#5 Illini Reign Victorious over Army, Greenville in Hometown Tri-Meet

RECAP

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Fighting Illini Men's Gymnastics tumbled and stuck the landing, winning with a score of 316.700 over Greenville (309.250) and Army (307.500) on March 1 at Huff Hall.

Vahe Petrosyan was first up in the rotation and earned the highest Illini score on floor with a 13.800; a very impressive score to put in the books as his first NCAA floor performance. Coming into today's meet, the Fighting Illini were ranked fourth in the nation on floor, and they proved their ranking, taking the highest score of the first rotation (54.250).

New USA Senior National Team member Brandon Dang was crowned pommel horse champion once again with a 14.700. Junior Connor Micklos got back on the horse earning himself the second-highest Illini score (13.450).

On still rings, it was Preston Ngai who held the highest score on the apparatus (13.800). This score was enough to keep the Illini in the lead going into the last three events.

The Illini hit the vault springboard to start the second half of the tri-meet, with their top score coming from Amari Sewell putting up a 14.350, while Ngai and Garrett Schooley came in a close second for the team, tying at a 14.150.

Matthew Vu Nguyen had a strong showing for the Orange and Blue on the parallel bars, scoring a career-high 14.050 and placing first overall.

Closing out the afternoon's events, Ryan Vanichtheeranont put the final touches on the winning Illini score with a 13.900 on high bar. Petrosyan followed him on the podium, with a 13.600.

"There was a lot to celebrate today," said head coach Daniel Ribeiro. "Amari really stood out, sticking both of his events and moving up the Illini vault titles list. Vahe stepped up big time and had a fantastic day. He crushed floor and high bar at a really elite level of execution. We do, however, have a massive [still] rings issue that we need to work out this week. That'll be our main focus. It was a great team effort tonight, but now we need to look ahead to Penn State."

Big Ten action resumes for the Illini in Huff Hall on March 8 against Penn State at 1 p.m. CT, as the team celebrates Senior Night.