All 4 One

No. 1 Oklahoma at NCAA Championship

No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Illinois, No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 8 Penn State

April 21 | 6 p.m. CT | Chicago, Ill. | UIC Pavilion

Live Stats

Live Stream

Twitter

MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE
	OU	Minnesota	Illinois	Stanford	Nebraska	PSU
Ranking	No. 1	No. 2	No. 4	No. 6	No. 7	No. 8
Prelim Score	410.991	404.758	408.824	407.390	402.690	404.790
Team NQA	414.713	409.463	408.463	407.775	407.175	407.038
2018 Team High	429.550	419.100	413.900	414.100	416.050	417.400

CHICAGO – The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team looks to make history tonight as it tries for its fourth consecutive NCAA title at 6 CT at UIC Pavilion. OU qualified as the top seed yesterday after it posted a 410.991 team total during its preliminary session. Individual champions and All-Americans will also be determined tonight.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

CHASING HISTORY

Oklahoma could lock up its fourth consecutive title tonight. Only two other men's gymnastics programs, Illinois from 1939 to 1942 and Nebraska from 1979 to 1982, have won at least four NCAA titles in a row. The Sooners also look to claim their 12th championship in program history, which would tie Penn State for most all-time. Head coach Mark Williams, who has won eight national titles during his tenure, would tie former Nittany Lions head coach Gene Wettstone for most championships all-time with his ninth.

RESETTING THE FIELD

OU is joined in Saturday's team final by session one winner Stanford, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Illinois, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 8 Penn State. The Sooners defeated four of the five teams in the field. They faced then-No. 2 Nebraska and No. 4 Stanford in a tri-meet in February where they posted a 418.000, earning a pair of victories in their home opener. Yul Moldauer posted the highest all-around score in the country with an 87.150. OU also matched up with Illinois in a late-season showdown, notching a 412.300 in a road victory. Moldauer earned a trio of event crowns and freshman Alexei Vernyi earned his first career event title. The team took on Penn State in last night's preliminary where the Nittany Lions placed third. The Sooners have not seen Minnesota this season.

RECAPPING DAY ONE

Despite resting key contributors on Friday night, OU posted the highest preliminary score of any team in either session with a 410.991. No Sooner competed in the all-around, however Hunter Justus (vault) and Yul Moldauer (still rings) each won an event title. Though they got off to a slow start on floor, the Sooners hit all five of their pommel horse routines en route to a 68.399. Led by Moldauer's 14.700, OU put together a phenomenal still rings rotation with a 68.498. After grabbing the lead on vault, Oklahoma all but wrapped up a victory in its session after strong rotations on parallel bars (69.166) and high bar (67.565). Illinois (408.824) and Penn State (404.790) placed second and third to qualify for Saturday's finals. See a full recap of day one here.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST

Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams is ready to put his best lineup forward for the team finals, as Levi Anderson and Yul Moldauer are scheduled to compete in the all-around. The pair has been dynamic all season. Anderson has competed on all six events five times this season, finishing the year as the nation's fourth-ranked all-arounder. Though Moldauer does not qualify for the all-around rankings, the junior owns the top two scores in the NCAA this season (87.150 and 86.900).

STREAKING

The Sooners have won every meet in which they have competed since placing second at the 2014 NCAA team finals. In that span they have racked up 92 victories, the most consecutive wins in program history (the next most was 52 straight from 2002 to 2004) and are currently tied UNC women's soccer (1990-94) for the fourth-longest winning streak in NCAA history. It stands as the longest current streak among all NCAA Division I sports.

ACADEMIC HONORS

The Sooners have excelled in and out of the gym this season, with ten gymnasts being named MPSF Academic Scholar-Athletes and to the Academic All-Big 12 At-Large Team. Redshirt freshman Isamu Ito, sophomore Collyn Kellogg, juniors Levi Anderson, Eric Holley, Grant Kell, Jake Maloley, Brian Schibler and Genki Suzuki, and seniors Hunter Justus and Reese Rickett earned both academic honors. Holley, Kellogg, Schibler and Suzuki were all nominated with a 4.0 GPA. To qualify for the Academic All-Big 12 At-Large Team, athletes must meet certain GPA and competition requirements.

THE CHAMP RETURNS

Yul Moldauer has made his mark on the OU record books and continues his storied career this season. So far in 2018, the junior has a team-leading 21 event titles through eight meets. At the MPSF Championships, Moldauer won a school-record five individual conference titless. He also posted the second-highest all-around total in the NCAA this season with an 86.900. In Feburary, Moldauer won his second straight American Cup, becoming the first gymnast to win back-to-back titles since former Sooner Jonathan Horton in 2006 and 2007. The Arvada, Colo., native totaled a 85.964 all-around score (more than 2.500 higher than the runner-up's mark), finished in the top three on all six events and posted higher than a 14.000 on five of six events. Moldauer is a three-time individual national champion and became just the second freshman to ever win the NCAA all-around title in 2016. In 2017, he added another pair of crowns on floor and still rings. His three titles rank fourth all-time at OU behind current assistant coach Steven Legendre (6) and Olympians Horton (6) and Jake Dalton (4).

THERE IS ONLY ONE

OU entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed with the top national qualifying average of 414.713. The Sooners finished the regular season in the top three on five of six events, retaining their No. 1 ranking on parallel bars (69.475) and high bar (69.075). They posted a strong 70.300 on still rings at MPSF Championships, which helped them move into the top spot on the event (69.863). OU remains second on pommel horse (67.725) and third on vault (71.900). Yul Moldauer stayed in the top 10 on three events, retaining the top spot on still rings (14.750) and on parallel bars (14.983). He also ranks sixth on pommel horse (14.338). Levi Anderson moved into third in the all-around rankings (81.825) and sits in fourth on high bar. Genki Suzuki owns the top average on high bar (14.400) and is ninth on pommel horse (13.800). On still rings, Reese Rickett (14.188) and Jake Maloley (14.025) rank fifth and 10th, respectively. Hunter Justus is sixth on vault (14.638).

Players Mentioned

Levi Anderson

Eric Holley

Isamu Ito

Hunter Justus

Grant Kell

Collyn Kellogg

Jake Maloley

Yul Moldauer

Reese Rickett

Brian Schibler

Genki Suzuki

Alexei Vernyi

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics