Senior gymnast Michael Morgan competed in his last home meet as a Buckeye on Saturday and led the Buckeyes to their 12th-straight home victory.
The Buckeyes, ranked No. 1 nationally, defeated No. 7 Iowa 230.725 – 228.700. No. 6 Brigham Young finished third at 226.375 and No. 11 Minnesota last at 221.075. The win moves the Buckeyes to 13-0 on the season.
“It’s not my last meet, just the last one here,” Morgan said. “I think that’s the big reason I kept myself together tonight. I’m not looking at this as my last senior meet.”
Morgan scored a career-high 57.625 and finished third in the all-around to lead the Buckeyes.
“He handled his emotions well. He had a great senior meet and has given up so much for the past five years. We really appreciate him and all he’s done,” coach Miles Avery said.
Also finishing strong for OSU was freshman Dick Huntwork. Huntwork claimed his first outright collegiate win on the vault with a score of 9.750, setting a career-high.
“It was awesome. It was the last home meet. It feels great to contribute a big score to the Buckeyes,” Huntwork said.
Going into the final rotation the pressure rested on OSU, 37 points behind Iowa, which had finished its last event. Morgan and junior Jamie Natalie finished strong to help lead OSU to the win.
“I thought we started to slack off at the end, but we picked it right back up for the last two events. I was really happy about that and glad we pulled it back together,” Morgan said.
Natalie won the high bar with a score of 9.925 and the Bucks claimed five of the six events, only missing on the pommel horse by less than three-tenths of a point.
OSU now turns its attention to Penn State this weekend.
“It’s tough to win at State College, but we have our eye on the Big Ten and National Championships,” Avery said. “Any bumps in the road don’t matter.”
The Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions face off at State College, Pa., on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Ohiostatebuckeyes.com Viewer`s Guide (with explanation of each event)
