OU Heads to Lincoln for Top 10 Tilt

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Illinois & No. 7 Nebraska

Feb. 2 | 6 p.m. CT | Lincoln, Neb. | Bob Devaney Sports Center

MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
	Oklahoma	Illinois	Nebraska
Standings	No. 1	No. 4	No. 7
Coaches Poll	No. 1	No. 3	No. 6
Season High	423.950	410.450	404.350
Team Avg.	417.650	406.050	399.675
Floor Avg.	70.967	68.300	66.400
Pommel Horse Avg.	67.183	66.483	65.900
Rings Avg.	70.233	68.317	63.225
Vault Avg.	72.700	71.500	70.975
Parallel Bars Avg.	68.450	67.000	67.150
High Bar Avg.	68.117	64.450	66.025

NORMAN— The No. 1 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team travels to Lincoln, Neb., Saturday for a top-10 tri-meet against No. 4 Illinois and No. 7 Nebraska inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center at 6 p.m. CT. The Sooners continue their chase for their fifth national title in a row, 13th overall, and extending their streak of 105 straight victories.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

THE MEET

Oklahoma (8-0) continues its chase for its fifth straight national title on Saturday as the No. 1 Sooners travel to Lincoln, Neb., to face the fourth-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini and seventh-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers inside the Devaney Center at 6 p.m. CT. In his 20th season at the helm of OU men's gymnastics, head coach Mark Williams and his team are aiming at an NCAA men's gym record 13th national title in 2019. The team will also look to extend its NCAA-best streak of 105 straight victories in Lincoln. The Illini and Huskers hold the No. 4 and No. 7 spot, respectively, in the Road to Nationals rankings after four weekends of competition. In the College Gymnastics Association coaches poll, the Illini sit at No. 3 and the Huskers at No. 6.

NEVER 5ETTLE

Oklahoma made more history in 2018, becoming just the third men's gymnastics program since 1938 to win four straight national titles. The Sooners' perfect 21-0 2018 campaign marked 97 straight wins for Williams and his program. OU has claimed 12 all-time NCAA team titles and nine under Williams. OU finished with five All-Americans who notched a total of 11 honors last season.

LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma capped a two-meet homestand with a victory over No. 8 Ohio State, 423.950- 395.400, Jan. 26 inside McCasland Field House. The Sooners' score ranks as the top team score in the country for 2019 and improved on their prior season-best mark of 418.550. Senior co-captain Levi Anderson claimed the all-around title, scoring 83.150 to secure his first AA title of the season. OU put up team season bests on five of six events and claimed five event wins. Senior co-captain Yul Moldauer posted a 15.000+ for the second straight week, registering a 15-flat on parallel bars to take the event title, his second of the meet.

Team

RETURNING TALENT

Despite losing five-time All-America honoree Hunter Justus, OU returns a wealth of experience in 2019. Senior Yul Moldauer is looking to cap a historic collegiate career, coming off a junior season in which he earned four individual national titles (AA, FX, VT, PB) in addition to All- America nods on floor, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and all-around. Fellow senior Levi Anderson returns in 2019 after earning All-America honors on both high bar and all- around in 2018. Other key returners are senior Genki Suzuki, an All-American on pommel horse last season, and junior Tanner Justus, a vault All-American in 2018.

STILL STREAKING

The Sooners have won or finished first in every meet in which they have competed since placing second at the 2014 NCAA Team Finals. In that span they have racked up 105 victories, the most consecutive wins in program history, topping the 52 straight victories from 2002 to 2004. The streak is also the current longest in any Division I NCAA sport.

TOP RANKS

After another stellar performance Saturday against Ohio State, Oklahoma held on to the top spot in this week's Road to Nationals rankings. The Sooners topped their previous season- and NCAA-best team score versus the Buckeyes, registering a 423.950. OU holds the top team average (417.650) along with the No. 1 spot on FX (70.967), SR (70.233), VT (72.700) and HB (68.117). The team ranks in the top three on the other two events, coming in second on PH (67.183) and third on PB (68.450).

Individually, senior co-captain Genki Suzuki holds the top spot nationally in the all-around ranks for the second consecutive week after his 83.600 Jan. 19 versus Air Force and Arizona State. Joining him in the top five is fellow senior co-captain Levi Anderson at second (83.150) and junior Tanner Justus in a tie for fourth (82.250). Both Anderson and Justus competed all-around for the first time this season last Saturday, with Anderson narrowly edging Justus by nine-tenths of a point to take home the crown.

