Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team hosted Oklahoma and Simpson in a triangular on Friday evening at the Bob Devaney Center, competing neck-in-neck throughout the night only to fall narrowly to Oklahoma in a 417.550-418.250. Simpson took third place with a final score of 367.150.
Despite the loss, Nebraska notched six season-best event team scores on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, high bar, and their final score. The Big Red posted its best team score in six years, marking the highest team score since the school record was set in 2017 (425.550).
Three Huskers combined to claim four event titles highlighted by Donte McKinney and Taylor Christopulos sharing the vault title (14.80), McKinney on high bar (14.25), Chris Hiser on rings (14.30) and Christopulos in the all-around (83.250), a personal best.
Floor
Chris Hiser led the Huskers in the opening rotation with a 14.45 on floor, scoring a personal-best. Two other Huskers punched personal-bests on the event including freshmen Luke James (14.40) and Nathan York (13.95). Moritz Mueller collected a 13.70 and Taylor Christopulos anchored the event with a 14.20, assisting the Huskers to a season-best team score on floor (70.700).
Vitaliy Guimaraes of Oklahoma claimed the event title with a 14.600.
Pommel Horse
NU collected another season-best in the competition with a 68.800 on pommel horse led by an impressive personal-best performance of 14.50 from Cooper Giles, who finished third overall. Travis Wong (14.20) and Nathan York (13.85) mirrored the energy with their own personal-bests. James Friedman came in with a 13.25 and Christopulos capped the rotation with a 13.00.
Ignacio Yockers led the Sooners on the event with a 15.550, to earn the event title.
Rings
Nebraska published another season-best event score on rings (69.050). Hiser won the event with a strong 14.30, a personal best. Liam Doherty-Herwitz put up a solid 13.80. Asher Cohen and James Friedman both followed in fourth (13.70). Christopulos earned a 13.55 for Nebraska, a season-best.
Vault
The Huskers continued setting season-bests as they posted a 72.800 on vault during rotation four. The squad was led by McKinney and Christopulos on the event (14.80), both taking first and a piece of the event title. Zac Tiderman followed with a personal-best in fourth (14.50), and Luke James tied for fifth, also a personal-best for the freshman.
Parallel Bars
Highlighting with yet another season-best (67.950), Cohen and Christopulos’ 13.80 was the highest on the team and fifth overall. The 13.80 also marked a personal best for Cohen. Friedman took seventh (13.70). Wong (13.40) and Tiderman (13.35) wrapped up the Huskers rotation.
Adriel Perales took home the title on parallel bars with a 14.100 for OU.
High Bar
Nebraska was electric on its final rotation, led by All-American McKinney who pocketed the title (14.25) and tied his personal-best. Tiderman capitalized with a 14.10, tying his personal best and finishing second overall. Toby Liang (13.10) and Joey Pepe (12.80) also competed for the Huskers. Christopulos closed the competition with a solid stick and 13.90 overall, just .05 behind his personal best. NU finished with a 68.150 team score on high bar.
Up Next
The Huskers will return to competition on Sunday, March 12 in Champaign to take on Illinois. The meet is set for 3 p.m. (CT) and will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network. Fans can follow @NebraskaMensGym on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for live updates during the meet.
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