Oklahoma gymnastics: Men excel in duel competition between top-3 teams

USA's Yul Moldauer competes in the rings event of the artistic gymnastics men's qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on July 24, 2021. (Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP) (Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)
USA's Yul Moldauer competes in the rings event of the artistic gymnastics men's qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on July 24, 2021. (Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP) (Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)

The Sooner women aren’t the only Oklahoma gymnastics squad in the national limelight again this season. The No. 2-ranked OU men are putting up wins as well.

Oklahoma’s men’s squad achieved its most impressive win of the season on Saturday, defeating No. 3-ranke Nebraska in a dual meet at McCasland Field House on Saturday. And the Sooners did it in dominant fashion.

The Sooner men posted their highest overall score of the season in defeating the perennially strong Nebraska squad 414.200 to 403.300. Not only was it a Sooner season-high for the overall team score but also for each of the individual events.

Oklahoma posted the highest score in floor exercise, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar and won the individual title in each of those rotations. Nebraska recorded the team high school on the pommel horse.

Sooner sophomore Zach Nunez was the all-around champion with a stellar score of 82.850.

Freshman Fuzzy Benas led the way for OU in taking the individual title in two events and tying for the championship in one other. Benas posting the high score in both vault and pommel horse and shared the individual title with senior Spencer Goodell on the rings. Other Sooner individual champions were senior Vitaliy Guimaraes in floor exercise and freshman Raydel Gamboa on the high bar.

It was the Sooners fourth win of the season in five outings. They finished second to No. 1 Stanford in the Stanford Open. No 9 California also participated in the Stanford event.

The OU men’s gymnastics team now gets a week off before its next action. The Sooners will take part in the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup Feb. 24-26 in Frisco, Texas.