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    OU Gymnastics: No. 1 Oklahoma Drops Road Meet at Michigan

    The Sooners got more big performances from Emre Dodanli and Fuzzy Benas but the No. 4-ranked Wolverines came away with an upset victory.

    By OU Media Relations

    ANN ARBOR, MI – Junior Emre Dodanli won the floor exercise title with a 14.900 and redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas totaled 70.350 on five events, but the top-ranked Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team fell at No. 4 Michigan 416.300 to 409.350 Saturday afternoon at Cliff Keen Arena.

    The floor exercise victory was Dodanli’s 10th event title in his six meets this season. In his five events, Benas notched a 13.950 on pommel horse, 13.600 on still rings, 14.300 on vault, 14.350 on parallel bars and 14.150 on horizontal bar. He recorded his second-best scores of the season on four of those events: pommel horse, rings, p-bars and high bar.

    Dodanli anchored floor exercise with his meet-best score that put Oklahoma in front after the first rotation, 70.050 to 69.350. OU maintained a 137.750 to 137.050 lead after pommel horse as both teams scored 67.700 on the event. The Wolverines, however, moved in front at the midway point, 206.800 to 201.450, after outscoring the Sooners 69.750 to 63.700 on still rings.

    Oklahoma kept battling in the second half of the meet, finishing with a 69.100 on high bar, which was more than two points higher than Michigan’s 67.050 on the event. OU scored a 71.500 on vault (to Michigan’s 72.500) and a 67.300 on parallel bars (to Michigan’s 69.950). The Wolverines recorded their highest team total of the season by almost four points.

    Dodanli’s 14.900 on floor was, incredibly, only his third-best score on the event this season (he has scored 15-plus twice this year, something no other collegiate gymnast had done since the 2021 season). Redshirt freshman Leo Koike (14.000) and freshman Nico Hamilton (14.800) both notched career highs on floor exercise. Hamilton’s routine included a massive 9.5 execution score and a stick on the dismount.

    Benas paced the Sooners with his scores on both pommel horse and rings. In the fourth rotation, all five OU vaulters scored 14 or better for the fourth time this season. Koike notched a 14.500 – his second-highest vault score of the season – to place third on the event. He was followed in scoring by freshman Max Bereznev (14.450), Benas (14.300), Dodanli (14.250) and freshman Tyler Flores (14.050).

    Hamilton and Dodanli each scored a 13.600 on parallel bars around Benas’ 14.350. On the final event, four Sooners earned a stick bonus for their high bar dismount. Junior Brigham Frentheway led off the event with a career-high 13.900 and fifth-year senior Jack Freeman hit a career high-tying 14.500. Benas’ 14.150 was just .050 shy of his career high (14.200 on Feb. 10 against California).

    OU registered 12 scores of 14.000 or better in the meet and notched 10 routines with an execution score of 9.0 or better.

    Oklahoma returns home to McCasland Field House next Saturday to take on Navy at 5:45 p.m. 

    It will be Senior Night and Alumni Night, as the Sooners will honor their seniors after the meet and welcome alumni back to the Field House. Fans will have the opportunity to take photos with OU’s national championship trophies, and recently-elected CGA Hall of Famer Jonathan Horton will be on hand signing autographs prior to the meet.

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