Illini Set to Host Ohio State in Home Opener

Men's Gymnastics January 22, 2009

Illini Set to Host Ohio State in Home Opener

Jan. 22, 2009

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois men's gymnastics team, fresh off its second-place finish at the 2009 Windy City Invitational, will host No. 7 Ohio State on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall. This is the second time this season the two teams will face each other, as Ohio State finished fourth at Windy City.

"Having our first meet at Windy City last weekend certainly helped our younger gymnasts get their first collegiate meet jitters out of the way," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "Hopefully that will give them a better chance to compete like they are capable of at this weeks competition. The home crowd and home facilities will also help and make them more comfortable in the competition against Ohio State."

Fans can watch the meet for free through live scoring, available at fightingillini.com. Fighting Illini fans also can catch live streaming video of Illinois men's and women's gymnastics once again this season, including Saturday night's men's meet against No. 7 Ohio State at Huff Hall. To view the competition, fans must purchase an Illini All-Access package, which starts at $6.95 a month. The package provides access not only to all live and archived gymnastics events, but also all other audio/visual content on fightingillini.com, including live events and features for football, men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball and wrestling, plus much more. For more information, or to sign-up for Illini All-Access, visit http://fightingillini.cstv.com/allaccess.

STATE OF THE ILLINI
Illinois was not included in the latest Gyminfo rankings as its score was not submitted from last week's Windy City Invitational, however, the Illini's score of 342.250 would keep them at No. 4 in the rankings, the same as their preseason mark.

LAST TIME THEY MET
The last dual meet between Ohio State and Illinois was on Jan. 26, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio, where the Illini captured a 355.650-348.100 victory over the Buckeyes. On the night, Illinois charted 12 top-three finishes, claimed four out of six individual event titles and almost swept the team event titles against the Buckeyes. It marked the first time the Illini defeated the Buckeyes in a regular season dual since 2002.

RUGGERI and RIBEIRO EARN PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN HONORS
The sensational sophomore duo of 2008 NCAA high bar champion Paul Ruggeri and 2008 Big Ten pommel horse champion Daniel Ribeiro were 2009 preseason All-Big Ten selections, as voted on by the coaches. Illinois, as a team, was selected third in the conference in the preseason poll.

2009 WINDY CITY RECAP
The No. 4 Illinois men's gymnastics team started off the 2009 season with a solid second place finish at the Windy City Invite Saturday night in Chicago. The Orange and Blue posted a team score of 342.250 to finish behind only No. 6 Michigan (346.100) and ahead of No.8 Minnesota (341.400), No. 3 Ohio State (337.650), No.12 UIC (327.700) and No. 9 Iowa (325.900).

Sophomore Paul Ruggeri took home the floor title for the Orange and Blue posting an impressive 15.600 on the event. The Manlius, N.Y., native posted a 14.700 on parallel bars to finish in a tie for second place. Ruggeri also had a solid performance in the all-around competition finishing fourth with a score of 83.300.

Illinois posted the second best team score of the night on floor (59.600), pommel horse (55.400), and parallel bars (56.700). The Illini were third on rings with a 57.000 and fourth on high bar (54.100) and also tied for fourth on vault with a 59.450.

PADERA BROTHERS SHINE AT MIXED PAIRS EXHIBITION
At this year's mixed pairs exhibition on Dec. 7, the Padera brothers (Kyle and C.J) teamed up, along with junior Sarah Schmidt of the Illinois women's gymnastics team, to take home the title with a combined score of 29.9. Senior Kyle Padera was one of five Illini to garner a perfect 10.0 on the night, with the Winfield, Ill., native taking the honor on still rings. The teams of Marijka Botterman / Austin Phillips and Allison Buckley / Chris Lung tied for second place with scores of 29.8. The format of the meet pitted celebrity judges from various Illinois varsity teams evaluating both the men and women using the women's 10-point scoring system in order to add scores systematically to determine the winning group.

FRESHMAN EMERGE
This season the Illini have six newcomers on the roster. Joining the Orange and Blue in 2009 is one of the nation's most highly-touted freshman signing class. The class includes Tyler Mizoguchi (Houston, Tex./Taylor), C.J. Padera (Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North), Austin Phillips (Mahwah, N.J./St. Joseph Regional), Maxwell Portocarrero (Hampton Bays, N.Y./Riverhead), Devin Regan (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), and Anthony Sacramento (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel Catholic).

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