COLUMBUS, Ohio – Redshirt freshman Arthur Ballon and seniors Matthew Burgoyne, Brigham Frentheway and Emre Dodanli all won individual event titles to lead the No. 1 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team to a 322.900 to 316.300 road win at No. 5 Ohio State Sunday afternoon at the Covelli Center. Ballon took home the top score on floor exercise […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Redshirt freshman Arthur Ballon and seniors Matthew Burgoyne, Brigham Frentheway and Emre Dodanli all won individual event titles to lead the No. 1 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team to a 322.900 to 316.300 road win at No. 5 Ohio State Sunday afternoon at the Covelli Center.
Ballon took home the top score on floor exercise (13.650), Burgoyne won still rings (14.050), Frentheway won vault (14.100) and Dodanli claimed the horizontal bar title (14.050). The Sooners finished ahead of the Buckeyes on five events: floor exercise (52.900), pommel horse (55.300), still rings (53.700), vault (55.250) and horizontal bar (54.700), and notched a 51.050 on parallel bars.
“I was happy with how we finished things out,” Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams said. “It’s hard when you go on the road. There’s not the same energy, that’s part of it, and a couple of guys aren’t feeling great. We got the job done and we’ll move on. We didn’t make a ton of mistakes, and a few guys were outstanding. Brandon (Zepeda-Orth) was great on high bar, so was Emre, and Kelton (Christiansen) had a great routine on high bar as well. The way we finished was great. We just have to be better on parallel bars as a team. Ohio State put on a good show, and it’s always good to see former Sooners who are coaching and putting together their program here.”
Ohio State head coach Rustam Sharipov was an assistant coach at Oklahoma from 2005-11, and former Sooner gymnast Jamie Henderson (2003-06) is an assistant coach for the Buckeyes.
Oklahoma and Ohio State went head-to-head on all six events Sunday. Burgoyne started the Sooners on floor with a 12.900, Ballon followed with his 13.650, Frentheway scored a 13.600 and Dodanli had a 12.750. On pommel horse, junior Kelton Christiansen led off with a 12.850, followed by a season-high 13.900 from sophomore Tyler Flores. Senior Zach Nunez notched a season-high 14.250 and junior Ignacio Yockers anchored with a 14.300 for the second straight week, as OU notched a season-high team score on pommel horse.
Frentheway began OU’s rings rotation with a 13.150 and Burgoyne hit a 14.050 routine, scoring just shy of his career-high (14.100) set last week. Sophomore Tas Hajdu and freshman Francisco Velez Belendez closed out rings with respective 13.200 and 13.300 scores.
Flores led off on vault with a 13.500, Ballon scored 13.900 and Frentheway hit his 14.100 before Dodanli anchored with a 13.750. On parallel bars, Tyler Flores notched a 13.100 in the leadoff position and Dodanli scored 13.700 in the anchor spot.
The Sooners closed the meet with a strong high bar rotation. Redshirt freshman Brandon Zepeda-Orth registered a career-high 13.800, followed by a 13.150 by Frentheway. Christiansen scored a solid 13.700 and Dodanli finished with his 14.050.
Oklahoma returns home to McCasland Field House on Saturday, Feb. 8, to face No. 3 Stanford and No. 13 Greenville at 5:45 p.m. (first routine at 6 p.m.). Tickets are available for just $7 ($5 for youth and seniors) and can be purchased through the OU Athletics Ticket Office. Educators can receive a $3 ticket by using discount code: EDU.
Saturday is OU’s annual Cleveland Night, featuring students and families from Norman’s Cleveland Elementary School. Feb. 7-8 is also OU Gymnastics Alumni Weekend. The Sooners will welcome back gymnastics alumni and will honor the 2015 National Championship squad before the meet. Fans can also take advantage of $2 beer, soda and popcorn, pick up a free crimson pom and take photos with national championship trophies. The team will sign autographs following the meet.
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.
