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Buckeyes win Big Ten; `M' finishes last

The Big Ten is the dominant conference in men's gymnastics.

Ohio State, the best team in the best conference in the nation, didn't disappoint this weekend at the Big Ten championships in Columbus.

The top-ranked Buckeyes defeated all challengers, scoring 231.375 points. Iowa finished a close second with 229.125, followed by Penn State (225.475), Minnesota (224.925), Michigan State (222.45) and Illinois (218.875).

The 0-11 Wolverines brought up the rear in seventh place with 211.55 points. This finish isn't as disheartening as it seems, though.

"We were prepared to come in seventh place," Michigan coach Bob Darden said. "We knew the strength of the other programs ... and we would have had to have a Herculean performance to have overtaken one of the other teams.

"Overall, we're happy with our performance."

The best single performance for Michigan was junior Tim Lauring on the vault. His first day total of 9.35 was good enough to tie for ninth, and allowed him to compete in the finals Sunday. He didn't disappoint as the only Wolverine in the finals, finishing fourth in the event with a score of 9.35 again.

Junior Jason MacDonald also performed well on the high bar event, grabbing 10th place with a 9.55.

The Buckeyes were the story of the weekend, though.

"Ohio State really showed all their championship form during the Big Ten meet," Darden said.

In the end, Ohio State's talent-heavy squad proved too much for the rest of the field. The Buckeyes had at least three gymnasts to finish in the top nine in each event.

Blaine Wilson, one of two U.S. National Team members on the Buckeyes, was the Big Ten gymnast of the year and responsible for most of the Ohio State success. He won the high bar with a 9.95, second on the rings (9.9), took second on pommel horse (9.8), third on the parallel bars (9.725) and won the all-around (58.225).

Wilson wasn't the only gymnast responsible for Ohio State's success, though. Of the top seven finishers in the all-around, four were Buckeyes -- Wilson was first, Tim Elsner was fourth (56.6), Drew Durbin was sixth (56.575) and Michael Morgan was tied for seventh (56.4).

Durbin also won the pommel horse, scoring 9.9, and finished second on the parallel bars (9.75). Fellow Buckeye David Eckert won the rings with a 9.925 performance.

The only event Ohio State did not thoroughly dominated was the floor exercise. Penn State took care of the event, with five gymnasts finishing in the top 10. Joey Roemer placed second (9.65) with teammates J.M. Michel (9.625), Ron Roeder (9.4), Steve McSparren (9.3) and Roy Malka (9.25) grabbing third, seventh, eighth and ninth place, respectively.

Third-ranked Iowa placed second in the meet with a score of 229.125. Top Hawkeye performer Jay Thorton placed second in the all-around (57.4). He was also terrific in winning the floor exercise (9.9), the parallel bars (9.8) and the vault (9.6). Teammate Travis Rosen took second on the vault with a 9.45.

Minnesota, the No. 9 team in the nation, finished fourth in the meet, scoring 224.92 points. Chris Harrington placed the highest for the Golden Gophers, scoring a 9.6 on the floor exercise for a fourth-place finish.

The No. 4 Spartans finished in a disappointing fifth place (222.45). Michigan State was poised to have a strong showing after climbing in the rankings all season long. The ordinarily potent combination of Joe Duda and Ethan Stark did not perform nearly as well as they did all season. Although Duda finished fourth on the parallel bars (9.6), and Sterk finished fifth on the pommel horse (9.65) and eighth on the high bar (9.525), neither placed higher than 15th in any other event.

Tenth-ranked Illinois finished sixth with a score of 218.875 points. Greg McGlaun's fifth place finish on the high bar (9.775) and Yuval Ayalon's fifth place on the rings (9.625) were the best performances for the Fighting Illini.