Saturday February 19, 2011 is a day that will go down in Iowa Men’s Gymnastics as one of the most memorable and jaw-dropping evenings to date. Having gotten off to a rocky start at the beginning of this season, the hard-working No. 10 Iowa Men’s Team stripped their “shackles” of un-confidence and took center stage against the No. 7 Nebraska Cornhuskers to give the fans and public a true display of collegiate gymnastics the only way they knew how – Hawkeye style.
6:50 P.M. – In just minutes, the Hawks would step out under the bright lights of the main deck of the Field House for their last home competition. In front of a crowd of 400+, the Hawks walked their way into the deck; heads high and veins pumping with the desire to compete. It would be their last time this year to show all of their fans, friends, and family in the Iowa City, IA what they were capable of. It was their time shine as a team, as brothers.
7:00 P.M. – The anthem was sung and the judges assumed control of their events. Every member of the team had the same notion of victory, but in a different aspect. For weeks Head Coach Reive has spoken about the incredible potential of these gymnasts and what they can do. He stressed, “… the guys need to have confidence in what they can do and not to worry so much about their opponents. Once that happens, the sky is the limit.” Well, ask anyone who sat in the audience of that competition one week ago and they will say the same thing as the next person – the Hawks soared on Senior Night! They would tumble, vault, swing, and twist their way past the Cornhuskers to a victory, 348.100 – 342.700; a season high.
With the first rotation of the competition, the Hawks looked like the team they were always destined to be. Sr. John Haines opened the event with a nailed routine giving the Hawks a solid beginning and himself a tie for his season high score of 14.200. So. Matt McGrath performed a record breaking floor routine giving him a whopping 15.500; beating the previous record of 15.45 set by Alumni Geoff Reins in 2008. Notables also on the Floor were Fr. Lance Alberhasky (14.200) and So. Anton Gryshyev (14.000). If that wasn’t want enough on FX, a new team score record was set with a 57.900. But it most definitely did not stop there.
The Pommel Horse couldn’t buck these Hawkeyes off on senior night. So. Broderick Shemansky circled past competitors to place second the event with a personal best of 14.800. Sr. Michael Jiang was right behind him with a 14.400 and Junior Adam Wilson narrowly missed the podium by placing fourth in the event with a 14.200.
With two rotations under their belt and moving onto the Rings, the Hawks were ready to show what all those muscles were used for. So. Anton Gryshayev for the third time this season set a new school and personal record with a whopping 15.200 to help lead the Hawks to a season high team rings score of 58.100. Both So. Matt McGrath and Fr. Javier Balboa did well enough to tie for third on the event with a 14.400, respectively.
Vault landings were no issue for the Hawks this competition. Junior Zach Cazabon and Anton Gryshayev both stuck their respected vaults. Gryshayev would end up setting a season high for himself, a 1st place finishing 15.700.
Even Parallel Bars, an often times un-stable event for the Hawks could not conquer the confidence of this team. A team season high was made possible through the great display of athleticism shown by So. Broderick Shemansky, who just missed breaking the school record with a 14.700. Sr. Michael Jiang came in just behind Shemansky with a 14.600.
It came down to the final and last event, the Horizontal Bar. What once in previous competitions had given the Hawks some trouble proved to only on this night seal the win over the Cornhuskers. Fr. Samuel Wright swung his way to first place on the 10 ft. tall even with a 14.300. Shemansky would place third with a 14.200. Iowa would claim their second “W” at home for the season.
The coaches, gymnasts and audience would have never guessed that senior night would end up turning into more than just a night to recognize the three 4 year veterans. It would exceed expectations and turn into something breath-taking and incredible. The last competition in the Field House during the 2010-2011 season for the Hawks could not have gone any better. It was truly one for the history books.
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