The No. 10 Gophers men’s gymnastics team finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Championships Saturday night after scoring 395.950 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The No. 2 Michigan Wolverines took home the championships title with a score of 411.000, while all of the other six Big Ten teams competing finished within just 3.1 points of each other.
The No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers finished in second place with 398.000 points, while the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes finished in seventh place with 394.9
00 points. Outside of the Wolverines, the meet was incredibly close.
“This was one of the closest Big Ten Championships from second to seventh place I’ve seen in a long time,” Gophers head coach Mike Burns said. “In a meet like this, you have to conserve as many tenths of a point as possible. When you finish 2.050 points out of second place and count five missed routines, you can’t expect to finish near the top. We still have two weeks of life in our program and this team will fight to the very end.”
Shane Wiskus’ superb performance
Senior Shane Wiskus dominated the competition for the Gophers. He scored an all-around total of 84.700 and was named the Big Ten Co-All-Around Champion alongside Michigan’s Cameron Bock. He is the first Gopher since John Roethlisberger in 1993 to earn the all-around conference title.
Your 2021 Big Ten Co-All-Around Champion, Shane Wiskus!
All-Around: 84.700 (T-1st)
Floor Exercise: 14.750 (1st)
Pommel Horse: 13.400 (T-9th)
Still Rings: 13.700 (T-5th)
Vault: 14.400 (T-7th)
Parallel Bars: 14.400 (1st)
High Bar: 14.050 (1st) pic.twitter.com/XKB0dl3Ck7— Minnesota Men’s Gym (@GopherMGym) April 4, 2021
Wiskus won three other individual event titles on the floor (14.750), parallel bars (14.400) and high bar (14.050). He is the first gymnast since 2000 to win four event titles, including the all-around, at the Big Ten Championships.
Following the championships’ conclusion, Wiskus was also named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships and a member of the All-Big Ten first team.
“What can I say about Shane Wiskus? He finished with four Big Ten titles,” Burns said. “What a night for the kid from Spring Park, Minnesota. He’s in a class by himself. He helped this team tremendously tonight by virtue of the ice water in his veins. It’s so nice to see what a great talent the University of Minnesota will be losing at the end of this historic season.”
The total of 84.700 also marked a new career-high in the all-around for Wiskus. His previous career-high came in 2020 against Illinois when he scored 84.600.
Show us a better gymnast than Shane Wiskus.
We’ll wait. pic.twitter.com/uts8g2Zv9A
— Minnesota Men’s Gym (@GopherMGym) April 4, 2021
Moran and Bold competed in the all-around
Junior Mike Moran and sophomore Crew Bold also competed in the all-around. Moran finished in 10th place with a total score of 78.150, while Bold finished in 16th place with 74.600.
Bold had a massive performance for the Gophers on the still rings. He finished in second place with a score of 13.900, only 0.100 behind the first-place finisher Bock. Ultimately, Bold earned a spot on the All-Big Ten second team.
The vault team shined
In a meet where the Gophers suffered from some missed routines and missed opportunities, the vault team posted the best team score out of any lineup with a total of 70.000.
Three Gophers gymnasts scored over 14.000 points. Wiskus led the way with 14.400, while Moran and junior Ben Eyles scored 14.300 and 14.250. Senior Colton Dee and junior Garrett Kasiski rounded out the Gophers’ vault team, scoring 13.900 and 13.150.
What’s up next
The Gophers are heading back home to Minneapolis for the final time as a program to host the 2021 NCAA National Championships on April 16-17 at Maturi Pavilion.
