COLLEGE GYMNASTICS ASSOCIATION BIG TEN CONFERENCE GYMNASTICS 2012 Conference Championships Report April 8, 2012 Compiled by Jerry Wright

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 14.85, even after a fall midway through his routine. De los Angeles was second on the U- M squad with a 14.60. The Wolverines then moved to the exercise, where a pair of freshmen in Stacey Ervin and de los Angeles paced U-M, as Ervin scored a 15.20, while de los Angeles added a 15.10 for third and fourth place, re- spectively. U-M put together a season-best team score on , where sophomore Dylan James scored 14.55 to lead the Maize and Blue and place fourth on the event. Rotation four found Michigan still . Mikulak paced the squad with a 14.80, while sophomore Alex Bubnov rose to the occasion with a career-best 14.75. school rings record with a 61.600, led by

ILLINOIS WINS 4TH Maestas, who took second and set a new Illi- STRAIGHT BIG TEN nois record with a 15.850. Senior Anthony Sacramento matched his career high with a CHAMPIONSHIP ! 15.500 to finish third, while senior Kyle Moe MIKULAK tied for fourth with a lifetime-best 15.150, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS and freshman Mike Wilner tied for seventh The Fighting Illini captured its fourth with a 15.100 to round out the list of rings straight Big Ten title Friday night at Carver- qualifiers for the Orange and Blue. Hawkeye Arena with a 352.950, making it the On Ruggeri topped the leaderboard first program to win four in a row since Min- with a 15.300. nesota claimed the crown from 1977-80. The In the next rotation, the Illini finished se- win marked Illinois' 27th championship all- cond on with a solid score from time, which is the most among Big Ten Maestas (third; 15.000) schools. Michigan (351.850) took second The Orange and Blue continued their suc- place, followed by Penn State (350.000), cess with a team win on high bar (58.400), Minnesota (345.800), Ohio State (343.650), highlighted by sophomore Jordan Valdez' Iowa (342.800) and Nebraska (340.700). second-place finish (14.750). Junior Austin The vault competition saw Ervin (15.20) Freshman C.J. Maestas led the way for the Phillips and Maestas tied for fourth with and Mikulak (15.15) take second and third Orange and Blue, securing the all-around title 14.600s. place, respectively. with a career-high 89.500. Redshirt senior In the final rotation, the Illini sealed the deal Michigan entered the final rotation with a Paul Ruggeri took third with an 86.850. with a solid night on floor, winning the event legitimate chance of claiming first place, but a as a team with a 59.500. Maestas finished first team-best of 59.45 was enough to jump Penn with a 15.400, followed by Ruggeri in second State for the No. 2 spot but was not enough to with a 15.250 to each earn a spot in the floor overtake the eventual champion Illini in rota- finals. tion six. Mikulak led the surge in the final rotation as he scored a 15.45 and took first, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN while freshman Michael Strathern scored a The University of Michigan overtook Penn career-best 14.75 and took fifth. State in the final rotation for a second-place finish at the team and all-around finals of the PENN STATE UNIVERSITY MAESTAS Big Ten Championships with a season-best Penn State was in the thick of a very tight 351.850 on Friday (April 6) at Carver- race for its third conference crown heading Hawkeye Arena. Sophomore Sam Mikulak into the last rotation of the team finals of Fri- and freshman Adrian de los Angeles took day night's 2012 Big Ten Championships but The Orange and Blue began the night on second and fourth in the all-around, respec- could not keep pace and finished in third pommel horse paced by junior Yoshi Mori tively. place.. (14.700), who took third overall. The Wolverines opened the night on high Continued next page: see p3 for In the following rotation, the Illini broke the bar and scored a 57.90. Mikulak tallied a individual event results.

