No. 7 Illinois Vs. No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Nebraska Vs
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2021 MEN’S GYMNASTICS NOTES ABOUT THE MEET After a month away from home, the No. 7 Fighting Illini men’s gymnastics team returns to Huff Hall on Sunday, Feb. 21 to take on No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Nebraska in their first tri-meet of the season. The meet is scheduled to begin at 4 PM CT and will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+, and live stats vs. vs. available via fightingillini.com. LAST TIME OUT The Illini are coming off of a narrow 400.500-402.000 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend in Iowa City. Senior Danny Graham earned his fourth straight rings title on the season, sophomore Connor McCool No. 7 Illinois picked up the title on the floor, and junior Ian Skirkey walked away with the pommel horse title. vs. SENIOR DAY 2021 Sunday’s tri-meet will also serve as Senior Day for the five senior members of the Illini team. Max Diab, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Nebraska Jordan Kovach, Danny Graham, Joel Diaz, and Tommy Mistretta will all be honored Sunday in a pre-meet SUNDAY, FEB. 21 // 4 PM CT ceremony that will be streamed live on our Facebook page. HUFF HALL // CHAMPAIGN, IL ROAD TO NATIONALS RANKING After the Iowa meet, the Illini sit at seventh in the nation with a team average of 396.738. They rank in the ILLINOIS QUICK FACTS top 10 in all events nationally, including a third overall ranking on still rings (66.350) and a fifth overall ranking on high bar (64.413). The Illini have four different athletes in the top 10 national qualifying Location . Urbana-Champaign, Ill. average, including Ian Skirkey on pommel horse (13.650,T-7th), Danny Graham on rings (13.938, 3rd), Founded . .1867 Evan Manivong on vault (14.550, 6th) and Hamish Carter on all-around (80.375, 8th). Enrollment ................................44,942 Nickname ............................Fighting Illini SCOUTING MICHIGAN Colors............................ Orange and Blue The Michigan Wolverines are currently ranked second in the nation with a team score average of 409.000. Conference................................Big Ten President ...........................Timothy Killeen So far, the have only competed in one meet this season, a 409.000-328.100 virtual meet win over UIC. Chancellor ..........................Robert J. Jones Michigan was the preseason favorite to win the B1G this season, and will get their first taste of league Athletic Director . Josh Whitman competition this Sunday. Gymnasts to watch for Michigan include Paul Juda, who currently ranks first in Home Gym ........................Huff Hall (3,800) the nation on the all-around and ranks within the top 10 in all events, and Cameron Bock who follows 2020-21 Preseason NCAA Ranking ..................4 Juda in second in the all-around. 2020-21 Preseason Big Ten Ranking ................3 2020 Big Ten / NCAA Finish . N/A SCOUTING NEBRASKA National Champions Returning/Lost ...............0/0 The Cornhuskers are the third ranked team in the nation with a team average of 405.375. Nebraska All-Americans Returning/Lost ....................3/2 currently sits at 1-1 on the season, with a win vs Minnesota last weekend and a loss at Penn State on Letterwinners Returning/Lost ...................16/4 Feb. 7. Freshman Taylor Christopulos is coming off a week where he claimed the B1G Freshman of the Newcomers.....................................6 Week and NCAA Rookie of the Week honors. Nebraska is particularly strong on pommel horse, where they Website.........................FIGHTINGILLINI.com Twitter ...............................@Illinimgym 2020-21 MEN’S GYMNASTICS ROSTER Instagram.............................@Illinimgym Facebook . .www.facebook.com/Illinimgym No. NAME YR. EVENT HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION INFORMATION 28 Sebastian Abedi Jr. AA Roseville, Calif./Granite Bay Men’s Gymnasics Contact ..............Matthew Haufe 31 Ethan Boder Fr. Knoxville, Tenn./Knoxville Catholic [email protected] 98 Hamish Carter Jr. AA West Midlands, UK/Bishop Vesey’s Office Phone ........................217-300-1449 20 Josh Cook So. AA Penarth, Wales/Stanwell School Cell Phone ..........................847-650-8426 Alma Mater...................University of Illinois ‘20 45 Max Diab Sr. FX,SR,VT Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West 1 Joel Diaz Jr. SR,VT,PB,HB Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods 2020-21 SCHEDULE 12 Michael Fletcher So. AA Nashua, N.H./Bishop Guertin 21 Danny Graham Gr. SR,PB Clarendon Hills, Ill./Hinsdale Central DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT 23 Will Hauke Fr. Indianapolis, Ind./North Central 7 Sebastian Ingersoll Fr. Chicago, Ill./University of Chicago Laboratory Schools JAN. 15 Northern Illinois* W, 384.750-310.100 14 Dylan Kolak So. AA Pomona, N.Y./Ramapo JAN. 23 Ohio