Air Force Academy
Rocky Mountain Open
Falcons Take Second at Rocky Mountain Open
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 16, 2016
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force men's gymnastics team kicked off a new era this evening (Jan. 16) during a strong runner-up performance at the annual Rocky Mountain Open, which was held in front of a standing room-only crowd at the Academy's Cadet West Gym. The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Robinson, registered its second-highest season-opening score ever (424.700) to finish second in the six-team competition.
Highlighted by a runner-up score of 14.850 on the pommel horse, junior Tim Wang paced the Falcons with three top-three finishes. In addition to his second-place finish on the pommel horse, Wang also tied for third on the vault with the second-highest score of his career (15.200) and finished third his return to the all-around (87.000). The junior added top-10 finishes on the still rings (career-best 14.600, sixth), floor exercise (career-best 15.100, eighth) and high bar (14.150, ninth).
Senior team captain Denis Aurelius earned three top-10 finishes, placing seventh on the still rings (14.550), eighth on the vault (14.800) and 10th on the floor exercise (14.800). Sophomore Arinn Wade also picked up a trio of top-10 placements, finishing seventh on the pommel horse (14.150), ninth on the high bar (14.150) and 10th on the still rings (14.100). The Falcons' returning roster also earned additional top-10 finishes on the high bar and still rings, as junior Chase Cannon finished seventh on the high bar (14.200) and sophomore Fletcher Braunton placed ninth on the still rings (14.300).
Air Force's freshmen made an immediate impact on the squad, as the newest class of gymnasts combined for 18 of the team's 36 routines and three top-10 finishes. Christian Kalustian became just the fourth Falcon in program history to break the 15-point mark on the vault, as he registered the fourth-highest score in program history (15.100) to finish sixth on that event in his collegiate debut. Casey Branin and Jonah Urlaub added top-10 marks in their respective events, as Branin finished seventh on the parallel bars (14.400) and Urlaub earned the same placement on the pommel horse (14.150).
Oklahoma, the defending national champion, claimed its 17th straight RMO title with a team total of 448.550, while Air Force (424.700) and Nebraska (420.300) rounded out the varsity-team field. Arizona State (403.650), OU (399.700) and Washington (392.250) completed the full field of six teams.
Air Force's runner-up finish marked the second straight year – and just the third time in more than a decade – that the Falcons have defeated their former conference foe from Nebraska.
Backed by a pair of first-place finishes from Yul Moldauer (parallel bars, 15.600; all-around, 90.150), the Sooners swept the individual event titles. Thao Hoang (still rings, 15.300), Hunter Justus (vault, 15.550), Sergey Resnick (pommel horse, 15.200), Colin VanWicklen (floor exercise, 15.900) and Josh Yee (high bar) rounded out Oklahoma's event winners.
Air Force travels to Nebraska next Saturday (Jan. 23) for a rematch with the Huskers at 6:00 p.m. (CT).
Players Mentioned
