| FLOOR | POMMEL | RINGS | VAULT | P BARS | H BAR | TOTAL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 72.550 | 71.850 | 72.350 | 73.350 | 70.200 | 72.000 | 432.300 | |
| STANFORD | 72.000 | 71.500 | 71.400 | 72.700 | 70.800 | 73.650 | 432.050 |
STANFORD, Calif. – In a men's gymnastics showdown that could be an NCAA preview, two-time defending national champion and No. 1 Oklahoma edged No. 2 Stanford, 432.300 to 432.050, Saturday night at Burnham Pavilion.
Trailing by three points going into its final event, the high bar, Stanford scored some of the top individual marks in the country, capped by Robert Neff's national-best 15.500, to draw the Cardinal (10-2, 4-1 MPSF) within the final margin.
Stanford opened the night on floor with a strong start as Bailey Perez crushed a career-best 14.550 to open with Grant Breckenridge following with a 14.100. Taylor Seaton came out to post a huge season-best 14.950 to claim the event title before Jacob Barrus battled off an injury to still nail a 14.750 en route to a 72.000 team score.
Next up on pommel horse the Cardinal stepped up as Stanford posted its best team score of the season with a 71.500. Career-bests from Joey Ringer (14.650) and David Jessen (13.600) highlighted the event with Robert Neff adding a 14.350 to round out the event with OU leading after two rotations.
Headed to rings next Josiah Eng continued his consistency for the Cardinal placing second in the event with a 14.700 that Taylor Seaton followed with a season-best 14.550. OU was dominant in the event though with three of the top five scores going the way of the Sooners, though Stanford posted its best team rings score of the year with a 71.400.
With vault up next Stanford's Gareth Weiss opened the event with a season-best 14.150 before his brother Barrett Weiss matched his career-best with a 14.700. The season-bests continued with Robert Neff nailing a 14.700 on the stuck landing to set up Taylor Seaton's 14.800 as the Cardinal put up another team-best with a 73.250.
The Sooners held over a two point lead headed into the final two events as the Cardinal headed to parallel bars where Bailey Perez opened with a career-best 13.100. Grant Breckenridge stepped up next to demolish his season-best with a 14.650 that Robert Neff matched. Jordan DeClerk put the cherry on top with a 14.400 for the team event title and season-best 70.800.
With only the high bar remaining and down over three points, the Cardinal came out in the event and destroyed the best scores the NCAA has seen this season. A career-best from David Jessen (14.650) was followed by a season-best from Taylor Seaton (15.050) as the Cardinal inched closer to the Sooners in score.
Neff posted the highest score in the NCAA this season on high bar to pull the team score to an NCAA-best 73.650, but it wasn't quite enough to catch the Sooners in a dramatic finish.
The Cardinal returns to action Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., to face Michigan and Illinois on Saturday at 11 a.m. PT.