In the first home meet of the year for the No. 9 Hawkeyes, the men’s gymnastics team went head to head with No. 5 Illinois on Feb. 7 in Carver-Hawkeye.

The team started out well, winning the floor with redshirt senior captain Matt McGrath taking the top spot in the event with a 15.000. Redshirt junior Lance Alberhasky trailed him with a score of 14.650.

In the pommel horse Doug Sullivan led the Hawkeyes with a score of 13.400 with Emmanuel Monroy and Mitch Landau taking second and third for the squad.

Moving onto the rings, the Hawkeyes trailed for the first time in the night. Sophomore Jack Boyle took third place overall in the event by a score of 15.000.

McGrath led the team again in the vault by scoring a 14.650 and placing third.

Trailing by 11.200, the team went to the parallel bars. Hoping for some life, Cyrus Dobre-Mofid led the team with a 14.350.

In the last event, Landau scored the highest in any event for the Hawks with a score of 15.200.

The night finished with Illinois defeating Iowa, 433.350-420.300.

“We hit well, but the only thing I am disappointed in was pommel horse,” assistant coach Ben Ketelsen said. “We didn’t put that together, but every other event was just like what we do in the gym, so that’s totally fine.”

The Hawks will return to Carver for their last home meet of the year against Minnesota and Nebraska at noon Feb. 15.

— by Jack Rossi