As the postseason comes to a close, the Iowa men’s gymnastics team will look to end things with a bang when they head to Columbus, Ohio, to face the conference’s best gymnasts in the 2016 Big Ten Championships today and Saturday.
The competition will be stiff; the Big Ten is home to seven of the top-10 gymnastics programs in the NCAA: Ohio State (No. 3), Minnesota (No. 4), Illinois (No. 5), Nebraska (No. 7), Iowa (No. 8), Penn State (No. 9), and Michigan (No. 10).
While it may seem like a daunting task, the Hawkeyes have confidence that they will walk out of Columbus as the Big Ten champions.
“It was a successful regular season,” Iowa head coach JD Reive said in a release. “We still failed to accomplish the increasing consistency and scoring that we set out to do, but it doesn’t change the fact that the team is as healthy mentally and physically as they have been heading into a postseason.”
Not only will Reives’ ability as a coach be put to the test but also his ability as a recruiter will be broadcast on center stage; his team of seniors was his first recruiting class since becoming the Iowa head coach.
“When I think of about the regular season, it’s the seniors,” Reive said in a release. “The specialists all the way to the all-arounders have done so much to put us in the competitive position in ways we have been unable to do since I have been here.”
The Hawkeyes senior leadership will need to make their presence felt in order to live up to their potential. They come into the Big Tens having only won two of their last five meets.
Iowa ended its season in Lincoln, Nebraska, losing to Minnesota, 433.850-432.450 but tying Nebraska. Despite the loss, there was plenty to be proud of. Iowa senior Matt Loochtan claimed the meet’s all-around title with a career high score of 87.700.
Iowa’s late season skid has proven costly, as it dropped the Hawkeyes from near top-five contention in the NCAA.
While the Hawkeyes did not envision dropping in the rankings heading in to the postseason, they know it is not the end of the world.
“We would have liked to end the season better,” senior Del Vecchio Orozco said in a release. “But right now, we are just focused on the [Big Ten Championships], and if we do [well], I know we will be ranked higher.”
Consistency and comfort should not be an issue coming into the competition, because the Hawkeyes have traveled to Columbus, facing Ohio State in the Arnold Challenge.
“It’s great that we can go there for Big Tens, understand the travel, and use that as training going into NCAAs,” Reive said in a release. “They are in great shape, and are able to go in, and do whatever they set out to do. To do that, they need to go in as a group and know they are putting out 30 routines and hit as many of them as humanly possible. We need to go in and be competitive.”