it done on our last event. Overall, I know we are going to work hard to get ready for NCAAs in two weeks, and that is our focus from now until then."