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Meet Preview: Minnesota Travels to Columbus to Take on the Buckeyes
2/4/2021 12:42:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
The Gopher men's gymnastics team is set to travel to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for a top 10 matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes at 6:00 p.m. CST.
Following a season-opening loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Maroon & Gold come into the weekend ranked as the No. 7 team in the nation according to Road to Nationals, while the 1-1 Buckeyes enter the matchup ranked as the No. 3 team in the country.
"Ohio State is a premier program in the Big Ten and it'll be a great opportunity for us to see how we stack up against the No. 3 program in the nation," head coach Mike Burns said. "We'll certainly need to step up our game from last week and improve on our routine execution. I'm so pleased that our athletic administration has worked hard to allow us to travel to Columbus this weekend and the same sentiment goes out to the Buckeyes' administrators for welcoming us into their athletic venues."
Despite the team's loss to Iowa last weekend, the Gophers saw bright spots in freshman Noah Duran and sophomore Donte McKinney who both captured event titles against the Hawkeyes last Saturday. Duran's 12.900 performance on pommel horse was enough to earn him the event title in his debut with the team, while McKinney's 13.700 score on high bar not only earned him the event title, but it also ranked as the fifth highest score in the event in the nation so far this season.
Saturday's meet in Columbus will be available to stream at the BTN+ live stream link above (subscription required) with live stats provided by Ohio State at the live stats link above. Fans can also follow the Minnesota men's gymnastics Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
Gophers in the Rankings
The Gophers come into Columbus ranked as the No. 7 team in the nation, with team event rankings being as follows: fifth on parallel bars, fifth on rings, sixth on high bar, eighth on floor, eighth on pommel horse, and 11th on vault.
Other Minnesota gymnasts finding themselves in the top 25 rankings this week are:
Pommel Horse: Noah Duran (T-23rd)
Rings: Colton Dee (T-10th), David Pochinka (18th)
Vault: Ben Eyles (T-17th), Colton Dee (23rd)
Parallel Bars: David Pochinka (T-10th)
High Bar: Donte McKinney (3rd), Ben Eyles (T-19th)
Scouting Ohio State
The third ranked Buckeyes are coming off of a bye week after their meet with Michigan was postponed due to Michigan's university-wide pause due to COVID-19. The Buckeyes, who are 1-1 overall on the season and 0-1 in the Big Ten, have one of the nation's most well rounded squads holding top-5 team rankings in four out of six events, including the No. 2 team floor exercise ranking in the country. Some Buckeyes to look out for are Jesse Tyndall, who ranks at No. 6 in floor and No. 7 on high bar in the nation, as well as Trevor Cummings who comes in at No. 3 in the nation on pommel horse.
The Road Ahead
Following Saturday's 6:00 p.m. meet against Ohio State, the Gophers will travel to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers on Saturday Feb. 13 at 2:00 p.m. Minnesota will then return home where they intend on taking part in a virtual meet on the weekend of Feb. 20 with the official date, time, and opponent yet to be announced.