OU Heads to Michigan for Top-Three Battle

Saturday, February 15

Ann Arbor, MI

12 PM

University of Oklahoma

Michigan

Photo by: Ty Russell

OU Heads to Michigan for Top-Three Battle

February 14, 2020 | Men's Gymnastics

Live Results Meet Notes

By: Athletics Communications

² Oklahoma

³ Michigan

Saturday, Feb. 15 / 12 p.m. CT / Ann Arbor, Mich.

Live Stats / Meet Notes

NORMAN - The No. 2 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team heads to Ann Arbor, Mich., to compete against No. 3 Michigan at noon CT on Saturday at Cliff Keen Arena.

THE MEET

Oklahoma (8-1) hits the road again this weekend for a matchup between two of the nation's top three men's gymnastics teams. No. 3 Michigan enters the meet after posting a season-high 413.500 last weekend for the second-highest mark in the NCAA. The Sooners last faced the Wolverines at the 2019 NCAA Championship Finals, outscoring them 414.556-406.354. Michigan also visited Norman last season, where OU claimed a 424.050-411.200 victory.

OU NO. 2 IN CGA STANDINGS

After five weeks of NCAA men's gymnastics competition, Oklahoma sits in the second spot of the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) standings. The Sooners hold the third-best team score of the 2020 season, notching a 412.200 in a victory over No. 7 Ohio State and No. 11 Arizona State in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 18. OU holds the second-best team 3-score average (411.233) along with the top spot on floor exercise (72.333). The Sooners rank in the top five on four more events, holding second on vault (72.200) and high bar (67.667), third on parallel bars (68.083) and fourth on rings (67.150).

TOP RANKS

On floor exercise, Sooners hold the first and second spots in the country. Junior Gage Dyer holds No. 1 with an average of 14.883 after his season-best 15.150 at Ohio State, and sophomore Vitaliy Guimaraes (14.817) ranks second. Sophomore Morgan Seyler (14.317) sits at sixth.

Guimaraes sits in a tie for first place in the vault standings with Stanford's Brandon Briones, both averaging 14.767. Guimaraes tallied an NCAA-high 15.050 at the Stanford Open, the only 15+ score on vault in the nation this season. Three Sooners sit between Nos. 10-20 with redshirt sophomore Mason Menser (14.467) at 13th, Seyler (14.417) at 15th and junior Alexei Vernyi (14.350) in the 18th spot.

On the final two events, parallel bars and high bar, two Sooners hold a pair top-10 spots. Freshman David Sandro ranks in a tie for ninth on P-bars with his 13.783 average. Dyer claims holds another top-five ranking on high bar in fifth with an NQA of 13.717.

IOWA REWIND

Oklahoma topped the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes, 411.600-403.250, in its 2020 home opener at McCasland Field House on Saturday, Feb. 8. The Sooners posted their second-best total score of the season, including season highs on pommel horse (66.800) and high bar (68.400).

The Sooners were led by junior Gage Dyer, who recorded a trio of event titles: FX (14.550), PB (14.000) and HB (13.950). As a team, Oklahoma claimed five of six event victories and swept all six individual event titles in front of a crowd of 1,702 on OU's annual Cleveland Elementary Night. The victory extended Oklahoma's home winning streak to 74.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Oklahoma extended its impressive home winning streak to 74 victories with the win over the Hawkeyes. The Sooners have won every meet held in Norman dating back to the 2012 NCAA Championships held at Lloyd Noble Center, where the Sooners took second place, only behind Illinois.

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 competition 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.

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. At the Sooners' first meet, WIlliams eclipsed the 500-win mark with four victories at the Rocky Mountain Open. He currently holds a career record of 506-38, adding up to an exceptional winning percentage of .930.

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

Sooner gymnasts take a break from NCAA action to compete at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Feb. 21-22.

Oklahoma will continue NCAA compeition on Saturday, March 14, when they host Air Force at 3 p.m. in McCasland Field House. Tickets for remaining 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, follow @OU_MGymnastics on Twitter or like Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics on Facebook.