On FX, three Sooners occupy top-five spots led by sophomore Gage Dyer in second (14.55) following his career-high 14.900 Saturday. Senior co-captain Yul Moldauer holds fourth (14.500) and freshman Vitaliy Guimaraes sits fifth (14.383).

Moldauer (13.925) and senior horse specialist Brian Schibler (13.733) rank in the top six of the PH standings at fourth and sixth, respectively. Three of the top five individual spots on SR belong to OU gymnasts. Moldauer (14.700) and seniors Peter Daggett (14.183) and Jake Maloley (14.150) rank in respective spots of second, fourth and fifth.

On VT, the Sooners hold five of the top 10 individual spots. Anderson and fellow senior Matt Wenske (14.600) hold a tie for fourth, while Dyer and Guimaraes share the seventh spot, averaging 14.517. Justus (14.467) sits in a tie for 10th.

Moldauer sits atop the PB ranks after a strong 15.000 against the Buckeyes. The score ranks
as the top score on the event across the NCAA in 2019. Three more Sooners hold top-10 places on HB, led by Anderson (14.183) in second. Dyer (13.733) and Justus (13.700) rank seventh and eighth, respectively.

Yul, hype

THE CHAMP IS BACK

Senior Yul Moldauer has made his mark on the OU record books and will continue his historic collegiate career on Saturday when the Sooners visit Lincoln, Neb. Moldauer is a seven-time individual national champion and became just the third men's gymnast ever to win four individual national titles in one year in 2018. Last season marked Moldauer's second all-around national title after claiming the crown his freshman season in 2016. His seven titles rank first all-time at OU ahead of Steven Legendre (6) and Olympians Jonathan Horton (6) and Jake Dalton (4).

IMPACT FRESHMEN

The Sooners welcome a trio of talented freshmen for 2019 in Spencer Goodell, Vitaliy Guimaraes and Morgan Seyler. Goodell was named a U.S. Junior Men's National Team member after taking third in the junior elite division all-around at the 2018 U.S. Championships. Additionally, Goodell tied for first on still rings and placed second on vault. Guimaraes, a product of 5280 Gymnastics in Colorado, finished just behind Goodell in the all-around at the U.S. Championships, claiming fourth, but took home junior national titles on floor exercise and vault. Seyler, whose parents were both gymnasts at OU, finished seventh in the all-around in the junior elite division at the 2017 P&G Championships.

WORLD STAGE

Numerous Oklahoma gymnasts had a busy offseason competing in national and international competitions. Five of the 12 U.S. Senior Men's National Team members are current or former Sooners. Seniors Yul Moldauer and Genki Suzuki, 2017 graduates Colin Van Wicklen and Allan Bower and 2016 alum Kanji Oyama represent OU on Team USA. Moldauer helped the U.S. to a fourth-place finish at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. It was the best finish for a U.S. men's team at Worlds since taking fourth in 2014. Moldauer took 12th in the all-around at the championships and finished just shy of a medal on floor exercise, placing fourth. Moldauer was joined in Doha by Van Wicklen and Bower.

Genki, USAs Suzuki, just months after attaining his U.S. citizenship, made the men's national squad and was assigned to the 2018 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru. Suzuki claimed gold on pommel horse at the meet and helped Team USA claim gold as a team. He was accompanied in Peru by Oyama and Sooners' freshman and junior national team member Spencer Goodell.

In August 2018, ten current or former Sooners competed at the U.S. Championships in Boston. Moldauer, Suzuki, Van Wicklen, Bower, and Oyama all placed in the top ten of the all-around competition. Junior Tanner Justus and sophomores Alexei Vernyi and Gage Dyer took 16th, 18th and 20th, respectively. Freshmen Goodell and Vitaliy Guimaraes competed in the junior division U.S. Championships, placing third and fourth, respectively in the all-around.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma continues its road swing with a trip to No. 9 Iowa on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 1 p.m. CT. It is the only matchup of the regular season with the Hawkeyes.

Season tickets for all regular-season home meets are on sale now and can be purchased 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/tickets.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma men's gymnastics, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_MGymnastics) and like Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics on Facebook.