Sooners Take on Cal Saturday Afternoon at McCasland

Saturday, February 10

1:45 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

California

Tickets

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

Sooners Take on Cal Saturday Afternoon at McCasland

February 09, 2024 | Men's Gymnastics

Watch Live Scoring Meet Notes

THE MEET

No. 1 Oklahoma will compete at McCasland Field House for the second straight week when it plays host to MPSF foe and No. 10-ranked California on Saturday. The meet is set for a 1:45 p.m. start and doors to the field house open at 12:45 p.m. Oklahoma and Cal will compete in head-to-head on each event, rotating in full Olympic order.

TICKETS/PROMOTIONS

Saturday is OU's Mental Health Awareness meet and also OU Student Organization Day. The first 500 fans in attendance can receive a mental health awareness wristband. Fans can also enjoy $2 beers, sodas and popcorn.

Tickets are available for just $7 for adults and $5 for youth tickets and can be purchased via SoonerSports.com or at the door. Fans may present a ticket from Friday night's OU women's gym meet and receive free admission to the men's gym meet Saturday afternoon.

FOLLOW ALONG

The meet will be televised via SoonerVision on ESPN+ with Toby Rowland, Peter Daggett and Matt Wenske on the call. Live scoring will be available via OUStats.com.

STICKS

• Oklahoma is unbeaten against its last 73 opponents, encompassing 62 consecutive meets, 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 in the field house was March 3, 2007 against Ohio State.

• The Sooners and Bears met three times last season, all in consecutive meets. OU traveled to Berkeley in its regular season finale and came away with a 410.050 to 381.450 victory. The teams met again at the MPSF Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. (OU topped Cal, 409.500 to 388.600) and in the NCAA Qualifier (OU scored 415.491 to Cal's 395.055).

• Following Saturday's meet, the Sooners travel to Indianola, Iowa, for a meet at Simpson College at 1 p.m. on Feb. 17. The Sooners then take a one-week break for USA Gymnastics Winter Cup, which will be held Feb. 23-25 in Louisville, Ky., before resuming NCAA competition with a meet at Michigan on March 2.

• Sophomore Ignacio Yockers was named the MPSF Specialist of the Week and Colin Flores was named Freshman of the Week this week. It was the second MPSF weekly award this season for both gymnasts, and the sixth career honor for Yockers. The Tulsa, Okla., product won the pommel horse title with a 14.700, his second-highest horse score this season.

• Flores, who was also named the CGA national Rookie of the Week, won the all-around title last Saturday with a score of 80.300. It was the second all-around score above 80 in as many tries by the true freshman. He notched a career high on vault (14.550) and tied his career high on parallel bars (14.200) to win the p-bars event title. He is one of only two gymnasts nationally to register two all-around scores of 80 or higher this season.

• Junior Emre Dodanli has recorded the highest floor exercise score in the nation this season, with his 15.250 posted at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 20. Freshman Max Bereznev tied for the highest vault score nationally this season, with his 15.000 last weekend against Ohio State and Arizona State. Redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas' 85.200 all-around score at the Rocky Mountain Open is the highest in the nation so far this season.

• The Sooners posted 420.350 team all-around score at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 20 in Colorado Springs, Colo., which remains the highest score nationally this season by more than five points. Oklahoma's 420.350 on Jan. 20 was not only the highest in the nation this season, but was the program's highest team score since the 2019 campaign. The last time OU scored higher than 420.350 was April 6, 2019 at the MPSF Championships (420.500). Redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas' 85.200 individual all-around score was the highest by a Sooner since Yul Moldauer scored 88.300, also in 2019.

• Benas and freshman Colin Flores earned automatic qualification to USA Gymnastics Winter Cup with their top-three placement in the all-around on Jan. 20 at the Rocky Mountain Open. Winter Cup will be held Feb. 23-25 in Louisville, Ky. The full Winter Cup field, including individual event participants, will be announced at a later date.

• Oklahoma has scored better than 410.000 in 10 of its last 12 meets, dating back to Feb. 11, 2023, including last season's NCAA Qualifier and NCAA Finals. OU has scored 411 or higher in three of its four competitions this season.

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

• Oklahoma returned all four gymnasts who earned All-America honors at the 2023 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, returned after missing the 2023 season with injury. The Sooners also returned 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.

NATIONAL RANKINGS NOTES

• Oklahoma ranks first nationally as a team on floor exercise (69.117) and pommel horse (69.550), as well as the all-around (412.833). The Sooners rank second on vault (71.767) and horizontal bar (67.850), third on parallel bars (67.933) and fifth on still rings (66.950).

• Junior Emre Dodanli ranks first nationally in floor exercise with his 14.750 average. Junior Brigham Frentheway is tied for second with his 14.300 average and redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas ranks sixth with his 14.100.

• Sophomore Ignacio Yockers ranks third on pommel horse with his 14.438 average and senior Zach Nunez follows in fifth with his 14.388 average.

• Freshman Tas Hajdu ranks sixth nationally on still rings with his 14.033 average. Freshman Max Bereznev ranks fourth on vault with his 14.638 average and Dodanli ranks seventh with his 14.600 average.

• Benas' 14.475 parallel bars average ranks fourth nationally, while Dodanli ranks seventh (14.225). On high bar, sophomore Kelton Christiansen is tied for seventh (13.825).

• Benas tops the all-around chart with his 85.200 recorded on Jan. 20 and freshman Colin Flores ranks eighth nationally with his 80.550 average.

LAST TIME OUT

Six gymnasts won individual titles to lead Oklahoma to a 411.500 team score and wins over No. 6 Ohio State (400.600) and Arizona State (379.000) in front of a record crowd of 2,111 on the program's annual Cleveland Night at McCasland Field House.

Freshman Colin Flores won the all-around with a score of 80.300 and won parallel bars with his 14.200. Freshman Max Bereznev tied for the vault title with his 15.000, which also ties for the highest vault score nationally this season. Junior Emre Dodanli won floor exercise with a 14.500, his eighth event title in four meets this season. Sophomore Ignacio Yockers won pommel horse with his 14.700 and sophomore Adriel Perales-Valencia won still rings with his 13.750.

The Sooners registered the top team score on pommel horse (68.700), still rings (66.550), parallel bars (69.900) and horizontal bar (66.050). OU also notched a season-high 72.200 on vault and scored a 68.100 on floor exercise. Ohio State's team score was its highest this season and its 72.700 vault score was the highest in the nation so far this year.

The attendance figure, which included a record 651 OU students, is the highest men's gymnastics attendance in the nation this season.