Moldauer Named Nissen-Emery Award Finalist

Moldauer in the Record Books
		OU Rank	NCAA Rank
Individual NCAA Titles	7	1st	T1st
Individual NCAA Titles at One Competition	4	1st	T1st
All-America Honors	15	2nd	8th

OU Nissen-Emery Award Winners
Gymnast	Year
Steven Legendre	2011
Jonathan Horton	2008
Daniel Furney	2003
Todd Bishop	1999
Daniel Fink	1998
Jarrod Hanks	1991
Bart Conner	1981

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma senior gymnast Yul Moldauer was announced Monday evening as one of the eight finalists for the 2019 Nissen-Emery Award, awarded annually to the top senior male gymnast in the NCAA.

“I'm honored to be selected as a finalist for this award,” said Moldauer. “I can't give enough thanks to OU, (head coach) Mark Williams, (assistant coaches) Chris Brooks and Josh Yee, along with former coaches Taqiy (Abdullah-Simmons) and Steve (Legendre) and my teammates I've had these four years. Also, a big thanks goes to my family for supporting me in everything I do and my club gym for getting me to a point where I could come to OU.”

Moldauer has compiled an extensive list of accomplishments as an NCAA and U.S. National Team gymnast throughout his four years in Norman. Most recently, he claimed his third consecutive American Cup all-around title, becoming one of only three gymnasts to win the crown three straight years.

The senior co-captain holds numerous NCAA and OU program records. He boasts the most individual national titles in OU history with seven, which puts him in a tie for first in NCAA history, with one postseason of competition left in his NCAA tenure. Additionally, Moldauer's 15 All-America honors through his junior season rank second in program history to Olympian Jonathan Horton's 18.

Helping lead the Sooners to three of their four consecutive team national championships, the two-time NCAA all-around champion also holds a tie for the most individual NCAA championships won at one competition, winning four in 2018. Additionally, Moldauer sits atop the program record book for parallel bars, holding the top five scores in OU history.

"I'm honored to be selected as a finalist for this award. I can't give enough thanks to OU, (head coach) Mark Williams, (assistant coaches) Chris Brooks and Josh Yee, along with former coaches Taqiy (Abdullah-Simmons) and Steve (Legendre) and my teammates I've had these four years."
- Yul Moldauer

The Arvada, Colo., native has just as impressive of an international resume as he does in collegiate competition. The 2017 U.S. Championships all-around gold medalist is a two-time World Championships participant for Team USA, claiming a bronze medal on floor exercise in 2017 along with making the all-around finals each of the past two years. Moldauer won his second Winter Cup all-around crown in February 2019 to secure his spot on the U.S. Senior Men's National Team for the fourth consecutive year.

In his senior season with the Sooners, Moldauer currently holds the top all-around score in the NCAA season, putting up an 88.300 against Michigan Feb. 23. The senior also holds the top scores of the 2019 season on floor exercise (15.300) and parallel bars (15.100).

“Thank you to the NCAA for the sport of men's gymnastics,” continued Moldauer. “Gymnastics has been incredibly important to me to experience what I have in these four years. This is a huge honor and I wish that every senior who does gymnastics in the NCAA could be a finalist for this award because everyone deserves it for the work we put in.”

Oklahoma is home to the most Nissen-Emery Award recipients of any school with seven gymnasts winning the prestigious award, dubbed the “Heisman of gymnastics.” The Sooners most recent awardee was Steven Legendre in 2011.

In addition to Moldauer, Grant Breckenridge (Stanford), Alex Diab (Illinois), Jacopo Gliozzi (William & Mary), Vitali Kan (Minnesota), Justin Karstadt (Minnesota), Anton Stephenson (Nebraska) and Alec Yoder (Ohio State) were named finalists.

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.