ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- No. 3 Michigan collected a wire-to-wire win against No. 8 Penn State on Friday inside Cliff Keen Arena with a team score of 439.20 to Penn State's 432.00. Four different Wolverines secured individual-event titles, while U-M tallied a season high on high bar with a 73.45 as the Wolverines remain undefeated on the season.
In the first rotation, the reigning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, junior Stacey Ervin, brought home U-M's first event win on the day with a 15.55. he nailed his double Arabian layout on his final pass to aid in the Wolverines scoring a 74.60 on the event.
In rotation two, senior Sam Mikulak scored a new career high on pommel horse with a 15.50 for his first event title in his career on the apparatus in his final competition in Cliff Keen Arena. Classmate and captain Matt Freeman took fourth on the event with a 14.85 as the Wolverines scored a 73.85 and led 148.80-135.60 after two rotations.
After a 74.25 on rings that featured a 15.30 from senior Jordan Gaarenstroom, the Maize and Blue moved to vault, where sophomore Konner Ackerman earned the second vault title of his career with a Kasamatsu 2 1/2 for a 15.15, his highest score of the season. Mikulak followed with a 15.05 on the event to take fourth, as U-M scored a 72.85 and led by 6.85 points.
The Wolverines earned an event sweep on parallel bars, led by junior Nick Hunter and his event-winning 14.90, but scored only a 70.20 on the event to open the door for PSU, which countered with a 73.30 on high bar to cut the U-M advantage to 3.75 heading into the final rotation.
However, the Wolverines answered the call in the final rotation on high bar with the season-best 73.45. Hunter led the charge once again for U-M with a 15.00 to take third, while Ackerman (14.90) took fourth to seal the win.
No. 9 California 428.550, Washington 380.400
BERKELEY, Calif. -- California defeated Washington on Senior Night at Haas Pavilion Saturday night in Berkeley by a score of 428.550-380.400. Cal sent off redshirt seniors Donothan Bailey, who finished with an all-around score of 87.900, Jeffrey Langenstein and Christian Monteclaro with a win in their final meet at Berkeley. Former Golden Bear Matthew Del Junco was also honored after the meet during the senior festivities.
The Golden Bears won each event this week against Washington, and came out flying, posting a school-record on the floor exercise with a team score of 74.850. Sophomore Kyle Zemeir got things started off right for the Bears, posting a routine that garnered a 15.000. Bailey and Langenstein followed suit, scoring a 15.000 and 15.300, respectively. Cal hit on all five routines in their lineup, scoring no lower than 14.750.
California followed up their stellar first rotation with a total score of 70.000 on the pommel horse, and the team was led by Bailey’s fantastic routine that earned a 15.000. Redshirt freshman Tanner Dowell also impressed, coming close to his all-time best, scoring a 14.100.
Sophomore Kyle Zemeir paced the Bears on the still rings, earning a score of 14.900 just shy of his career-best of 14.950. Langenstein was also strong, performing a routine that earned him a score of 14.700.
