Men's Gym Welcomes No. 9 Iowa in Home Opener

Saturday, February 8

Norman, Okla.

7 PM

University of Oklahoma

Iowa

Photo by: TBD

Men's Gym Welcomes No. 9 Iowa in Home Opener

February 07, 2020 | Men's Gymnastics

Tickets Fan First Week FOX Sports GO Live Stats Meet Notes

¹ Oklahoma

⁹ Iowa

Saturday, Feb. 8 / 7 p.m. CT / Norman / McCasland Field House

Tickets / Fan First Week / FSOK / FSGO / Live Stats / Meet Notes

NORMAN - The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team welcomes the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes in its 2020 home opener in McCasland Field House at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday. The meet will serve as "Cleveland Night" for the Sooners, an annual tradition that celebrates OU men's gymnastics' partnership with local school Cleveland Elementary that dates back to when head coach Mark Williams took over. Fans are also encouraged to wear white as the team wants to "white out" the Field House for the home opener.

"We're hoping to have a really good crowd," said Williams. "It's been a long time since we've been home, so we're looking forward to having a good opportunity to be in front of the fans and not have to travel. We're ready to go."

The Sooners' home opener is one of three Saturday events kicking off OU Athletics Fan First Week, a week-long promotion offering fans free admission to 10 different events with the purchase of a single ticket. More information on Fan First Week can be found here, and tickets can be purchased at SoonerSports.com/tickets. Additionally, the first 150 fans will receive a white "Champions Corner" t-shirt, while all fans can pick up a free copy of the 2020 team poster and stick around for post-meet autographs.

The meet will be broadcast on FOX Sports Oklahoma and live streamed on FOX Sports GO.

THE MEET

Oklahoma (7-1) hosts its first of three home meets at McCasland Field House this season when it welcomes No. 9 Iowa (2-4). The last time the Sooners met the Hawkeyes was Feb. 9, 2019, in Iowa City, where Oklahoma topped Iowa, 405.150-397.750. The Hawkeyes hold the No. 9 spot in the Road to Nationals rankings heading into the meet.

OU NO. 1 IN CGA STANDINGS

After four full weeks of NCAA men's gymnastics competition, Oklahoma remains in the top spot of the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) standings. The Sooners hold the second-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 top team average (411.100) 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 (72.150) and high bar (67.083), third on parallel bars (67.383) and fifth on rings (66.717).

TOP RANKS

Individually, Sooners hold two of the top 10 spots in the all-around rankings, led by junior Alexei Vernyi's 81.300 score from the Rocky Mountain Open, which is good for fifth. Junior Gage Dyer holds eigth (80.850). Freshman David Sandro sits just outside the top ten with a 79.350, good for 11th.

On floor exercise, Sooners hold the first and second spots in the country. Dyer holds No. 1 with an average of 14.867 after his season-best 15.150 at Ohio State, and sophomore Vitaliy Guimaraes (14.817) ranks second. Sophomore Morgan Seyler (14.200) sits at eigth.

Guimaraes holds his second top-two event ranking on vault (14.767) after his NCAA-high 15.050 at the Stanford Open. Three Sooners sit between Nos. 10-15 with Seyler (14.383) at 11th, redshirt sophomore Mason Menser (14.375) holding 12th, and Vernyi (14.350) sharing the 14th spot.

On the final two events, parallel bars and high bar, two Sooners hold a pair top-10 spots. 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.

STANFORD OPEN REWIND

Oklahoma traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., to compete at the Stanford Open on Jan. 25. The Sooners fell for the first time this season and just the second time in six years at the hands of the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal, 420.050-408.200, in a matchup of the top two teams in the country. The Sooners defeated No. 12 California at the meet, who posted a 400.700.

The Sooners registered season-high scores on floor and vault, with big rotations of 73.350 and 72.900, respectively. The meet was highlighted by sophomore Vitaliy Guimaraes' NCAA-high score of 15.200 on floor exercise, good for a career high.

HOME SWEET HOME

Oklahoma looks to extend its impressive home winning streak to 73 victories on Saturday. 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. Over the course of the streak, OU has defeated Iowa five times in Norman.

Making Saturday's home opener sweeter, the Sooners are proud to host their annual "Cleveland Night" as part of the "Partners in Education" program developed by OU head coach Mark Williams and Cleveland Elementary School in Norman.

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 505-38, 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

Oklahoma heads north to face the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m. CT. The Sooners last faced Michigan at the 2019 NCAA Championship Finals in Champaign, Ill., where Oklahoma outscored the Wolverines, 414.556-406.354. OU also hosted the Wolverines at McCasland Field House last season, defeating them 424.050-411.200.

OU will have two more home meets in 2020 inside McCasland Field House, facing off against Air Force (March 13) and Cal (March 21). Single meet and season tickets for all 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.