Michigan Secures Runner-Up at Big Ten Championships

Friday, April 6

Iowa City, Iowa

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

Big Ten Team and All-Around Finals

4/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics

April 7, 2012

• Complete Results | Photo Gallery | Highlights

Site: Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, Iowa)
Event: Big Ten Championships (Team & All-Around Finals)
Record: U-M (12-7, 7-2 Big Ten)
U-M Team Standing: 2nd Place of 7 Teams (351.850)
Next U-M Meet: Saturday, April 7 -- at Big Ten Championships - Individual Event Finals (Iowa City, Iowa), 7 p.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team overtook Penn State in the final rotation for a second-place finish at the team and all-around finals of the Big Ten Championships with a season-best 351.850 on Friday (April 6) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Sophomore Sam Mikulak (Corona del Mar, Calif./Corona del Mar) and freshman Adrian de los Angeles (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) took second and fourth in the all-around, respectively. Illinois won the conference title (352.950).

The Wolverines opened the night on high bar and scored a 57.90. Mikulak tallied a 14.85, even after a fall midway through his routine. De los Angeles was second on the U-M squad with a 14.60, while freshman Taylor Harrower (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) scored a career-best 14.30 on the apparatus.

The Wolverines then moved to the floor exercise, where a pair of freshmen in Stacey Ervin (Taylor, Mich./Truman) and de los Angeles paced U-M, as Ervin scored a 15.20, while de los Angeles added a 15.10 for third and fourth place, respectively. Michigan, the No. 3-ranked team in the country in the event, netted a 59.45.

U-M put together a season-best team score on pommel horse, where sophomore Dylan James (Valencia, Calif./ William S. Hart) scored 14.55 to lead the Maize and Blue and place fourth on the event, while sophomore Michael Myler (North Orem, Utah/ Timpanogos) scored a 14.10 to take ninth en route to a 56.80 team score. Rotation four found Michigan still rings. Mikulak paced the squad with a 14.80, while sophomore Alex Bubnov (Fanwood, N.J./ Scotch Plains-Fanwood) rose to the occasion with a career-best 14.75 as Michigan marked a 58.45.

The vault competition saw U-M score its second-best tally of the season with a 59.80; Ervin (15.20) and Mikulak (15.15) took second and third place, respectively, while de los Angeles (15.00) took eighth to advance to Saturday's individual-event finals.

Michigan entered the final rotation with a legitimate chance of claiming first place, but a team-best of 59.45 was enough to jump Penn State for the No. 2 spot but was not enough to overtake the eventual champion Illini in rotation six. Mikulak led the surge in the final rotation as he scored a 15.45 and took first, while freshman Michael Strathern (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) scored a career-best 14.75 and took fifth. Ervin also added a career best with a 14.70 for a seventh-place finish, while de los Angeles rounded out the U-M scorers with a 14.55.

Mikulak, de los Angeles, Ervin, James, Myler and Strathern all advanced to the individual-event finals on Saturday night (April 7). The finals will be shown live on the Big Ten Network, beginning at 7 p.m. CDT.

Team Standings	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB	Final
Illinois	59.500	56.650	61.600	58.750	58.050	58.400	352.950
MICHIGAN	59.450	56.800	58.450	59.800	59.450	57.900	351.850
Penn State	57.100	57.700	61.150	59.250	57.550	57.250	350.000
Ohio State	57.850	56.950	58.250	58.300	57.050	55.250	343.650
Minnesota	58.300	54.400	58.500	59.150	58.000	57.450	345.800
Iowa	56.700	54.500	58.250	58.450	58.000	56.900	342.800
Nebraska	57.200	53.800	57.000	58.750	56.750	57.200	340.700

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

High BarMichael Myler          14.15Rohan Sebastian        13.95Taylor Harrower        14.30Adrian de los Angeles  14.60 (t4)Sam Mikulak            14.85 (1)Michael Strathern      13.65 FloorHub Humphrey           12.60Kevin Fraser           14.40Rohan Sebastian        14.55Adrian de los Angeles  15.10 (4)Sam Mikulak            14.60 (t9)Stacey Ervin           15.20 (3) Pommel HorseMatt Freeman           12.50A.J. Schottstaedt      13.80Michael Myler          14.10 (t9)Adrian de los Angeles  14.10 (t9)xSam Mikulak            14.05Dylan James            14.55 (4)Rohan Sebastian *      13.75 Still RingsMatt Freeman           13.85Alex Bubnov            14.75Jordan Gaarenstroom    14.40Adrian de los Angeles  13.00Rohan Sebastian        14.50Sam Mikulak            14.80 VaultTaylor Harrower        14.40Michael Strathern      14.05Stacey Ervin           15.20 (2)Rohan Sebastian        14.45Adrian de los Angeles  15.00 (8)Sam Mikulak            15.15 (3) Parallel BarsNick Hunter            14.15Stacey Ervin           14.70 (t7)Michael Strathern      14.75 (5)Rohan Sebastian        12.65Adrian de los Angeles  14.55Sam Mikulak            15.45 (1) All-AroundSam Mikulak          88.90 (2)Adrian de los Angeles  86.35 (5)Rohan Sebastian        83.85 (8) x - will not compete in event finals* - score counts only for all-around

N O T E S

• The second-place finish marks the fourth straight year that the Wolverines have finished in the top two.

• With Illinois' C.J. Maestas winning the all-around, he snaps a three-year streak of a U-M all-arounder winning the crown. He also becomes the second straight freshman to win the award, as Sam Mikulak took the win in his rookie year in 2011.

• Illinois won its fourth straight Big Ten title, becoming the first team since 1980 to accomplish the feat.

• The Wolverines entered the competition ranked fifth in the Big Ten in terms of NCAA rankings and defeated higher-ranked opponents in No. 1 Penn State, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 5 Minnesota.

Contact: Scott Kemps (734) 763-4423