Sooners Show Off at Annual Intrasquad

NORMAN – The three-time defending national champion Oklahoma men's gymnastics team held its annual intrasquad Saturday afternoon inside the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center. The meet was the first time the 2017-18 Sooners performed their new routines in front of fans and judges in preparation for the season.

“We are struggling with a lot of injuries, getting guys back and being healthy,” head coach Mark Williams said. “Obviously not exactly what we wanted even this early in the season. Yul Moldauer didn't do everything. I'm trying to rest him from the World Championship. He did a great ring routine and that certainty helped us. We know once he's rested and ready to go, he's going to be huge for us. Otherwise I can see a lot of places that we have to get a lot better. We need to do more routines, get a little more endurance and improve as we go.”

Competing in front of a full panel of judges, Oklahoma sent up six gymnasts on all six events, following Olympic order. The Sooners were missing a few key members due to injury, giving way for new faces on each apparatus.

“We did have a pretty good vault team, which I was happy with,” Williams said. “There are some spots that I appreciated, like Isamu Ito is a guy who we didn't have compete all last year. He did a pretty good job on the events he did today.”

Senior Hunter Justus and junior Levi Anderson paced the Sooners, putting together strong performances on multiple events.

“Hunter Justus has been out of two surgeries since last year and he really hasn't had a lot of time to get back in full shape and he was great. From what his training has been, I love to see that from one of our captains. That's a bright spot for sure.”

With still over a month to go before the competition season begins, the Sooners will hope to get a few guys back from injury, as well as continue to improve in the gym.

“I hope that we can get Matt Wenske and Genki Suzui back in the lineup since they are guys that we really relied on a lot last year,” Williams said. “The one's that had mistakes here, we're going to work on and try to fix those mistakes. We'll listen to what the judges had to say and see if we can make those corrections along the way and hopefully be better.”

Oklahoma kicks off its 2018 campaign in Colorado Springs, Colo. with a meet against Air Force on Jan. 20. The home opener is set for Saturday, Feb. 3 against Nebraska and Stanford. The Sooners were the preseason No. 1 team and will look to defend their 2017 national championship.

“I told them beforehand that even though we are defending national champions we haven't scored any points and we haven't beat anyone,” Williams said. “We're starting all over more than other years. It's going to be a work in progress.”

Season tickets for the Sooners home slate are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the University of Oklahoma Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424 or toll free at (800) 456-GoOU. Tickets can also be ordered online by visiting SoonerSports.com.

Get inside looks at the Sooners throughout the season by liking the OU Men's Gymnastics Facebook page and by following the team on Twitter and Instagram using the handle @OU_MGymnastics.