State$ W, 402.550-396.250 97 Jordan Kovach Sr. AA Chickasha, Okla. JAN. 31 Penn State$ 3:00 P.M. 11 Evan Manivong So. AA Kansas City, Mo./Staley FEB. 13 Iowa$ 6:00 P.M. 0 Clay Mason-Stephens Jr. AA Adelaide, Australia/Immanuel College FEB. 21 Michigan, Nebraska$ 4:00 PM 77 Connor McCool So. FX, VT Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette FEB. 26-28 Winter Cup TBA 16 Tommy Mistretta R-Sr. PH,PB,HB Easton, Pa./Livermore MAR. 22 Minnesota$ 4:00 P.M. 13 Emanuele Muehlhauser Jr. PH Honolulu, Hawaii/Damien Memorial APR 3-4 Big Ten Championships TBA 17 Logan Myers Fr. Morrison, Colo./Wheat Ridge APR. 16-17 NCAA Championships TBA 18 Tyler Schmidt So. PH,SR,PB Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata 42 Ian Skirkey Jr. FX,PH, VT Pepperell, Mass./Francis W. Parker 2 Sam Stinsa Fr. Wayne, Ill./Wheaton Academy • All times Central and subject to change 99 Léo Valentin Jr. Paris, France/Hector Berlioz City School • All home meets in BOLD CAPS and held at Huff Hall # Denotes meets aired on BTN $ Denotes meets aired on BTN+ Head Coach: Justin Spring (12th season) * Denotes virtual meet Associate Head Coach: Daniel Ribeiro (9th season) Assistant Coach: Don Osborn (6th season) rank first in the nation with an average of 67.750 on the event. ROAD TO NATIONALS RANKINGS* VALENTIN, HAUKE OUT FOR SEASON Illini junior Leo Valentin and freshman Will Hauke have both suffered season- 1. Oklahoma 413.867 ending injuries. Valentin is out for the season due to a torn achilles, and Hauke is 2. Michigan 409.000 out due to a hand injury. Valentin and Hauke were shaping up to be large parts of 3. Nebraska 405.375 the Illini lineup this season as first-year gymnasts for the Illini. 4. Ohio State 400.000 5. Penn State 398.438 RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS 6. Iowa 397.825 Spring welcomes back three gymnasts that were named All-Americans in 2020 7. Illinois 396.738 before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. Danny Graham (still rings), 8. Minnesota 390.700 Connor McCool (floor) and Ian Skirkey (pommel horse) all return to the Illini in 9. Navy 388.600 2021. 10. California 381.900 11. William & Mary 379.950 NEWCOMERS 12. Air Force 379.200 The Fighting Illini welcome six new gymnasts to the team in 2021: Ethan Boder, 13. Arizona State 377.650 Will Hauke, Sebastian Ingersoll, Logan Myers, Sam Stinsa and Léo Valentin. Head 14. Army 369.925 coach Justin Spring says the freshman class will be a large contributor to the team 15. Stanford 350.500 this upcoming season. RETURNING FROM INJURY * Rankings based on 2021 RTN Standings (UPDATED 2/10/21) After season-ending injuries last season, the Illini welcome back two contributors to the 2021 roster: junior Clay Mason-Stephens and sophomore Michael Fletcher. TOP SCORES OF 2021 Spring says the team will be much stronger in the 2021 campaign with the two Total returning from injury. 402.550................................................Ohio State (1/23/21) Floor Exercise LOOKING AHEAD 69.200.................................................Penn State (1/31/21) After Sundays tri-meet, the team will enter into the Winter Cup team break period. Pommel Horse Volunteer Coach Alex Diab and Illini junior Michael Fletcher will be competing at 66.350.................................................Ohio State (1/23/21) the Winter Cup in Indianapolis next weekend. After the Mar. 14 meet with Nebraska was canceled, the next scheduled team meet is Mar. 22 where the Illini travel to Still Rings Minnesota for their final regular season matchup with the Golden Gophers. 67.950.................................................Ohio State (1/23/21) Vault FOLLOW THE ILLINI 71.000................................................. Ohio State (1/23/21) Stay tuned toFIGHTINGILLINI.comfor all the latest information on Fighting Illini Parallel Bars Men’s Gymnastics. Follow the Orange and Blue onTwitter,FacebookandInstagram 66.250......................................................Iowa (2/13/21) for even more coverage. High Bar 65.400.................................................Penn State (1/31/21) INDIVIDUAL All-Around 80.500 Hamish Carter ........................................NIU (1/15/21) 80.250 Hamish Carter ..................................Penn State (1/31/21) 79.000 Michael Fletcher......................................Iowa (2/13/21) Floor Exercise 14.250 Connor McCool ..................................Ohio State (1/23/21) Connor McCool .......................................Iowa (2/13/21) 14.200 Connor McCool ..................................Penn State (1/31/21) 14.000 Michael Fletcher.................................Penn State (1/31/21) Pommel Horse 14.550 Ian Skirkey . Ohio State (1/23/21) 13.750 Hamish Carter ..................................Ohio State (1/23/21) 13.700 Tommy Mistretta ......................................NIU (1/15/21) Michael Fletcher.................................Penn State (1/31/21) Ian Skirkey . .Iowa (2/13/21) Still Rings