Jan. 30, 2007
PHILADELPHIA -
The tenth-ranked Temple men's gymnastics team will travel to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for dual-meet action against fourth-ranked Ohio State. This competition also marks the home-opener for the Buckeyes. This will be the first time Temple has traveled to Ohio State during the regular season.
Last Week
After a second place showing at the West Point Open this past weekend, the Owls travel to Columbus with a great deal of confidence and enthusiasm. A season-high score of 199.500 has them knocking on the door of the 200 mark that has been the goal since the beginning of the season. With a little more consistency, the Owls should have no problem with breaking the elusive score.
Scouting the Buckeyes
Fourth-ranked Ohio State is also coming off of a successful weekend. The Buckeyes traveled to Champaign, Ill. and outscored host-team Illinois 214.700-211.05. Leading the charge for Ohio State was junior D.J. Bucher and freshman Tai Lee.
Several Owls in Top 20
In addition to their 10th place national ranking, a handful of Temple gymnasts find themselves among the nation's elite. Junior Luke Vexler is currently ranked eighth in all-around, as well as 19th on the floor exercise. Sophomore John Vogtman's steady consistency lands him as 12th in the all-around, and junior Sterling Kramer is 15th. On vault, junior Alex Gorski is fifth and freshman standout Patrick McLaughlin is 14th.
Ohio State-Temple Connection
In his tenth year as head coach, Keith "Miles" Avery has propelled the Buckeyes to new heights. Avery competed under head coach Fred Turoff as a Temple Owl from 1976-81. In 1982, he was Turoff's assistant coach. After a brief coaching stint at East Stroudsburg University, Avery came back to graduate from Temple in 1985. Coach Avery was also Fred Turoff's second national team member (1981-84). In addition to Avery, the Buckeyes have an outstanding assistant coach in Dmitri Bilozertchev. Bilozertchev was arguably one of the greatest gymnasts ever to come out of the former Soviet Union team that dominated men's gymnastics during the 1980's.
The Temple at Ohio State meet is scheduled for this coming Saturday, February 3 at 7:00 p.m. The competition will take place at the St. John Arena.
