Illinois Claims Second Straight Big Ten Title

Men's Gymnastics April 2, 2010

Illinois Claims Second Straight Big Ten Title

April 2, 2010

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team won its second straight Big Ten title Friday night, rallying past Michigan in the last rotation to take the crown with a final team score of 359.700. First-year associate head coach Justin Spring became the first Illinois men's gymnastics coach to win the Big Ten title in his first season at the helm. Michigan took second place (358.150), followed by Penn State (347.300), Ohio State (346.950), Minnesota (346.500) and Iowa (337.800). The Big Ten Championship is the 25th in Illinois history, the most among any Big Ten school. Additionally, 10 different Illini advanced to Saturday night's event finals by finishing in the top-10 plus ties, instead of the top eight as in previous years. At least one Illini qualified on each event.

"Today, the guys really embodied what it means to be a Fighting Illini," Spring said. "I'm so proud of the way they kept their heads in it and rallied together as a team. No one gave up and their perseverance paid off. They were relentless in their pursuit of the title. I think two of the most pivotal moments were our two big guys on pommel horse, Daniel Ribeiro and Luke Stannard and Chad Wiest on floor. Their great performances on pommel horse really set the tone heading into our weakest event, rings. Everyone had great moments and did their job."

The Illini began the night on parallel bars, where sophomore C.J. Padera placed first and tied his career high with a score of 15.000, while senior Brian Liscovitz tallied a 14.550 to place fifth. Next on high bar, the Illini earned their second-highest team score of the season with a 60.400, led by junior Paul Ruggeri who placed first with a score of 16.000. Padera tied for fourth place (14.950), while Liscovitz recorded a new career high (14.900) and senior Luke Stannard tied for eighth place with a score of 14.550.

In the third rotation on floor, senior Chad Wiest claimed second place with a score of 15.550, followed by Stannard in fifth place (15.000). Illinois entered the night ranked first in the Big Ten on pommel horse and again dominated tonight, tallying its third-best team score of the season (59.650), behind junior Daniel Ribeiro (15.650) and Stannard (15.200), who claimed first-and-second place finishes on the event. Padera secured a sixth-place finish with a season-high score of 14.650.

Still trailing the Wolverines, the Illini edged closer in the fifth rotation on rings, posting their second-best score of the season (58.850) behind sophomore Anthony Sacramento's career-high score of 15.150 to tie for second place to pull within 1.85 of first place. In the final rotation on vault, Illinois tallied its third-best score of the season, led by Ruggeri's first-place finish (16.200) to overcome the deficit and claim the title.

Ruggeri finished in fourth place in the all-around (86.600), while freshman Yoshi Mori (84.450) placed ninth and sophomore Tyler Mizoguchi (83.000) claimed 10th.

The individual event finals will take place Saturday, April 3 at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

Big Ten Team Championships - Results
April 2, 2010

Team Standings
1) ILLINOIS 359.700
2) Michigan 358.150
3) Penn State 347.300
4) Ohio State 346.950
5) Minnesota 346.500
6) Iowa 337.800

All-Around Results
1) Chris Cameron (MICH) 89.800
2) Mel Anton Santander (MICH) 88.450
3) Brandon Wynn (OSU) 87.700
4) Paul Ruggeri (ILL) 86.600
5) Aaron Fortunato (MINN) 86.150
6) Thomas Kelley (MICH) 85.300
7) Felix Aronovich (PSU) 84.800
8) Jonathan Buese (IOWA) 84.650
9) Yoshi Mori (ILL) 84.450
10) Tyler Mizoguchi (ILL) 83.000
11) Brody Shemansky (IOWA) 81.450
12) Tai Lee (OSU) 78.350