|
No. 7 Illinois vs No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Nebraska |
| When |
Sunday, Feb. 21 // 4 PM CT |
| Where |
Huff Hall // Champaign, IL |
| Follow Live |
BTN+ ($), Live Stats
|
Meet Notes
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After a month away from home, the No. 7 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team returns to Huff Hall on Sunday, Feb. 21 to take on No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Nebraska in their first tri-meet of the season.
The tri-meet was a result of schedule changes due to Michigan's COVID-19 pause earlier this month. After the originally scheduled matchup for Feb. 7 was postponed, the meet was rescheduled for Sunday, and Nebraska moved up their matchup with the Illini to join the meet. As a result, the Mar. 14 meet with the Cornhuskers was canceled.
The Illini are coming off of two straight road meets, which both resulted in losses by less than one and a half points at Penn State and Iowa.
The meet will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+ starting at 4 PM CT. Sunday's tri-meet will also serve as Senior Day for the five senior members of the Illini team. Max Diab, Jordan Kovach, Danny Graham, Joel Diaz, and Tommy Mistretta will all be honored Sunday in a pre-meet ceremony that will be streamed live on our Facebook page.
LAST TIME OUT
The Illini are coming off of a narrow 400.500-402.000 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend in Iowa City. Senior Danny Graham earned his fourth straight rings title on the season, sophomore Connor McCool picked up the title on the floor, and junior Ian Skirkey walked away with the pommel horse title.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
The Michigan Wolverines are currently ranked second in the nation with a team score average of 409.000. So far, the have only competed in one meet this season, a 409.000-328.100 virtual meet win over UIC. Michigan was the preseason favorite to win the B1G this season, and will get their first taste of league competition this Sunday. Gymnasts to watch for Michigan include Paul Juda, who currently ranks first in the nation on the all-around and ranks within the top 10 in all events, and Cameron Bock who follows Juda in second in the all-around.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
The Cornhuskers are the third ranked team in the nation with a team average of 405.375. Nebraska currently sits at 1-1 on the season, with a win vs Minnesota last weekend and a loss at Penn State on Feb. 7. Freshman Taylor Christopulos is coming off a week where he claimed the B1G Freshman of the Week and NCAA Rookie of the Week honors. Nebraska is particularly strong on pommel horse, where they rank first in the nation with an average of 67.750 on the event.
ILLINI IN THE RANKINGS
Team: 7th (396.738)
Floor Exercise: 7th (66.988)
Pommel Horse: 6th (64.488)
Still Rings: T-3rd (66.350)
Vault: 7th (69.950)
Parallel Bars: 8th (64.550)
High Bar: 5th (64.413)
INDIVIDUAL TOP 10 NATIONAL QUALIFYING AVERAGE
Pommel Horse: Ian Skirkey (13.650, T-7th)
Still Rings: Danny Graham (13.938, 3rd)
Vault: Evan Manivong (14.550, 6th)
All-Around: Hamish Carter (80.375, 8th)
LOOKING AHEAD
After Sundays tri-meet, the team will enter into the Winter Cup team break period. Volunteer Coach Alex Diab and Illini junior Michael Fletcher will be competing at the Winter Cup in Indianapolis next weekend. After the Mar. 14 meet with Nebraska was canceled, the next scheduled team meet is Mar. 22 where the Illini travel to Minnesota for their final regular season matchup with the Golden Gophers.
FOLLOW THE ILLINI
Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest information on Fighting Illini Gymnastics. Use the handle @IlliniMGym to follow the Orange and Blue on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for complete coverage.
