Men's Gym Opens 2024 Season Saturday Night

Saturday, January 13

5:45 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Air Force

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Photo by: Ty Russell

Men's Gym Opens 2024 Season Saturday Night

January 12, 2024 | Men's Gymnastics

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THE MEET

Oklahoma opens the 2024 season against Air Force on Saturday, Jan. 13 at McCasland Field House. Introductions begin at 5:45 p.m. and the meet is set for a 6 p.m. start.

Oklahoma has been victorious in 60 consecutive meets held inside McCasland Field House, dating back to the 2007 season. The streak began on March 17, 2007 with a victory over Iowa. OU's last loss at the field house was March 3, 2017 against Ohio State.

TICKETS & PROMOTIONS

Season tickets are still available for purchase at SoonerSports.com/Tickets. Single-meet tickets are also on sale, and reduced-price $3 tickets are available for Saturday's meet via fevo.me/soonersmilitary.

Saturday is OU's Military and First Responders Night. Fans can interact with first-responders vehicles outside on Brooks Mall beginning at 5 p.m. The first 500 fans inside the field house can receive OU men's gymnastics glow sticks.

FOLLOW ALONG

The meet will be broadcast live on SoonerVision on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Matt Wenske on the call. Live scoring will be available at OUStats.com.

STICKS

•   Following Saturday's meet, the Sooners will be on the road for two weekends before returning to McCasland Field House. OU will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., next weekend for the Rocky Mountain Open, which will be held Jan. 20 at the Air Force Academy. The Sooners then travel to Champaign, Ill. for a meet against Illinois on Jan. 28. Oklahoma returns home on Feb. 3 to face Ohio State and Arizona State at McCasland Field House.

•   Oklahoma was ranked No. 4 in the preseason national poll, the same spot it finished the 2023 NCAA Finals. Reigning national champion Stanford was ranked No. 1, Michigan was ranked No. 2 and Illinois was No. 3, the same order of finish in last season's NCAA finals.

•   Fifth-year senior Jack Freeman and senior Dan Simmons were selected as senior captains for the 2024 season as voted by their teammates.

•   Oklahoma returns all four gymnasts who earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships: Freeman (high bar), Emre Dodanli (floor exercise), Zach Nunez (pommel horse) and Ignacio Yockers (pommel horse). Additionally, Dodanli (floor, vault), Freeman (floor, high bar), Nunez (pommel horse), Yockers (pommel horse), Kelton Christiansen (high bar) and Mac Seyler (pommel horse) earned regular season All-America honors from the CGA.

•   Redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas, a 2022 All-American in the all-around and on vault and high bar as a freshman, returns after missing the 2023 season with injury. The Sooners also return juniors Brigham Frentheway, Nikolai Kolesnikov and Cailen Walker, sophomore Adriel Perales-Valencia and redshirt freshman Leo Koike, who missed the 2023 season with injury.

•   OU welcomed several newcomers to the roster, including seniors Matt Burgoyne and Zachary Marckx and freshmen Arthur Ballon, Max Bereznev, Colin Flores, Tyler Flores, Tas Hajdu and Nico Hamilton.

•   Oklahoma scored better than 410.000 in seven of its last eight meets of the 2023 season (and better than 414.00 in five of its last eight), including the NCAA Qualifier and NCAA Finals. OU notched a pair of back-to-back 418s against Stanford/William & Mary at home on Feb. 11 (season-best 418.900) and at Nebraska/vs. Simpson on Feb. 17 (418.250). The Sooners topped Michigan on March 4 in their home finale with a score of 414.550, won a tri-meet over Penn State and Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, with a score of 410.000, and defeated Cal in the regular season finale with a 410.050 score.

•   OU registered the top team score nationally three times during the 2023 campaign (Feb. 11, Feb. 17 and March 4).

•   Oklahoma rose to the nation's top spot in the Feb. 20 rankings, and held the position until April 3. The Sooners were ranked first or second in the national rankings throughout the 2023 season.

•   In the final national rankings (following the regular season and conference championships), Oklahoma led the nation in floor exercise (70.000 average; 1.150 points higher than second place Stanford [68.850]). OU ranks second in pommel horse (68.163; 0.300 points behind Illinois [68.463]) and parallel bars (69.450), third in high bar (67.863), fifth in still rings (67.838) and seventh in vault (71.113).

HISTORY AND TRADITION

Oklahoma has won 12 national championships (1977, '78, '91, 2002, '03, '05, '06, '08, '15, '16, '17, '18), tied for most in NCAA history (tied with Penn State), including nine national titles since 2000. The Sooners have finished first or second in 19 of the last 22 NCAA Championships, or every championship held since 2001 (does not count the 2020 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). OU has reached 24 consecutive NCAA finals.

Mark Williams has led nine different teams to a national title over the course of his 24 seasons as head coach of the Sooners. OU won an NCAA championship held in Norman three times: 2002, 2006 and 2015.

The Sooners last won an NCAA championship in 2018 in Chicago, Ill., capping a run of four consecutive national titles (2015-18). The Sooners claimed second place in three straight championships: 2019, '21 and '22, and have finished in the top three in 21 of the last 23 NCAA Championships.