FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Dale Bullivant North Shore Gymnastics Association [email protected]

January 28, 2020 – Maple Plain, MN – North Shore Gymnastics held its 24th Annual John Roethlisberger Iceberg Open at the University of Minnesota Maturi Pavilion on January 23-25, hosting over 465 boys representing 37 different teams from across the country. During the evening session on Friday of the Iceberg meet, the MN Golden Gophers Men’s Gymnastics team hosted the University of Illinois in its first home meet of the season, with the Gophers pulling out a huge win after the final rotation. Local favorite and former NSGA athlete, Gopher Shane Wiskus, scored not only the nation’s highest individual score this year, but also the highest score in the All-Around competition to take the title.

North Shore’s Level 5 team competed in the last session on Saturday morning and faced strong gymnasts at every age group. Representing the team in the age 7-8 division, Benjamin Hallett (7, Minnestrista) had a strong showing with his second place and a third place finish on the to finish sixth in the all-around competition. Also contributing to the team score were Nicolas Farley (9, Mound) placing sixth on the vault, Zachary Potter (8, Delano), Bergen Dankey (10, Wayzata) securing sixth place on the , Kaiden Kochar (10, Watertown), and Gavin Liller (11, Delano). Head Coach Dale Bullivant has been very pleased with how the Level 5 boys have been progressing as he said, “This group of boys is really learning how to compete.”

NSGA’s Level 6 team competed on Thursday evening, finishing with fifth place honors in the team competition. With 39 competitors in the 10-11 age group, Joe Hartmann (10, Independence) led the team with his strong third place finish on the high bar and fifth place vault. Teammates Oliver Berg (10, Mound) and Owen Johnson (9, Delano) tied on the parallel bars, taking sixth and seventh respectively, while Gavin Thelen (12, Minnestrista) held strong for fifth place on both the pommel horse and rings in the 12+ age division.

Competing for the Junior Development (JD) team on Thursday morning were Beau Merz (14, Delano) and Haden Paravecino (16, Mound). In the 11-14 age division, Merz won individual titles on both the and vault, while finishing third on the pommel horse, parallel bars, high bar and in the all-around. Paravecino, competing in the 15-19 age group, won individual titles on both the vault and high bar while taking fourth place in the all-around competition. “The Optional boys all did well in this meet and posted some great scores,” Bullivant shared.

Facing tough competition at Level 9 with 37 competitors in the 13-14 age group, Henry Meisel (13, Mound), placed fifth in the all-around competition. Meisel advanced to the finals in two events with his stellar ring routine that garnered a first place medal and his third place finish on the parallel bars.

North Shore’s Level 10 competitors both in the 17-18 age division, also took on the top gymnasts in the Midwest. Qualifying for the finals in four events, Charlie Kramer (18, Minnetrista) stunned the audience with his first place vault, while finishing second place on the floor, parallel bars and in the all-around competition, and swinging to sixth place on the high bar. Ethan Gonzalez (18, Sauk Rapids) also had a strong showing on the vault for a fourth place finish and a sixth place tie on the pommel horse to advance to the finals in two events.

All Level 9 and 10 gymnasts finishing in the top 6 per event were invited to participate in the John Roethlisberger Iceberg Finals, which took place on Friday evening, during the Gophers Home Opener vs the Fighting Illini. Level 9 gymnast Meisel had a great night at finals after being named the parallel bar champion and taking the runner-up title on the rings. Level 10 gymnast Kramer finished the evening with second place on floor, fourth on the parallel bars, fifth on vault and sixth place on the high bar, while teammate Gonzalez took fourth place on vault and eighth place on the pommel horse. Bullivant proudly expressed, “This was the first time we’ve had three gymnasts make the finals of this meet, which was great.”

The North Shore boys are coached by Dale Bullivant and Rob Dykoski. The entire North Shore’s Boys’ team will next be competing at the annual Ski-U-Mah meet to be held on February 8-9 at the University of MN Maturi Pavilion, then it’s off to sunny Las Vegas for the Region Elite Team Cup and the Blackjack Gymnastics Meet two weeks later.

North Shore Gymnastics Association in Maple Plain was founded 43 years ago and is a 501c3 non-profit organization. It is the club’s purpose to acquaint children at all levels of physical ability, potential and growth with the sport of gymnastics in an atmosphere of safe, fun, positive learning, and to help each child develop gymnastics skills, good sportsmanship, and discipline. North Shore Gymnastics Association is also the practice facility for the ISD #278 (Orono) and ISD #277 (Mound) girls’ high school gymnastics teams.

For more information, please call 763-479-3189 or visit us at www.northshore.org.

PICTURED:

Picture 1: Level 6 Gymnast – Gavin Thelen on rings – Please have Photo Credit given to Sportsline Photography (Publication Release attached)

Picture 2: Level 10 Iceberg Finalist Ethan Gonzalez receiving a medal from the Iceberg’s namesake, John Roethlisberger. – Please give Photo Credit to Sportsline Photography (Publication Release attached)