Huskers Head West to Face No. 10 California, No.1 Oklahoma in Tri-Meet

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team heads to Berkeley, Calif., to face the California Golden Bears and the Oklahoma Sooners in a tri-meet on Friday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. (CT) at the Haas Pavilion. The meet will have live stats and will be streamed on Virtius.

Last Time Out

Nebraska won against the Greenville Panthers with a Husker sweep of individual titles. Nathan York took home two titles on vault and parallel bars. Clinton made his collegiate debut, placing second on high bar. The freshman bagged Big Ten Rookie of the Week with his performance. 

Scouting the Competition 

#10 California 

• Head Coach J.T. Okada announced he would step down after the tri-meet. The Golden Bears currently hold a 0-5 record. 
• California carries a 37-20 record against Nebraska. In the last meeting, Nebraska secured second and defeated the Golden Bears in a quad-meet against California, Stanford and Air Force. 

#1 Oklahoma 

• Oklahoma defeated Michigan and Simpson in a tri-meet scoring 327.700 to move to 10-1 on the year. Stanford was the only team to defeat OU at the Rocky Mountain Open, 328.850-327.200. 
• At the Winter Cup, the Sooners’ Fuzzy Benas, Ignacio Yockers and Kelton Christiansen competed. Benas had a bronze medal on vault. Yockers also had a bronze medal on the pommel horse. Christensen had a fifth-place finish on the high bar. 
• OU leads the series 118-108-2. In 2023, Oklahoma narrowly beat Nebraska in a tri-meet, 418.250-417.550

National Team Honors and Competition Assignments 

Taylor Christopulos and Alex Nitache’s performances at the Winter Cup earned two of the four spots on the U.S. Senior National Team. Following a third-place finish in the all-around competition, Christopulos will compete in the DTB Pokal Team Challenge alongside Jun Iwai, Riley Loos, Kai Uemura and Colt Walker. Nitache, who snatched a silver medal on vault, will compete at the DTB Mixed Challenge with Kiran Mandava. Both competitions will be held in Stuttgart, Germany, in late March. 

Additionally, freshman Nik Tarca was selected to compete in the Men’s European Championships in May for Romania. 

NCAA and CGA Rankings 

• Nebraska is ranked in the top 10 in all events, including third on rings, fourth on parallel bars, and sixth on vault and pommel horse. The team's averages determine rankings. 
• Nebraska is ranked fifth in the CGA power rankings. 

Individual Rankings

• Chase Mondi is ranked fourth on vault and 13th on floor. 
• Luke James ranked 16th on vault. 
• Chris Hiser is ranked third on rings and James Friedman is ranked 12th on rings. 
• Christopulos holds eighth on high bar and 12th on pommel horse.
• Nathan York is ranked 18th on pommel horse. 
• Alex Nitache is ranked 11th on p-bars and fifth in the all-around. 

 

Follow the Huskers

Fans can follow @HuskerMGym on Facebook, Instagram or X for live updates during the meet.