Sooners Set to Host NCAA Championship

Friday, April 15

7 P.M.

University of Oklahoma

Michigan

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April 14, 2022 | Men's Gymnastics

Meet Notes (PDF)Live Stats

NORMAN – No. 2 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team hosts the NCAA Qualifier on Friday, April 15, at 7 p.m. CT and NCAA Championship Finals on Saturday, April 16, at 6 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.

The Sooners will face No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Navy, No. 10 Air Force and No. 11 Army in the NCAA Qualifier.

The meet is available to watch on SoonerSports.TV. Live results can be accessed here.

LAST TIME OUT

The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team posted its highest score of the season with a 417.300 but fell to No. 1 Stanford (424.250) at the MPSF Championship in Palo Alto, Cali. on April 2. California secured third place with a score of 392.400 and Air Force notched fourth with a 388.050.

Freshmen Fuzzy Benas and Raydel Gamboa, along with senior Vitaliy Guimaraes, secured top- five spots in the all-around competition. Benas finished in second with an 84.700, and Gamboa and Guimaraes tied for fourth with scores of 83.100.

The Sooners started off hot on floor, with freshman Emre Dodanli earning a 14.300 in the first spot. Benas tallied a career-high 14.700, and senior Spencer Goodell followed with a season-high 14.450. Guimaraes closed the rotation with a score of 14.050 to assist the Sooners in tallying a season-high 71.400 on the event.

On pommel horse, the Sooners earned another team-season-high score, notching a 68.900. Sophomore Zach Nunez earned the second-best score of the night with a 14.200. Redshirt junior Braden Collier tallied a season-high 13.650, and Gamboa's 13.550 was a career high.

Benas notched Oklahoma's highest score on still rings with a 14.000. Junior Alan Camillus and Guimaraes each earned their season-highs with scores of 13.850 apiece. Senior Spencer Goodell's 13.550 helped the Sooners tally a 68.300 on rings.

In the fourth rotation, Oklahoma tallied a score of 71.700 on vault. Benas posted a 14.850 for the second-highest score of the night and Guimaraes secured a season high 14.550. Gamboa tallied a career-high 14.700 for the all-around; however, his score did not count toward the team's score.

A 14.100 by Benas and a season-high 13.700 by Guimaraes led the Sooners to a 68.800 on parallel bars. Gamboa notched a 13.900 on the event.

Gamboa finished second on high bar with a career-high 14.200 and junior Jack Freeman (14.150) notched third. Benas secured a 13.550 and redshirt junior Cesar Gracia earned a 13.400 to help the Sooners to a 68.200.

HISTORY AND TRADITION

Heading into the 2022 NCAA Championship, the Sooners currently hold 12 national titles, tied for most in NCAA history with Penn State.

OU has finished first or second in 18 or the last 20 NCAA Championships.

Mark Williams has led nine different teams to a championship over the course of his 22 seasons as head coach of the Sooners, tied with Penn State's Gene Wettstone for most national titles in men's gymnastics history.

OU has won an NCAA championship three times in Norman: 2002, 2006 and 2015.

The last time the Sooners won the NCAA championship was in Chicago in 2018. The Sooners took second in 2019 and 2021, with 2020's season being suspended due to COVID-19.

Last season, senior Gage Dyer took home floor and vault individual titles at the championship.

In 2021, seven Sooners were named All-Americans. Current Sooners Alan Camillus (SR), Jack Freeman (HB), Vitaliy Guimaraes (AA, HB) and Morgan Seyler (FX) were among the seven.

NOTABLE ROUTINES

Junior Jack Freeman has scored a 14.500 on high bar at Winter Cup, at Springfield/William & Mary and at home against Ohio State. He took home the Winter Cup high bar title with the two-day score of 27.850.

Freshman Fuzzy Benas earned one of the highest all-around scores in the country in the last home meet of the season with a 84.500. He scored a OU-season-high 15.000 on vault and has the Sooners' highest scores on still rings (14.200) and parallel bars (14.400).

Senior Vitaliy Guimaraes earned two OU season highs in his most recent competition for the Sooners vs. Ohio State. He scored a 14.850 on floor and a career-high 14.250 on pommel horse.

SOONERS HEAD INTO NATIONALS AT NO. 2

Headed into the 2022 NCAA finals, the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team holds the No. 2 spot in the CGA rankings with an average of 408.178, behind No. 1 Stanford's 408.178. The Sooners rank first on pommel horse (66.400) and high bar (68.350), second on floor (69.363) and take third on still rings (71.394), vault (71.394) and parallel bars (67.089).

Two Sooner freshmen hold the top two spots in the all-around individual rankings, with Fuzzy Benas at No. 1 (82.350) and Raydel Gamboa at No. 2 (80.817).

Junior Jack Freeman holds the No. 2 spot on high bar with a 14.300 and Gamboa is No. 6 spot on the event (13.417). Redshirt junior Cesar Gracia's 13.456 on high bar is good for ninth.

Two Sooners rank in the top 10 on floor, with senior Spencer Goodell at third (13.783) and freshman Emre Dodanli at eighth (13.986).

Sophomore Zach Nunez (13.691) is ranked No. 4 on pommel horse, and senior Vitaliy Guimaraes (13.980) is ranked sixth.

Benas is fifth on parallel bars (14.170) with fellow freshman Gamboa at eighth (13.839).

Benas ranks ninth on still rings (13.685) and fourth on vault (14.550).

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.