Jan. 24, 2009
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois men's gymnastics team opened its season in style, downing the No.7 Ohio State Buckeyes, 351.950-349.050, Saturday night at Huff Hall in front over 1,100 fans. Sophomore standout Paul Ruggeri captured the all-around title edging out the Buckeyes' Jake Bateman 87.950-87.050.
"Tonight we had a better performance on every event compared to last week at Windy City," head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said. "Throughout the week we were much more motivated and had more desire to correct the mistakes that we made in Chicago. My advice to the team was not to make the same mistakes again and they focused on correcting those mistakes and performing their routines with more consistency, and that showed tonight."
As a team, the Illini edged out the Buckeyes on four events and tied for the floor title. The Orange and Blue recorded 14 top-three finishes in its season-high score of 351.950. The Fighting Illini won four individual event titles on pommel horse, parallel bars, high bar and the all-around competition.
After a posting a disappointing score on the high bar at Windy City, the 2008 NCAA High Bar Champion Ruggeri rebounded quickly, capturing the event title tonight with a 14.800. Senior Ross Bradley scored a season-high on the event coming in second with a 14.600.
Junior Luke Stannard won the event title on pommel horse, posting a 14.650. Stannard also placed second on floor exercise with a score of 14.600.
On pommel horse, Ruggeri and freshman C.J. Padera tied for second scoring a 14.150. Padera also captured the parallel bars event title with a career-high 14.950. Another Illini freshman, Tyler Mizoguchi, posted his first top-three finish with a third place score on parallel bars of 14.750.
Senior Tyler Williamson was the top-Illini on rings, coming in third with a 14.950.
On vault, the Orange and Blue placed second and third with Ruggeri posting a 15.750, his season-high, for second place and sophomore Roger Pasek scoring a career-high 15.650 to come in third. Pasek posted his second top-three finish of the night on floor with a 14.450.
The Illini have two weeks off from competition before the US Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev., Feb. 6-7. A full recap of the competition can be found at fightingillini.com.
