2017 Title Run Begins at Rocky Mountain Open

No. 1 Oklahoma at Rocky Mountain Open

Oklahoma, Air Force
Jan. 14 | 7 p.m. CT | Colorado Springs, Colo. | Center Gym

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MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
	OU	AF
Ranking	No. 1	No. 11
4-Score Avg.	448.800	427.500
Season High	452.350	433.450

NOTES AND NUMBERS

THE MEET

The No. 1-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team hits the road for its 2017 season opener, making its annual appearance at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo., on the campus of the Air Force Academy. In addition to No. 11 Air Force the Sooners will also face club team SC United and the OU club team. The meet begins at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 14.

TRADITIONAL START

The Sooners have won 17 consecutive Rocky Mountain Opens dating back to head coach Mark Williams' first year at the helm for OU in 2000. Last season the Sooners posted an impressive 448.550 to beat second-place Air Force by more than 20 points, and swept all six event titles.

SCORING CHANGE

A big storyline in 2017 will be changes made to the code of points used to score routines. “The code of points has changed so there are only four special requirements on each apparatus instead of five,” Williams said. “Each special requirement is half a point. Basically they have combined some element groups and reduced the overall requirement. Typically we have said that a really good score is a 14.500 to a 15.000. We're going to see that same routine score between a 14.000 and a 14.500. A lot of good gymnasts are going to be doing routines that are in the high 13s. The team score is going to be affected and each individual score is going to be about a half a point lower.”

LET IT R3IGN

Oklahoma is chasing a third consecutive national championship in 2017 after completing back-to-back undefeated title runs in 2015 and 2016. The Sooners have repeated as national champions three times under Williams but have never won three in a row. The last program to accomplish that feat was Nebraska, which won four straight from 1980 to 1983. Williams was part of those Cornhusker teams as student-athlete and then as a graduate assistant. Three or more consecutive titles has only happened two other times in NCAA history (Penn State, 1959-1961; Illinois, 1939-1942).

CHAMPIONS RETURN

The Sooners return a pair of individual national champions from 2016. Sophomore Yul Moldauer made history a year ago when he became just the second freshman ever (Sam Mikulak, Michigan) to win the all-around title. Moldauer is also a favorite to contend for the national title on parallel bars this year. Senior co-captain Colin Van Wicklen won the national title on floor last year. Van Wicklen, a seven-time All-American, is a serious title contender on floor and vault in 2017.

VETERAN PRESENCE

In addition to its two national champions, Williams' squad returns five All-Americans from last year's title team. Sophomore Levi Anderson (HB), senior Allan Bower (PH, PB, AA), junior Hunter Justus (SR), sophomore Yul Moldauer (FX, PB, AA) and senior Colin Van Wicklen (FX, VT, HB) all earned All-America status a year ago. The Sooners also return redshirt senior Josh Yee who was an All-American in 2015 and senior Todd Dowdy, also a 2015 All-American.

IMPACT FRESHMEN

OU welcomes a pair of talented freshmen for 2017 in Matt Wenske and Tanner Justus. Wenske boasts a decorated junior career that includes a first place finish in his age group in the all-around competition at the 2015 Men's Junior Olympic National Championships. At the 2016 U.S. Championships he tied sooner great and 2016 summer Olympian Jake Dalton for the event title on vault as a senior in high school. Justus finished first in his age group on vault at the 2013 and 2014 Men's Junior Olympic National Championships. He also took first on vault at the 2015 P&G Championships and finished tied for third with Wenske in the all-around competition.

UP NEXT

OU is on the road against next week as it travels to traditional rival Nebraska for a 7 p.m. CT meet in Lincoln, Neb. The Sooners open their home schedule on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 6:50 p.m. CT at the McCasland Field House against Michigan. The meet will serve as Oklahoma's annual "Cleveland Night", where students from Cleveland Elementary School will have the opportunity to serve as junior judges, score flashers, march-in leaders, junior PA announcer and award presenters at the meet.

2017 Title Run Begins at Rocky Mountain Open