Vitaliy Guimaraes shook out his muscles before his floor routine with a look of determination smeared across his face.
Oklahoma’s senior captain had just witnessed Ohio State’s Kameron Nelson nail a 14.300 on floor to give the Buckeyes an early lead and momentum to go along with it. Unphased by the Buckeyes’ fast start, Guimaraes went about his routine with the enthusiastic shouts of his Sooners teammates ringing across the gym.
Guimaraes landed an OU season-high of 14.850 in Norman on Saturday night. The performance provided a much-needed spark for the Sooners and put them in the driver's seat with a 68.450-68.200 lead.
“It was just awesome to have that kind of energy,” Guimaraes said of his emphatic teammates. “It puts a little bit less stress on myself.”
Guimaraes and the No. 2 Sooners (12-1) grabbed the lead and ran with it, as they danced past No. 6 Ohio State (10-3) 408.400-399.050. Freshman Fuzzy Benas nabbed the all-around title with a 81.650 and the Sooners claimed the high score on four of six events.
Oklahoma began its night on floor, where freshman Emre Dodanli and junior Jack Freeman nabbed a pair of 13.600-plus scores. The Sooners, however, found themselves in unfamiliar territory as they trailed the Buckeyes after a disappointing 13.000 from Benas. Guimaraes picked up the slack with his sensational 14.850 to put the Sooners at ease.
“He did that all night,” OU coach Mark Williams said of Guimaraes’ momentum-swinging performances. “His floor score was just that much better than everybody else.”
Competing on pommel horse in the second rotation, Benas and fellow freshman Raydel Gamboa registered a 13.100 and 13.350, respectively. Sophomore Zach Nunez notched a 13.600 only to be overshadowed by yet another OU season-high of 14.250 from Guimaraes.
𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨!Vitaliy notches another OU-season-high with a 𝟭𝟰.𝟮𝟱𝟬 on pommel horse!#GymU pic.twitter.com/K0wyTzDmu2
— Oklahoma Men's Gym (@OU_MGymnastics) March 13, 2022
Junior Alan Camillus set the tone on still rings with a 13.600. A pair of 13.550-plus scores from Benas and senior Spencer Goodell gave the Sooners a 202.500-200.850 lead heading into the halfway mark.
Dodanli led off on vault and landed a 14.000 to put the Sooners on the right track. Nunez waited in anticipation with the advice of Guimaraes in his ear, something the senior captain has been known to do all season.
“I just give them little pointers,” Guimaraes said. “Trust yourself, remember your training, and just let loose and get after it.”
The pointers proved effective, as Nunez landed a 13.900 followed by a career-high 14.500 from sophomore Daniel Simmons. Benas continued his busy night with a 14.450 to close out rotation four.
Nunez showed out on parallel bars with a 13.750 to give the Sooners a commanding lead. This lead, however, was put in jeopardy after a few uncharacteristic stumbles led to a 10.850 from Goodell and put the Buckeyes within 0.050 of the Sooners.
Fortunately for the Sooners, Gamboa and Guimaraes rebounded with a 14.050 and 13.150, respectively, to regain a 339.000-334.300 lead.
“We had a really solid outing," Williams said. "We had probably our highest hit percentage (of the season). "That’s a mark of a team that’s getting better.”
Guimaraes tallied a 13.500 to kick start the Sooners on high bar. Immediately following the performance, the senior waved his arms up and down toward the crowd in hopes of pumping them up for the last leg of the night.
“I always tell the guys you know put on a show for the crowd because they’re here to help us show off our gymnastics,” Guimaraes said. “I’d like to get them involved as much as possible because we couldn’t do it without them. They’re the greatest fans on earth in my opinion.”
Redshirt junior Cesar Gracia and Benas provided insurance to the lead by capturing a pair of 13.750-plus scores. The Sooners saved the best for last as 2022 Winter Cup high bar champion Freeman stepped up and nailed a meet-high 14.500 to send Oklahoma home victorious.
“It’s great to have him kind of clean up for us and put up a big score like that,” Williams said of Freeman. “I’m hoping he’ll just continue to do that throughout the rest of the season.”
The impeccable performance from Guimaraes comes just months after a broken nose sidelined him for two meets early in the season. Since then, OU’s captain has claimed the all-around title at the 2020 Winter Cup along with being named a finalist for the Nissen-Emery award.
Guimaraes and the Sooners will attempt to build off their four-meet win streak when they face No. 9 California at 6 p.m CT on March 19 in Norman.
“We still can get better,” Williams said. “I don’t know that we’ve put out our best lineup yet.”
