OU Takes on Ohio State in Top-Three Matchup

Jan. 19, 2012

No. 3 Men's Gymnastics at No. 2 Ohio State
Date	Saturday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. (CT)
Location	Columbus, Ohio \| St. John Arena
Watch Live	OSU Webcast (subscription required)
Online	Live Scoring
Additional Info	Media Guide \| Meet Notes \| Blog \| Twitter \| Facebook

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 3 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team faces off against No. 2 Ohio State in its first dual meet of the 2012 season at 3 p.m. on Saturday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Both teams enter the meet undefeated after posting victories at their respected season-opening events. Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0 MPSF) claimed its 13th-straight Rocky Mountain Open title over Air Force, Nebraska, Arizona State and Washington while Ohio State (5-0, 4-0 Big Ten) won the Windy City Invitational over Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois-Chicago and Iowa.

Ohio State, OU's first top-five opponent of the season, will face the Sooners for the first time under former OU assistant Rustam Sharipov. The Buckeyes' first-year head coach spent six seasons in Norman as an assistant coach from 2005-2011. Sharipov helped coach the Sooners to NCAA titles in 2006 and 2008 and was named the National Co-Assistant Coach of the Year in both of those seasons.

Oklahoma and Ohio State last faced off on Jan. 22, 2011 at a dual meet in Norman. OU knocked off the Buckeyes 358.350-340.350 and claimed all six team event titles and five individual event titles.

ON THE WEB
Live scoring for the meet will be available on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. The link will be available on Ohio State's men's gymnastics schedule page. Live video streaming will be available through Ohio State's Buckeye Vision. In order to view the stream, fans will need to purchase a one-month subscription of Buckeye Vision for $9.95.

OU men's gymnastics' Twitter feed (@SoonerGymnasts) will provide up-to-date scores and facts throughout the meet.

GYMNASTS TO WATCH - CHRIS STEHL AND PATRICK PISCITELLI
The reigning MPSF Gymnast of the Week, Stehl is coming off a career performance at the Rocky Mountain Open, where he won titles in all-around, rings and parallel bars.

Piscitelli, one of three OU captains, took home event titles on both floor (14.300) and vault (15.000) at the Rocky Mountain Open.

CHRIS STEHL NAMED MPSF GYMNAST OF THE WEEK
Oklahoma gymnast Chris Stehl was named the MPSF Gymnast of the Week Tuesday after claiming the all-around title at this past weekend's Rocky Mountain Open.

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is the hybrid conference that OU men's gymnastics competes in with Air Force, California and Stanford.

Stehl, a junior, took home event titles on both rings (15.700) and parallel bars (14.500), along with winning the meet's all-around title with an 83.000. Stehl's career-high 15.700 on rings set an event record for the Rocky Mountain Open. The junior's performance also marked his first all-around and rings titles. The weekly honor is his first award from the MPSF.

2012 GYMINFO RANKINGS - WEEK ONE
Season average scores in parenthesis

1. Penn State (349.800)
2. Ohio State (344.500)
3. OKLAHOMA (343.700)
4. Illinois (341.900)
5. California (340.900)
6. Michigan (338.700)
7. Minnesota (338.100)
8. Stanford (334.800)
9. Air Force (333.300)
10. Nebraska (331.300)
11. Illinois-Chicago (327.200)
12. Army (321.600)
13. Iowa (316.800)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN DOMINANCE
The Sooners clinched their 13th-straight Rocky Mountain Open title at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Sooners, ranked No. 1 in the GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll, posted a team score of 343.700, edging out second-place Air Force (333.300) by 10.400 points. Nebraska took third place with a 331.300 followed by club teams from Arizona State (314.100) and Washington (248.100). Members of the U.S. Olympic Training Center also competed but their results are not official.

As a team, Oklahoma claimed the top score on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault and high bar.
Individually, four Sooners took home a combined six event titles: Chris Stehl (rings, parallel bars), Patrick Piscitelli (floor, vault), Dalton (high bar) and Michael Reid (pommel horse).

Since 2000, Oklahoma has won at least two individual event titles in each year of the Rocky Mountain and has swept the individual titles five times (2001, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012).

Oklahoma is encouraged by its 343.700 total, which under last year's point system would have been 1.200 points higher than its 2011 score at the season opener.

PRESEASON NO. 1
Oklahoma has been awarded the No. 1 preseason ranking five previous times under Head Coach Mark Williams. In four of those seasons, OU went on to win the NCAA title (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006).

2012 TEAM CAPTAINS
With 10 freshman on the roster, Williams believes that upperclassman leadership will be essential to his team's success in 2012. Williams has chosen senior Patrick Piscitelli, redshirt junior Troy Nitzky and junior Jake Dalton as Oklahoma's captains for the 2012 season.

Piscitelli, a native of Charlotte, N.C., has posted solid scores for the Sooners on floor, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar. In 2010, he claimed fifth place on rings at the MPSF Championships.

Troy Nitzky was a 2011 All-American on rings after posting a 15.200 at the 2011 NCAA Championships. Nitzky has also contributed scores on pommel horse and parallel bars.

Dalton, a seven-time All-American, claimed the floor and vault individual titles at the 2011 NCAA Championships. The junior is also a current member of the U.S. Senior National Team and competed alongside three former OU gymnasts at the 2011 World Championships, helping Team USA take third place.

PLENTY OF NEW FACES
The Sooners are preparing to defend their No. 1 ranking with a lineup filled with newcomers. Ten of the 18 gymnasts on the OU roster are freshmen.

Williams says the young Sooners are developing quickly to the collegiate level of competition and believes freshmen like Dylan Akers, Danny Beradini and Jacoby Rubin will be essential to the Sooners success in the coming season.

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
Jake Dalton leads the returning Sooners with seven All-American honors in just two seasons of competition. The Reno, Nev., native earned All-America status on floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar in 2011 and all-around, floor and vault in 2010.

In addition to Dalton's seven All-America honors, the Sooner lineup also returns junior Troy Nitzky, who earned All-American status on rings after posting a 15.200 at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

FOLLOW THE SOONERS
The OU gymnastics program maintains its own Facebook and Twitter accounts, which are updated frequently with all of the latest news about the squad. Links to each of these pages as well as a behind-the-scenes blog can be found at www. SoonerSports.com.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Takes on Ohio State in Top-Three Matchup

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