Junior Felix Aronovich placed fourth in the er for Minnesota on the parallel bars. His final UNIVERSITY OF IOWA all-around (86.450). He led Penn State in the The University of Iowa placed sixth at the parallel bars (14.750), tied for fifth in the still DABRITZ 2012 Big Ten Championships in Iowa's own rings, and placed eighth in the high bar Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night. (14.550). Broderick Shemansky placed sixth on all-around ARONOVICH for the Hawkeyes with a career best 85.150. Iowa started the event on PB’s led by Sheman- sky and Balboa, who each scored a 14.600 on score of 15.15 put him in second place overall the event to place tied for on the event, which was Minnesota's highest tenth. finish of the night. On high bar Balboa led SHEMANSKY The Gophers brought home another top- Iowa on the event with a three finisher on their next event, the high bar. 14.400 to finish tied for 11th. Freshman Steve Jaciuk posted a 14.7 to secure Freshman Brandon Field led Iowa on its third place. third rotation, scoring a 14.350 on FX. Kyle Banks was the team's leading scorer on On pommel horse they were led by Cazabon Freshman Craig Hernandez anchored Penn the floor exercise. He finished in fifth overall as he scored a career best 14.200 on the event State's pommel horse line-up, dominating the with a 15.05. to place seventh. competition with a score of 15.500. He was All five Hawkeye competitors on rings were the only gymnast to score above the 15.000 OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY solid led by Balboa's 14.750. plateau and outscored the nearest competitor Ohio State placed fifth with a 343.650 at the Iowa would conclude the meet on vault led by a mammoth margin of .6 of a point. 2012 Big Ten Championships Friday in by a great vault from Matt McGrath. McGrath Junior Scott Rosenthal upheld his No. 1 Carver Hawkeye Arena at the University of scored a 15.100 to place tied for fourth and national ranking in the still rings, scoring a Iowa. advance to the event finals. team finals-high 15.900. He was backed by On pommel horse Michael Newburger led solid performances from Aronovich (15.150), the team with a 14.90 for second overall. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA redshirt sophomore Nihir Kothari (15.100), Right behind him was Nebraska finished in seventh place with a and senior Miguel Pineda (15.000). senior captain Ty Echard team score of 340.700 at their first Big Ten Freshman Tristan Duverglas headlined Penn who earned a 14.35 for Championships. State in the vault, scoring a 15.100. Strong fifth overall despite a fall The Huskers started on Vault and Baier efforts from junior Parker Raque (14.950), on the event. paced them at 15.00. junior Matt Chelberg (14.600), senior Warren Senior Mike Behles led On PB’s NU was led by Hofer's score of Yang 14.600), and sophomore Nestor Rodri- the way on rings with a 14.45. Schryver hit a 14.30 for the Big Red, guez (14.500). 15.00 to tie for ninth. and freshman Connor Stillwell added a 14.10. Junior Mackenzie Dow highlighted the Penn Moving onto vault NEWBURGER Josh Ungar was tops for the Big Red on the State high bar line-up, finishing tied for fourth Freshman Larry Mayer high bar, posting a score of 14.45. Senior Will with a score of 14.600. led the team with a pow- Eastman added a 14.30, and Hofer tacked on a erful vault that scored him a 15.05 to place 14.25. