Assuming the men’s gymnastics team can make it to Norman, Oklahoma, and Nebraska can make it to Carver to face the women’s team, both Iowa squads will have their work cut out for them this weekend.
“We have to get there first, which might be challenging,” said men’s gymnastics head coach JD Reive. “They’re a No. 1 ranked team several meets in a row. Our job is to just hit as many routines as we can.”
The Sooners head into the meet ranked at No. 1, while the Hawkeyes sit at No. 9. The Hawkeyes average a team score of 396.650, the Sooners average a team score of 414.825. The Sooners tout junior Yul Mouldauer, who this week was named as the NCAA Gymnast of the Week for his national-best all-around score of 87.150 and three event titles against the Huskers and Cardinals.
Last time Iowa and Oklahoma faced off was the first day of the 2017 NCAA Championships; the Sooners beat the Hawkeyes, 430.600-412.500.
RELATED: The Illini take both Iowa gymnastics teams
“I think we can definitely beat them [at pommel horse],” said senior captain Austin Hodges. “They’re rock solid on every event, so it’s a good competition.”
Iowa ranks fourth on the pommel horse, eighth on the high bar, and ninth on the parallel bars, but Oklahoma ranks first on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and high bar, ranking second and seventh on vault and floor.
The Hawkeyes could potentially beat the Sooners at pommel horse, but Hodges is right: Their events really are rock solid.
Freshman Bennet Huang takes a realistic, yet optimistic view of the upcoming meet.
“Obviously, we want to have a really positive mindset,” he said. “We know they’re a hard team to beat, but we know that if we go out there and hit our sets, we can go up there against the top teams and definitely pressure them. We’re just hoping to hit sets there.”
RELATED: Alternating Hawkeyes on the floor
The women’s gymnastics team is singing a similar tune as the Hawkeyes prepare to take on the Huskers.
Nebraska is undefeated this season and ranked at No. 8 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the Big Ten. Nationally, the Huskers rank seventh on vault, eighth on beam, ninth on floor, and 22nd on bars. The team has nine returning letterwinners from its 2017 NCAA Championship squad.
Iowa doesn’t quite stack up, by the rankings at least. The GymHawks rank at No. 4 in the Big Ten but No. 36 in the nation. Their highest-ranking event is beam, which has them at 23rd.
“Nebraska is the only team that’s undefeated now, now that we took a loss last weekend, so obviously they are exceptional,” said the women’s gymnastics head coach Larissa Libby. “They are exceptional every year. They have a program of champions, and they’re accustomed to winning. I expect them to be tough. I expect them to come in here and expect to win.”
This, however, doesn’t daunt the GymHawks too much. Not when they stay focused on their purpose: their fans.
“I know that the team loves to be back in front of our fans and their families,” Libby said. “We’re pretty different in how we interact with our fans — we let them come down onto the floor after. It’s honestly one of the most amazing things, as a coach, to witness, and it’s the thing we get the most compliments about — it’s the wonderful role models our kids are. I think it’s just a little reality check and perspective on what the bigger importance of what we do is.”