No. 1 Oklahoma (4-0) took down No. 13 Air Force (0-4) 401.900-366.550 in its home opener on Saturday.
OU did not seem fazed by the absence of three-time All-American Vitaliy Guimaraes, who missed the contest due to injury. The victory comes just one week removed from the Sooners’ season-opening win at the Rocky Mountain Open.
That's a 𝗪 in our 🏠! #GymU pic.twitter.com/YOZ7UR0h5K
— Oklahoma Men's Gym (@OU_MGymnastics) January 23, 2022
Senior captain Alexei Vernyi started the night with a bang, posting a 13.600 on floor in his first exercise of the season. His performance was followed by a pair of freshmen, Brigham Frentheway and Emre Dodanli, who scored a 13.050 and a 14.100, respectively. Senior Spencer Goodell finished strong by scoring a 14.150 to put the Sooners in the driver's seat with a 68.200-58.950 lead after the first rotation.
Competing on pommel horse in the second rotation, freshman Raydel Gamboa led the Sooners with a 13.150. Coming off a victory in the all-around at the Rocky Mountain Open, freshman Fuzzy Benas put up a 12.700 on his first event of the night. A mid-routine stumble led to an underwhelming 12.300 for sophomore Zach Nunez to cap the second rotation.
Redshirt junior Evan Perrault got the Sooners off to a nice start on still rings with a 13.400. That was backed up by a pair of 13.200-plus scores from junior Jack Freeman and sophomore Daniel Simmons. Benas also showed out with a 13.550 to give the Sooners a commanding 198.400-178.500 lead at the halfway mark.
What'd we tell you about these 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯⁉️Fuzzy Benas with the meet-best 13.550 on rings ⛓️📺 @BallySportsSW pic.twitter.com/BfvPxTOoZF
— Oklahoma Men's Gym (@OU_MGymnastics) January 23, 2022
Freshman Cailen Walker scored a solid 14.450 on vault in his first performance at the college level. Oklahoma built off that with two 14.350’s by Simmons and Nunez, followed by an impressive 14.550 by Benas. Redshirt juniorJosh Corona finished strong by scoring a 14.450 to extend the Sooners’ lead to 270.550-247.150 heading into the fifth rotation.
Junior Alan Camillus led off for the Sooners with a 12.850 on parallel bars. Gamboa and redshirt junior Cesar Gracia followed t with 13.300-plus scores. Benas continued his spectacular showing by nabbing a 14.400 to send the Sooners into the final rotation in full control.
On high bar in the sixth rotation, Gamboa received a huge, well-deserved ovation from the crowd at McCasland Fieldhouse after scoring a whopping 13.650. Following a 13.300 from Freeman, Gracia earned a 11.750 to finish off a successful night for OU.
Next, the Sooners will compete in the Stanford Open against No. 2 Stanford and Cal Berkeley at 8 p.m CT on Jan. 29 in Palo Alto, California.
