Sooners Visit Buckeyes Saturday

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team continues its 2020 season on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, at the Covelli Center on the campus of Ohio State. The Sooners face off against the No. 9 Buckeyes and No. 14 Arizona State Sun Devils at 4 p.m. CT. The meet will be available via Big Ten Network+ on a subscription basis.

The Meet

Oklahoma (4-0) continues its road swing to start the 2020 season with a trip to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the No. 9 Buckeyes and No. 14 Arizona State inside the new Covelli Center on the campus of Ohio State University. Last season, the Sooners topped the Buckeyes in Norman by a score of 423.950-395.400. It was OU's third-highest point total on the year.

Rocky Mountain Rewind

The University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics team won its season opener last weekend at the Rocky Mountain Open on the campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy. The Sooners topped No. 5 Nebraska, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 13 Air Force and No. 17 Washington with a final tally of 409.900. With the victory, OU claimed it's 20th Rocky Mountain Open title in the past 21 editions of the meet.

Additionally, head coach Mark Williams eclipsed the 500-win mark with four wins at the meet to move to 502 career victories. OU won five of six events as a team on the night, taking three of the six collegiate event titles and junior Alexei Vernyi finished first among NCAA gymnasts in the all-around with a career-high tally of 81.300. OU swept the collegiate all-around podium with junior Gage Dyer taking second (career-high 80.850) and freshman David Sandro (79.350) placing third. Sophomore Vitaliy Guimares picked up where he left off after his All-America campaign as a freshman. Guimares won or took a share of three collegiate event titles, scoring 14.500 on floor, 13.800 on rings and 14.700 on vault. Dyer shared the best NCAA score on floor (14.500) with Guimaraes and tied for first among collegiate gymnasts on high bar with a 13.900. The junior also took third on parallel bars, registering a 13.850.

MGym, RMO final lead

Sooners No. 1 in CGA Standings

After the first full week of NCAA men's gymnastics competition, Oklahoma has taken the top spot in the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) standings. The Sooners posted the top team score of the 2020 season on Jan. 11 in a victory at the Rocky Mountain Open over No. 3 Nebraska, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 14 Air Force and No. 17 Washington, notching a 409.900. OU holds the top team average (409.900) along with the top spot on floor exercise (71.400) and high bar (66.650). The Sooners rank in the top five on the other four events, holding second on parallel bars (68.000), third on vault (71.050), fourth on rings (67.400) and fifth on pommel horse (65.300). In the week two CGA coaches' poll, OU held steady at No. 2 with 365 points to No. 1 Stanford's 375 points. The Sooners collected five first-place votes in the poll.

Top Ranks

Individually, Sooners hold three of the top 10 spots in the all-around rankings, led by junior Alexei Vernyi's 81.300 score from the weekend, which is good for fourth. Junior Gage Dyer holds fifth (80.850), while freshman David Sandro (79.350) ranks sixth. On floor exercise, two Sooners hold a tie for the top spot. Dyer and sophomore Vitaliy Guimaraes share first after their 14.500 floor sets at the Rocky Mountain Open. Also in the top ten are Vernyi (14.350) and Sandro (14.100), ranking fifth and ninth, respectively. After his 13.650 pommel horse score in Colorado Springs, redshirt freshman Braden Collier ranks fifth in the national pommel horse standings. On still rings, Guimaraes (13.800) and Vernyi (13.700) rank Nos. 6-7, while senior rings specialist Collyn Kellogg rounds out the top 10 at No. 10 following his 13.500 performance in week one. Guimaraes holds his third top-six event ranking on vault after his meet-winning 14.700 over the weekend. On the final two events, parallel bars and high bar, three Sooners hold top-10 spots. Dyer ranks fifth on P-bars with his 13.850 average, while he (13.900) and Sandro (13.350) rank third and ninth, respectively, on high bar.

2019 In Review

The Sooners made history in 2019, running their then-NCAA best winning streak to 121 consecutive victories before losing in the final rotation to No. 2 Stanford in the NCAA Team Finals in Champaign, Ill., on April 20, 2019, by a margin of just .666. Oklahoma won its eighth straight MPSF conference crown over the Cardinal, Air Force and Cal in Norman two weeks prior to the NCAA Championships. Seniors Levi Anderson and Yul Moldauer along with sophomore Gage Dyer collected six of seven individual conference titles at the meet, wtih Moldauer taking the all-around win. Moldauer capped a historic collegiate career with college men's gymnastics most prestigious award, the Nissen-Emery trophy.

Looking Back at "The Streak"

OU's historic streak of 121 consecutive victories and four straight national titles came to a close in Champaign, Ill., last season in the team finals at the NCAA Championships with a runner-up finish to the Stanford Cardinal by a final tally of 415.222-414.556. The Sooners won or finished first in every meet in which they competed since placing second at the 2014 NCAA Team Finals.

