Sooners Head West for Stanford Open

2 Oklahoma

1 Stanford

9 Cal

Saturday, Jan. 29 / 8 p.m. CT / Palo Alto, Calif. / Burnham Pavillion

Stanford Live Stream / Live Stats / Meet Notes

NORMAN – The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team heads to Palo Alto, Calif. for a matchup against the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal and No. 9 Cal Golden Bears on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. CT.

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET THREE

THE MEET
No. 2 Oklahoma returns to the floor Saturday evening for the 2022 Stanford Open in Palo Alto, Calif. to take on No. 1 Stanford and No. 9 Cal.

The meet is available to watch via live stream at 8 p.m. CT. Live results can be accessed here.

THE RIVALRY
Saturday's meet will showcase some of the best men's gymnastics programs in the country as the No. 2 Sooners and top-ranked Cardinal will meet in Burnham Pavilion in Palo Alto. Historically, Oklahoma and Stanford have been powerhouses in the sport. Oklahoma is tied with Penn State for the most national titles with 12, while the Cardinal boasts seven (their most recent came in 2021 when the Sooners were runners-up). The No. 9 Cal Golden Bears are not far behind in terms of NCAA gymnastics history, holding four team national championships.

LAST TIME OUT

The No. 1 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team cruised past No. 13 Air Force last weekend inside McCasland Field House by a score of 401.500 to 365.650.

Oklahoma won all six event titles as a team and collected every individual event title at the meet. With the victory, the Sooners improved the program's win streak in McCasland Field House to 77, a streak dating back to 2007.

The Sooners rotated in Olympic order on the evening, starting on floor exercise. The squad put up a 68.200 and was paced by senior Spencer Goodell's 14.150, good for the event title. Freshman Emre Dodanli collected an impressive 14.100 in his first routine competing for the Sooners. Senior Alexei Vernyi made his season debut with a 13.600 on the event.

In the second rotation, the team put up a 63.650 on pommel horse. Freshman Raydel Gamboa led the squad with his 13.150 performance, setting a career high and earning him the event title. Redshirt junior Braden Collier put up a 12.800 and both junior Alan Camillus and freshman Fuzzy Benas scored a 12.700 to contribute to the teams total.

OU registered a 66.550 on still rings in the third rotation of the evening. Benas put up the top score on rings with a 13.550. Redshirt junior Evan Perreault followed with a 13.400. Dan Simmons stuck his landing, earning him a 13.250. Freeman contributed a 13.200 and Gamboa set a career-high score of 13.150.

Heading to vault in the fourth rotation, all five Sooners put up 14.000-plus scores to produce the highest event score of the night at 71.750. Benas led the team with an impressive 14.550 and was closely followed by junior Josh Corona's 14.450, good for a season-best score. First to go for the Sooners and in his debut in the Crimson and Cream, freshman Cailen Walker impressed with a 14.450. Simmons and Nunez both put up 14.350's on the event.

On parallel bars, OU registered a 67.200. For his third event title, Fuzzy Benas crushed his career-best with an impressive 14.400, placing him 0.95 ahead of the second place gymnast. Gamboa collected a 13.450 and redshirt junior Cesar Gracia stuck his landing to collect a 13.300. Goodell and Camillus contributed a 13.200 and 12.850, respectively.

High bar was the final event on the night and Gamboa collected his second event title of the night with a big 13.600. Freeman contributed to the team's 64.150 score with his 13.300 performance. Dodanli and Nunez put up respective scores of 12.950 and 12.500.

SOONERS NO. 2 IN CGA STANDINGS

Following the conclusion of week three of NCAA men's gymnastics, Oklahoma holds the No. 2 spot in the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) standings.

OU holds the second highest team average (404.600) behind Stanford's 407.500 after a week of no competition for the Cardinal. The Sooners rank first on vault (71.050), second on floor (68.075) and parallel bars (67.250), third on high bar (65.950) and still rings (66.900) and fourth on pommel horse (65.025).

Individually, Sooners hold the top three spots in the all-around rankings, led by freshman Fuzzy Benas' 83.800 score from the Rocky Mountain Open. Sophomore Zach Nunez holds second in the country after his 81.700 all-around effort and freshman Raydel Gamboa sits in third with an 80.600.

On floor exercise, Sooners have three gymnasts tied with each other for second place. All putting up a 14.100, Fuzzy Benas holds his score after competition at the Rocky Mountain Open, fellow freshman Emre Dodanli made his Sooner debut with the impressive score against Air Foce, and senior Spencer Goodell anchored the squad with the 14.100 routine against Air Force.

On still rings, Benas holds sixth overall with a 13.875 average.

The Sooners have two in the top eight on vault, led by Benas in the seven spot with a 14.475. Right behind Benas, Walker (14.450) sits in eighth overall on the event. Sopohomore Zach Nunez sits just outside the top ten in 13th with a 14.300.

Oklahoma put two gymnasts in the top ten in the parallel bars ranks. Benas (14.275) ranks third, while Gamboa (13.70) is tied for tenth.

On high bar, two Sooners find themselves in the top 10. Senior Vitaliy Guimaraes sits in the No. 5 spot with a 13.700 from RMO. Raydel Gamboa holds seventh with a 13.625 average.

GAMBOA CLAIMS GYMNAST OF THE WEEK HONORS

University of Oklahoma men's gymnast Raydel Gamboa collected three gymnast of the week honors for his performance over the weekend against Air Force in the Sooners' home-opening meet. Gamboa was named MPSF Gymnast of the Week Tuesday prior to claiming College Gymnastics Association Co-Gymnast and Rookie of the Week honors Wednesday.

The freshman impressed in his second collegiate meet, earning two event titles. Gamboa put up an impressive 13.650 routine on high bar and a 13.150 on pommel horse to finish first on both events in the Sooners' dual win on Saturday. Gamboa also placed second on parallel bars with a 13.450 and added a 13.150 on still rings. This is the first career gymnast of the week awards for Gamboa.

UP NEXT

The Sooners take a week off before continuing their road swing Saturday, Feb. 12 in Champaign, Ill., at Illinois. The meet is slated for a 4 p.m. CT start.

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.

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET THREE

LAST TIME OUT

SOONERS NO. 2 IN CGA STANDINGS

GAMBOA CLAIMS GYMNAST OF THE WEEK HONORS

UP NEXT

Players Mentioned

Fuzzy Benas

Alan Camillus

Braden Collier

Josh Corona

Emre Dodanli

Raydel Gamboa

Spencer Goodell

Cesar Gracia

Vitaliy Guimaraes

Zach Nunez

Evan Perreault

Alexei Vernyi

Cailen Walker

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics