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Wolverine tumblers travel to Windy City

Coming off a number of strong performances at last weekend's intra-squad meet, the Michigan men's gymnastics team will travel to University of Illinois-Chicago this weekend.

The Wolverines plan to compete in what will be their first dual meet of the season. They will be trying to build on last weekend's competition.

Hopes are particularly centered on senior Kris Klinger. Last weekend, Klinger scored a perfect 10.0 on the high bar. Assistant coach Tim O'Connell expects Klinger to win the high bar competition in Chicago.

"We're very excited about Kris," O'Connell said. "Although a repeat performance may not happen, he should have a winning performance."

Expectations are similarly high for senior captain Chris Onuska, who is considered a catalyst for the Wolverines.

"Chris has really pulled the team together," O'Connell said. "Chris has set the standard for training and competition on the team."

Onuska will be competing in the all-around, along with junior Flavio Martins. Although freshman Randy D'Amura is usually an all-around competitor as well, he will be limited to the floor, pummel, ring and vault events this weekend.

For the team overall, the excitement level is high because of the opportunity this meet presents.

"We were really looking forward to competing against a team last week," O'Connell said. "We are more than ready to go against an actual opponent.

"We are coming off a strong performance, realizing the potential of the team."

Head coach Bob Darden feels his team has to play to its personal best to be successful in Chicago. The last time the Wolverines competed at Illinois-Chicago was earlier this season at the Windy City Invitational. There, Michigan finished at the bottom of the pack, in sharp contrast to its performance last weekend.

"I believe the Windy City Invitational was a harsh reality check for us," Darden said. "However, the intra-squad was also a reality check because the only difference was that another team was not present.

"Both meets were scored by real judges. We have to turn this attitude around and make sure we are competing to our level at all times."

The Wolverines hope this meet will be the start of a productive season.