OU Wins 18th-Straight Rocky Mountain Open
Jan. 17, 2017 MPSF Men's Gymnastics Release 1
# 1 OKLAHOMA kicked-off its season in familiar fashion, winning the Rocky Mountain Open at Air Force (Jan. 14) for the 18th consecutive year. The top-ranked and defending national champion Sooners swept all six events as a team and totaled 433.200 under the new scoring system, also taking home five individual event titles. Allan Bower accumulated a winning all-around total 88.750, recording three scores of 15 or higher. He started his meet with a huge event-winning 15.350 on pommel horse, just .050 off his career-high. In the second rotation, he posted yet another 15.350 on rings, again taking the event title with a career-best score. Bower later added a 15.000 on parallel bars. Todd Dowdy took the floor title (14.700), while Yul Moldauer claimed first-place on parallel bars (15.500) as did Matt Wenske on vault (14.950). Oklahoma travels to Nebraska Saturday (Jan. 21).
#11 AIR FORCE hosted the annual Rocky Mountain Open (Jan. 14), placing second with a 407.350 total, ahead of club teams from OU and SC United. The Falcons were highlighted by Chase Cannon's high bar title (14.450), ahead of the field by 0.150 points. Cannon's high bar ranked No. 2 nationally through the first week of action. He became the first Air Force gymnast since 2007 to claim an RMO title ââ'¬" and just the fourth since 2001. Tim Wang posted runner-up marks on the pommel horse (14.850), still rings (15.200) and all-around (85.550), along with a third-place score of 14.700 on the vault. Air Force travels to Minnesota Saturday (Jan. 21).
#2 STANFORD swept the team and individual event titles to kick-off its season, defeating rival California on the road, 418.100-403.150. Akash Modi won three titles--all-around (87.150), pommel horse (15.050), and parallel bars (15.450). Jordan DeClerk won floor (14.760), Barrett Weiss won vault (14.700) in his event debut. Josiah Eng took the rings title (14.400), before Robert Neff posted the high bar win (14.600). The Cardinal hosts California and Washington Saturday.
#8 CALIFORNIA totaled 403.150 as it hosted No. 2 Stanford (Jan. 15) to open the season. Aaron Mah finished second on horse (13.450), third on floor (14.350). Adam Young was third on horse (13.200) as was Michael Diliberto on parallel bars (14.050). Yordan Aleksandrov was the Bears' top all-arounder, taking third (81.200). Cal visits Stanford Saturday, a meet which also features the club team from Washington.