March 24, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After three consecutive road meets, the No. 3 Illini men's gymnastics team returns home this weekend to close out the regular season against in-state rival No. 14 UIC on Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m. at Huff Hall. Seniors Daniel Ribeiro and Chad Wiest will be honored at the conclusion of the meet for their accomplishments and contributions as members of the Illinois men's gymnastics team. This will be the third meeting of the season with UIC, with the Illini earning victories in both previous competitions.
Live results will be available HERE.
SCOUTING UIC
UIC is coming off a win at William and Mary last Saturday in which the Flames tallied a season-high score of 341.300. In their home finale on March 6, UIC finished third in a quad meet behind Ohio State and Air Force and ahead of Temple. As a team, the Flames rank 10th nationally on pommel horse (55.025), 12th on floor (56.275), 13th on vault (60.925) and high bar (54.412) and 14th on rings (54.462) and parallel bars (54.812).
SENIOR DAY
Seniors Daniel Ribeiro and Chad Wiest, this year's co-captains, have been solid performers throughout their time at Illinois and two of the most consistent Illini this season. Since his arrival, Ribeiro has amassed several accolades both collegiately and nationally and has solidified himself as one of the strongest pommel horse competitors in the country. On the event, Ribeiro is a two-time U.S. gold medalist, two-time NCAA All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion and an NCAA Champion. Additionally, he broke his own school record in 2009 with a career-best score of 16.000 and nearly matched it last weekend at Oklahoma. Outside the gym, Ribeiro is a two-time College Gymnastics Association All-America Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Big Ten honoree
Despite enduring several setbacks due to injuries, Wiest has maintained his dominance on floor, which earned him All-America accolades as a freshman and last season. He also owns the school record on the event after tallying a career-high score of 16.100 in 2010. Outside the gym, Chad is a College Gymnastics Association Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Big Ten honoree and was last year's recipient of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
This week's GymInfo team and individual rankings are based on each team's four score average. The Illini rank in the top five nationally on four events including third on floor exercise (59.900) and pommel horse (58.367) and fourth on parallel bars (58.233) and high bar (58.300). Illinois also is sixth on vault (63.033) and seventh on rings (58.600).
Individually in the top 10, senior Daniel Ribeiro ranks first on pommel horse (15.933), while junior Tyler Mizoguchi is fifth in the all-around (88.233) and on parallel bars (15.150). Redshirt senior Chad Wiest checks in fourth on floor (15.633) and junior Anthony Sacramento is seventh on rings (15.333).
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS COME TO CHAMPAIGN NEXT WEEKEND
The University of Illinois will host the 2011 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships on Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2 at Huff Hall. Illinois, which last hosted in 2004, is vying for its third straight Big Ten team title and conference-leading 26th overall. Both days of action will be televised live on the Big Ten Network at 7 p.m. CT. Doors will open to the public at 6 p.m. each day. To purchase tickets please contact the University of Illinois Athletic Ticket Office for more information at 1-866-ILLINI-1 or 217-333-3470.
INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS
Illinois has captured 33 individual titles through eight meets this season, led by junior Tyler Mizoguchi, who with eight titles thus far has already topped his career-high total from a year ago.
Seniors Daniel Ribeiro (6) and Chad Wiest (5) have combined for 11 titles on the year, while junior Anthony Sacramento and freshman Jordan Valdez have each recorded two and junior C.J. Padera, sophomore Yoshi Mori and freshman Chad Mason round out the group with one apiece.
FRESH FACES
All seven newcomers to this year's squad, which includes Andrew Margolis, Chad Mason, Cameron Rogers, Cole Smith, Jordan Valdez and Alex Varga, have made significant contributions in the lineup this season. Mason has tallied four top-five finishes competing in six meets on pommel horse and took home his first individual title on the event against Penn State with a career-high score of 15.100. Valdez has competed in all eight meets and at Winter Cup, totaling 12 top-five finishes and individual titles on high bar and the all-around.
Varga also has contributed in all eight meets, posting five top-five finishes between floor and vault, while Margolis has seen action in five meets on rings. Rounding out the group are Rogers and Smith, who have each competed in seven meets on the year. Rogers boasts five top-five finishes, including four on parallel bars and one in the all-around, while Smith has competed exclusively on pommel horse for the Illini.
TRI-MEET RECAP
Illinois posted a season-high score of 359.100 to take second last Saturday night behind host No. 2 Oklahoma (366.400) and ahead of No. 5 Penn State (356.750) in its final road meet of the regular season. Senior Daniel Ribeiro (pommel horse) and junior Tyler Mizoguchi (parallel bars) each claimed individual event titles, while several Illini added career and season highs on the night.
Ribeiro recorded a season-high mark of 15.950 on pommel horse, just shy of his career best 16.000, to claim his sixth title of the year and third straight on the event, while Mizoguchi recorded a career-high score on four of six events and the all-around. In addition to a first-place finish on parallel bars (15.500), Mizoguchi also took second on vault (16.250) and all-around (90.800), tied for fourth on high bar (14.800) and finished sixth on floor (15.300). The all-around mark is a new school record under the FIG open ended code of points established in 2008. He also tallied a season-high score of 15.050 to tie for seventh on rings with teammate junior Anthony Sacramento.
A trio of Illini added third-place finishes for the Illini, including senior Chad Wiest on floor (15.800), sophomore Yoshi Mori on pommel horse with a season-high score of 14.850 and redshirt sophomore Austin Phillips on high bar with a career-best score of 15.100. Wiest also tied his career high on vault (15.900) for the fourth time this season, while freshman Alex Varga recorded career highs on floor (15.250) and vault (15.850).
As a team, Illinois posted season highs on rings (59.250) and vault (63.550) and tallied its highest score on floor (60.800) and parallel bars (58.450) since the first meet of the season.
ILLINI RAKE IN WEEKLY HONORS
Tyler Mizoguchi earned Illinois' sixth Big Ten Gymnast of the Week accolade this season after leading the Illini with his team-and career-best eighth event title of the season and set new career highs on four events and the all-around in a tri-meet last weekend against Oklahoma and Penn State.
Mizoguchi secured a first-place finish on parallel bars (15.500), in addition to placing second on vault (16.250) and all-around (90.800), tied for fourth on high bar (14.800) and sixth on floor (15.300). The all-around mark is a new school record under the FIG open ended code of points established in 2008. Mizoguchi also tallied a season-high score of 15.050 to tie for seventh on rings.
Mizoguchi earned his second honor this weekend after securing first-place finishes on parallel bars, high bar and all-around against Penn State on Feb. 19. Daniel Ribeiro garnered Big Ten honors for the week of Feb. 7 after securing his second straight gold medal on pommel horse at the U.S. Winter Cup Challenge on Feb. 5.
For the week of Jan. 31, Tyler Mizoguchi was named Big Ten and NCAA Gymnast of the Week and newcomer Jordan Valdez earned Freshman of the Week honors. The duo each captured individual event titles in helping lead the Illini to a dominating win over Iowa on Jan. 29. It is the first such accolade for Mizoguchi and Valdez and third straight week an Illinois gymnast has been honored.
Prior to his injury, Paul Ruggeri earned consecutive Big Ten honors to open the season after leading the Illini to wins at the Windy City Invitational and versus Minnesota and Nebraska.
UP NEXT
Illinois will host the 2011 Big Ten Championships, April 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall.
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