COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas scored an 85.200 in the all-around and the No. 2 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team swept every individual event on its way to a 420.350 team score and a win in the Rocky Mountain Open Saturday night at Cadet West Gym on the Air Force Academy campus.
The Sooners topped Nebraska (409.600) and Air Force (392.750), as well as club team Rocky Mountain Mavericks (353.600) in team scoring. In addition to winning the all-around title, Benas claimed the parallel bars title with a career-high 14.800. Freshman Max Bereznev won vault with a career-high 14.550, senior Jack Freeman won horizontal bar with a 14.250, junior Emre Dodanli won floor exercise with a career-high 15.250, sophomore Ignacio Yockers won pommel horse with a 14.950 and freshman Tas Hajdu won still rings with a career-high 14.150.
Freshman Colin Flores also competed in the all-around, notching an 80.800 to place third. With their top-three placement in the all-around at the Rocky Mountain Open, Benas and Flores automatically qualify to Winter Cup, which will be held Feb. 23-25 in Louisville, Ky.
Oklahoma registered the highest score on five of the six events and better than 70 on four events. The Sooners started with a 70.950 on vault, then put up a 70.550 on parallel bars, 69.650 on high bar, 71.150 on floor, a 71.200 on pommel horse and a 67.850 on rings. OU’s team total included a one-point deduction because a replacement gymnast was inserted on rings after an injury was sustained mid-routine.
“I’m thrilled with our performance tonight,” Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams said. “We really did hit 100% tonight. I think the last time we did that was the 2013 NCAA Championships. We were great on parallel bars, high bar, floor and pommel horse. I’m really happy with our progress. This early in the year, that’s something special. There is a lot of season to go, but I’m very optimistic about how we look. We look forward to getting better even as we go along, with more difficulty and higher start values, and see if we can run with the best teams.”
Oklahoma started the meet with a 14.200 by junior Brigham Frentheway in his first career vault performance. Flores followed with a 13.600 and Dodanli anchored with a 14.050. Bereznev and Benas hit twin 14.550s in the third and fourth positions, but Bereznev was awarded first place in the event with the higher execution score.
Benas led the way on parallel bars with his career high 14.800 in the fourth position and Dodanli anchored the event with a 14.300. Flores started the rotation with a 14.200, sophomore Adriel Perales-Valencia scored a 13.600 and Yockers notched a career-high 13.650.
Frentheway led off on high bar, scoring a 13.350, followed by Freeman’s meet-high 14.250. Sophomore Kelton Christiansen notched a 14.000, Benas hit a 13.900 and Dodanli scored a 14.150 in the fifth spot.
On floor, Dodanli’s 15.250 in the final position was half of a point higher than his 14.750 last week, which entered the weekend as the highest score nationally. Junior Matthew Burgoyne, who previously competed for OU’s club team, led off with a 13.950 in his first routine with the Sooners. Freeman notched a 14.200, Flores scored a 13.650 and Benas tallied a 14.100.
OU’s pommel horse team notched three scores higher than 14. Freshman Tyler Flores hit a 14.100 in his first collegiate routine, senior Zach Nunez score a 14.800 and Yockers notched his meet and season-high 14.950. Christiansen led off with a career-high 13.750 and junior Cailen Walker scored a 13.600.
Burgoyne started for Oklahoma on rings, putting up a 13.100, followed by a 14.000 from Perales-Valencia and a 13.700 by Benas. Senior Dan Simmons began his routine before sustaining an injury and could not continue on the event. Colin Flores, who was initially slated in the sixth position as an all-arounder, scored a 12.900 for the team in his place, following Hajdu’s meet- and career-high 14.150. OU accepted a one-point deduction from the team score to make the injury substitution.
Benas also notched 14.150 on pommel horse and Colin Flores tallied a 13.100 on pommel horse and 13.350 on high bar as part of their all-around scores.
In total, Oklahoma registered 18 scores of 14 or better in the meet. Four of those 14s came on vault, while OU notched three 14s on floor, pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar. By comparison, the Sooners tallied nine scores of 14 or better in the season opener last weekend.
Oklahoma travels to Champaign, Ill., next week to face No. 4 Illinois. The meet is set for a 4 p.m. start on Sunday.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma men’s gymnastics, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_MGymnastics) and like Oklahoma Men’s Gymnastics on Facebook.
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