Falcons Net Season High in Victory over UIC

Feb. 26, 2016

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The 11th-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team tallied a season-high team score of 427.500 – the eighth-highest total in program history – to defeat No. 19 Illinois-Chicago (374.150) on Friday, Feb. 26, at the Academy's Cadet West Gym.

In the first meet of the year to feature the "five-up, five-count" scoring system, Air Force swept the event titles. Junior Tim Wang picked up a pair of first-place finishes, scoring a 15.200 to win the vault and a career-best matching tally of 14.750 to win the parallel bars. Classmates Chase Cannon and Aaron Nubine took first on the high bar (14.850) and floor exercise (14.650), while senior Denis Aurelius won the still rings (14.650) and sophomore Arinn Wade claimed top honors on the pommel horse following a season-high performance of 15.450.

In addition to their event titles, Wang placed second on the pommel horse (15.100) and Aurelius finished third on the vault (14.500). Sophomore Fletcher Braunton added runner-up honors on the still rings (14.700), while the Falcons' freshmen contingent combined for eight placements within the meet's top three.

Jonah Urlaub finished second on both the floor exercise (14.350) and parallel bars (career-best 14.200), while collecting career-best scores to finish third on the pommel horse (14.450) and still rings (14.500). Eric Klein scored a career-high 14.400 to finish second on the high bar, while Christian Kalustian finished third with a score of 14.150. Ryan Girouard finished third on the floor exercise (14.250), while Jake Stanley scored a 13.850 to finish third in his parallel bars debut.

In addition to the season-high team score of 427.500, the Falcons also posted their highest tally of the year on the pommel horse (72.650) to move into third on the Academy's all-time list. Air Force also accounted for its second-highest vault score of the year (73.050) – a tally that is ranked sixth on the program's top-10 list.

The Falcons and Flames return to Cadet West Gym on Sunday, Feb. 28, for another dual meet.

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Players Mentioned

Denis Aurelius

Fletcher Braunton

Chase Cannon

Ryan Girouard

Christian Kalustian

Eric Klein

Aaron Nubine

Jake Stanley

Jonah Urlaub

Arinn Wade

Tim Wang

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