In the span, Williams and co. racked up 121 victories, the most consecutive wins in program history, including 72 straight at home, a streak that is still active. The run goes down as the third-longest winning streak in NCAA history, passing the 111 straight victories by the UConn women's basketball team from 2014-17. The top two streaks are 137 by Miami men's tennis (1957-64) and 130 by BYU-Hawaii women's tennis (2002-05).

Returning Talent

The Sooners look to have a handful of leaders this season. Seniors Tanner Justus and Grant Kell were voted captains by their teammates this offseason and will step into veteran roles as experienced members of the team. The other senior, rings specialist Collyn Kellogg, will also look to make his presence known as he returns to the floor after missing 2019 with an injury. Other notable returnees include 2019 vault All-American, sophomore Vitaliy Guimaraes, who won four event titles a season ago as a true freshman. Junior Gage Dyer won the MPSF conference title on floor exercise last year and claimed seven event titles across floor, high bar and vault. Additionally, redshirt junior Matt Wenske and junior Alexei Vernyi have competed in their fair share of meets for the Sooners.

Lead, MGym Guimaraes

Fresh Faces

With the departure of eight seniors in 2019 and the loss of two gymnasts to medical retirements, head coach Mark Williams brought in one of his largest classes of freshmen in his 21-year tenure at Oklahoma. Added to the roster for 2020 include eight true and redshirt freshmen: Alan Camillus, Braden Collier, Josh Corona, Sean Daugherty, Jack Freeman, Cesar Gracia, David Sandro and Raphael Warner. Freshman and 2019 U.S. Championships high bar and pommel horse junior champion Lazarus Barnhill was forced to retire due to back injuries in September 2019.

The class looks to be led by Freeman of Cypress, Texas, and Sandro of Acton, Ontario, Canada. Cypress Academy product Freeman was the 2019 U.S. Championships junior silver medalist on still rings and took ninth in the all-around at the meet. Sandro, a former junior national team member for Canada, has competed at premier meets including the Calgary International Cup, Pacific Rim Junior Championships and the Elite Canada competition.

Williams Eclipses 500 Wins

Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams is a household name in the world of gymnastics. Williams enters his 21st season at the helm for the Sooners in 2020. The 1980 University of Nebraska graduate and high bar All-American for the Huskers got into coaching at the high school level before quickly climbing the ranks to be an assistant at OU prior taking over in 2000 as the Sooners head man.

Since 2000, He has led Oklahoma to nine national titles, an NCAA record-tying number for championships as a head coach, 17 conference titles and six undefeated seasons. Along the way he has coached OU student-athletes to an impressive 220 All-America honors and coached at five Olympic Games, including serving as the Team USA head coach in 2016. Last weekend, WIlliams eclipsed the 500-win mark with four victories at the Rocky Mountain Open. He currently holds a career record of 504-37, adding up to an exceptional winning percentage of .931.

Lead, MGym Williams

Olympic Gold Medalist Goncharov Added to Staff

After the departure of 2009 OU graduate and Olympian Chris Brooks from the Sooner coaching staff following 2019, Williams announced in August 2019 the addition of Olympic gold medalist Valeriy Goncharov to the coaching staff. Goncharov (pronounced Vuh-leer-EE Gon-CHUR-ov) won an Olympic team silver medal with Ukraine at the 2000 Sydney Games and was a gold medalist on parallel bars at the 2004 Games in Athens.

The Ukraine native spent the last five years as a coach at Texas Academy of Acrobatics and Gymnastics in Baytown, Texas. Goncharov brings a wealth of gymnastics experience to Norman. As a competitor, Goncharov compiled seven medals across Olympic, World Championships and World Cup competitions. With his move up to the college ranks, Goncharov joins former Oklahoma assistant and current Ohio State head coach Rustam Sharipov as the only two coaches in NCAA men's gymnastics with Olympic gold medals.

Up Next

Oklahoma continues its road swing to start the 2020 season with a trip to Palo Alto, Calif., for a big-time matchup against the No. 2/1 Stanford Cardinal as they host the Stanford Open next Saturday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. CT. Also at the meet will be No. 10/11 Cal.

For updates and more information, follow @OU_MGymnastics on Twitter or like Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics on Facebook.

The Meet

Rocky Mountain Rewind

Sooners No. 1 in CGA Standings

Top Ranks

2019 In Review

Looking Back at "The Streak"

Returning Talent

Fresh Faces

Williams Eclipses 500 Wins

Olympic Gold Medalist Goncharov Added to Staff

Up Next

Players Mentioned

Levi Anderson

Alan Camillus

Braden Collier

Josh Corona

Sean Daugherty

Gage Dyer

Jack Freeman

Cesar Gracia

Vitaliy Guimaraes

Tanner Justus

Grant Kell

Collyn Kellogg

Yul Moldauer

David Sandro

Alexei Vernyi

Raphael Warner

Matt Wenske

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics