CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After a two-week break for the Winter Cup, the No. 6 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team will begin the home stretch of the regular season traveling to Lincoln, Neb. to take on the third-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, Mar. 5. The meet is scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on B1G+.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 5 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team fought hard but fell to the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners, 403.950-398.650 at Huff Hall on Saturday. The Orange and Blue picked up three event titles on the floor exercise, pommel horse, and the vault on the day.
Three Illini achieved individual event titles on Saturday, including junior Connor McCool on floor (14.150), senior Ian Skirkey on the pommel horse (14.100), and junior Evan Manivog on vault (14.700).
The Fighting Illini did not lead throughout the meet, but came closest after the first rotation when both Illinois and Oklahoma finished with a score of 67.150 on the floor exercise.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
The Cornhuskers hold a 4-4 overall record this season, including a 1-1 record in the B1G. The Huskers scored a team-high score of 408.650 in their victory over Penn State in early February, and fell to Michigan the previous week. Ranked third in the nation as a team with a three score average of 404.667, the Huskers also rank third on floor exercise, pommel horse, vault, and parallel bars while ranking second on the high bar. Individually, JAke Bonnay ranks fourth on floor, and Evan Kriley and Charlie Giles rank fourth and fifth on pommel horse, respecitvely.
IN THE RANKINGS
Illinois currently ranks sixth in the nation with a three-score average of 398.883. UI ranks fifth on pommel horse, fourth on vault, and third on high bar. Individually, Ian Skirkey ranks seventh on pommel horse, Evan Manivong ranks eighth on vault, and Hamish Carter ranks fourth on high bar.
2022 Outlook
Illinois returns 17 letter winners from the 2021 squad that placed sixth in the nation and fourth in the B1G. 2021 NCAA Pommel Horse national champion Ian Skirkey returns looking to defend his title, while fellow All-American Connor McCool looks to improve upon a sixth-place finish on the floor at the 2021 NCAA Championships. The defending B1G vault champion Michael Fletcher also returns and looks to lead the team in the all-around along with seniors Hamish Carter and Clay Mason-Stephens.
NEW DUAL MEET FORMAT IN NCAA MEN'S GYMNASTICS
In August, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved new changes to the dual meet format and team scoring for men's gymnastics. Dual meets will now follow a head-to-head format, and the five-up, five-count format will now be followed throughout the entirety of the season.
The head-to-head format includes gymnasts from both teams alternating routines on the same apparatus. This allows the competition to be easier to follow for spectators and will provide consistency for judging. A six-minute "halftime" has also been added to dual meet formats following the first three events, and will not be used during multiteam events.
Scoring will also change as all meets will follow the five-up, five-count format, meaning only five gymnasts compete per apparatus with each of their scores counting towards the team total. Previously, a six-up, five-count format was used prior to the annual Winter Cup competition, with the five-up, five-count format in use after the Winter Cup.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS AND CHAMPIONS
Spring welcomes back two gymnasts that were named All-Americans in 2021, as well as two event champions. Ian Skirkey (NCAA Pommel Horse national champion, Pommel Horse All-American, Second Team All-B1G), Connor McCool (Floor Exercise All-American, Second Team All-B1G), and Michael Fletcher (B1G Vault champion, First Team All-B1G) all look to build off of their successful 2021 campaigns in the upcoming season.
NEWCOMERS
Four newcomers join the Fighting Illini roster in 2022, including three freshmen and a graduate transfer. Graduate Student David Pochinka joins the team after transferring from Minnesota, and will contribute to Illinois' pommel horse, rings, parallel bar and high bar rotations. Freshmen Yan Inhaber-Courchesne (FX, SR, PB, VT), Maksim Farkhadau (PH), and Ashton Anaya (SR) will also be key additions to the Illini rotation this season.
MCCOOL, SKIRKEY NAMED B1G GYMNASTS TO WATCH
Ahead of the 2022 men's gymnastics season, junior Connor McCool and senior Ian Skirkey were named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch, and the Illini were picked to finish fourth in the B1G by the conference coaches. Skirkey enters the 2022 season as the reigning NCAA National Champion on the pommel horse after a stellar 2021 season that included an all-American honor and second team all-B1G honors following his runner-up performance at the 2021 B1G Championships. McCool enters the 2022 season following an all-American season on the Floor Exercise and a runner-up performance on the floor at the 2021 B1G Championships, earning him second team all-B1G honors.
RETURNING FROM INJURY
After season-ending injuries last season, the Illini welcome back two contributors to the 2021 roster: senior Clay Mason-Stephens and sophomore Will Hauke. Spring says the team will be much stronger in the 2022 campaign with the two returning from injury.
LOOKING AHEAD
Illinois will head back home to Huff Hall on Mar. 13 for Senior Day vs. Michigan. The meet will be broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network, set for a 2:30 p.m. start time.
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