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA seventh. Grant Perdue scored a 14.50 to lead the Big The Minnesota Gophers came in fourth Koudinov led the Scarlet and Gray on paral- Red on FX, while Eastman contributed a place out of seven at the Big Ten Champion- lel bars where he had a solid 15.10 for third 14.40. ships on Friday night. place. Moling with a 14.15 was second on the On pommel horse nationally-ranked Eric Minnesota started the night out strong on the team. Schryver led Nebraska with a score of 14.15. still rings to open the meet. Senior Russell The Buckeyes headed to high bar and Blaize In the rings event Donovan Arndt's mark of Dabritz led the team with a 15.2 and finished Monks set the bar for Ohio State with a 14.40 14.75 led the in fourth place overall. to tie for 11th place. way. Baier The momentum continued on vault as the In the final rotation, Ohio State collected added a score SCHRYVER Gophers reached their highest event score of 57.85. The team was led by Steiner on FX of 14.20 and the evening. Adam Kern's outstanding perfor- with a 14.95 for sixth place. Koudinov tallied redshirt fresh- mance earned him a 15.1 and tied him fourth a 14.80 on floor to rank second on the team man Robbie place. Defending Big Ten vault champ Zack and seventh overall. Kocks tacked Chase finished tied for eighth with a 15.0. on a 14.15 for Russell Dabritz was once again the top scor- the Big Red. COLLEGE GYMNASTICS ASSOCIATION BIG TEN CONFERENCE INDIVIDUAL EVENT RESULTS April 6/7, 2012 Compiled by Jerry Wright HOST: University of Iowa ALL AROUND MAESTAS 1. C. J. Maestas, Illinois 89.50 ROSENTHAL 2. Sam Mikulak, Michigan 88.90 3. Paul Ruggeri, Illinois 86.85 4. Felix Aronovich, Penn St. 86.45 5. Adrain de los Angeles, Mich. 86.35 6. Broderick Shemansky, Iowa 85.15 7. Yoshi Mori, Illinois 84.35 8. Rohan Sebastian, Michigan 83.85 FLOOR EXERCISE 1. Paul Ruggeri, Illinois 15.80 2. C. J. Maestas, Illinois 15.35 3T. Misha Koudinov, Ohio State 15.20 3T. Sam Mikulak, Michigan 1520 5. Danny Steiner, Ohio State 15.10 6. Parker Raque, Penn State 15.00 7. Harris Coleman, Minnesota 14.95 8T. Stacey Ervin, Michigan 14.70 8T. Adrian de los Angeles, Mich. 14.70 POMMEL HORSE 1T. Craig Hernandez, Penn State 14.85 1T. Ty Echard, Ohio State 14.85 3. Eric Schryver, Nebraska 14.20 4T. Mackenzie Dow, Penn State 14.15 4T. Michael Myler, Michigan 15.15 RUGGERI 6. Michael Newburger, Ohio State 13.95 7. Zach Cazabon, Iowa 13.90 8T. Dylan James, Michigan 13.25 8T. Yoshi Mori, Illinois 13.25 STILL RINGS 1. Scott Rosenthal, Penn State 15.90 2. C. J. Maestas, Illinois 15.50 3T. Felix Aronovich, Penn State 15.25 3T. Nihir Kothari, Penn State 15.25 5T. Russell Dabritz, Minnesota 15.20 5T. Michael Wilner, Illinois 15.20 MIKULAK 7. Mike Behles, Ohio State 15.00 8. Anthony Sacramento, Illinois 14.90 VAULT HERNANDEZ 1. Paul Ruggeri, Illinois 15.50 2. Zack Chase, Minnesota 15.30 3. Stacey Ervin, Michigan 15.25 4. Larry Mayer, Ohio State 15.15 5T. Sam Mikulak, Michigan 15.05 5T. Tristan Duverglas, Penn St. 15.05 7. Wyatt Baier, Nebraska 15.00 8. Matt McGrath, Iowa 14.95 PARALLEL BARS 1. Sam Mikulak, Michigan 15.45 2. Misha Koudinov, Ohio State 15.05 3. Paul Ruggeri, Illinois 14.90 1. Sam Mikulak, Michigan 15.55 ECHARD 4. Felix Aronovich, Penn State 14.70 2. C. J. Maestas, Illinois 15.30 5. Russell Dabritz, Minnesota 14.55 3. Jordan Valdez, Illinois 14.70 6. C. J. Maestas, Illinois 14.35 4. Steve Jaciuk, Minnesota 14.50 7. Stacey Ervin, Michigan 14.10 5. Mackenzie Dow, Penn State 14.40 8. Javier Balboa, Iowa 14.05 6T. Adrian de los Angeles, Mich. 14.30 6T. Felix Aronovich, Penn State 14.30 8. C. J. Padera, Illinois 14.05