Men’s gymnasts face Nebraska, Penn State

The No. 7 Iowa men’s gymnastics team will host No. 6 Nebraska and No. 8 Penn State on Saturday in the Field House.

While most of the Iowa gymnasts are coming fresh off a bye week, a trio of Hawkeyes will try to keep their momentum rolling this weekend

Hawkeye seniors Matt Loochtan and Jack Boyle and junior Andrew Botto have returned from Las Vegas after competing in the Winter Cup.

While Loochtan, Botto, and Boyle enjoyed their experience in Nevada, head coach JD Reive understands the importance of continuing their hard work to finish the regular season.

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“Sure, we had a lot of fun Vegas, but we understand what we need to do to get our job done,” Reive said.

It is pivotal for the Hawkeyes to continue their success because not only their standings in the NCAA is at stake but so a place in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero for select gymnasts.

Boyle comes into the meet atop the national leaderboards on high bar, hitting a personal best against Illinois on Jan. 23.

Along with Boyle, freshman standout Jake Brodarzon wants to further make a name for himself in Iowa gymnastics.

He has competed in every meet this season on the floor and parallel bars and has posted season highs of 14.150 and 14.050 on each event respectively.

With a strong performance on Saturday, the Hawkeyes can come one step closer to clinching Reive’s third top-10 NCAA finish in just four years.

— by Ricardo Ascencio