Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines Drop Dual Meet to No. 3 Ohio State
3/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In U-M's regular-season finale, the No. 1-ranked University of Michigan mens gymnastics team lost to the No. 3-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 220.500-215.850 Saturday (March 17) in St. John Arena. The loss was the Wolverines' (13-4, 8-1 Big Ten) first dual-meet defeat of the season.
The first event for Michigan was the pommel horse; U-M earned a total of 36.050, losing the team title to Ohio State's 36.350 tally. Fifth-year senior co-captain Justin Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) earned Michigan's highest-score, posting a 9.150 to take second place. Freshmen Mel Santander (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional HS) and DJ Chan (Singapore, Singapore/Hale School) rounded out the top five. Santander tied his career-best of 9.050 for fourth place, while Chan tied his career-best of 9.000 for fifth.
The Maize and Blue responded in the second rotation, posting a team total of 35.700-35.600 to capture the team floor exercise title. The Wolverines were led by sophomore Kent Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin HS), claiming his sixth floor title of the season with a 9.650. Sophomore Ralph Rosso (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianney HS) took third place with an 8.950
U-M moved to the vault for the third event of the evening and posted a team total of 35.050 -- 1.250 points behind OSU. Caldwell finished third with a personal-record of 8.900. Rosso took sixth with an 8.800 -- just .50 points shy of the top five.
On the still rings, senior Aaron Rakes (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar HS) and freshman Torrance Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) finished in the top five, tying for fourth place; each earned a 9.400.
Heading into the final two rotations, the Maize and Blue trailed by a score of 146.100-143.900. The Wolverines began the first of the last two rotations on the high bar, placing senior/junior Andrew Elkind (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East HS) second with a 9.450. Elkind's score was 0.100 points more than his previous best.
Attempting to narrow down the lead, U-M earned third- and fifth-place finishes on the parallel bars from Santander and T. Laury. Santander took third place, tying his career-best score of 9.350. T. Laury came in fifth place with a 9.050.
The Wolverines will begin post-season action, heading to Minneapolis, Minn., to compete in the Big Ten Championships Friday-Saturday (March 30-31), hosted by the University of Minnesota. The two-day meet will be held at the Sports Pavilion; both days will begin at 7 p.m. CDT.
Final Team Standings
| Team Scores | FX | PH | SR | V | PB | HB | Total |
| 1. Ohio State | 35.600 | 36.350 | 37.850 | 36.300 | 37.100 | 37.300 | 220.500 |
| 2. MICHIGAN | 35.700 | 36.050 | 37.100 | 35.050 | 35.850 | 36.100 | 215.850 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
Floor Exercise Mel Santander 8.450 Daniel Rais 8.650 Ralph Rosso 8.950 (3) Kent Caldwell 9.650 (1) Pommel Horse Ralph Rosso 8.850 Mel Santander 9.050 (4) Paul Woodward 8.850 David Chan 9.000 (5) Andrew Elkind 8.400 Justin Laury 9.150 (2) Still Rings Arren Yoshimura 9.000 Joe Catrambone 8.950 Torrance Laury 9.400 (5) Aaron Rakes 9.400 (4) Andrew Elkind 9.250 Ralph Rosso 9.050 Vault Mel Santander 7.900 Torrance Laury 8.700 Daniel Rais 8.650 Ralph Rosso 8.800 Kent Caldwell 8.900 (3) Parallel Bars Paul Woodward 9.000 Arren Yoshimura 8.450 Mel Santander 9.350 (3) Torrance Laury 9.050 (5) Justin Laury 8.200 Andrew Elkind 8.200 High Bar Mel Santander 9.000 Daniel Rais 8.750 Aaron Rakes 8.900 Joe Catrambone 8.200 Andrew Elkind 9.450 (2) Justin Laury 8.250 ( ) denotes place in the Top 5
N O T E S
The Wolverines dropped their first duel-conference meet of the season, closing out the regular-season with a 5-1 duel record. U-M finished 13-4 overall; 8-1 in the conference.
Sophomore Kent Caldwell earned his sixth floor exercise title -- the most among this year's Wolverines.
U-M is 1-4 in the past five regular-season finale meets against Ohio State.
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
