LIVE BLOG: No. 15 Ohio State at No. 33 BYU

Tonight, we have a fun little non-conference dual that will end the home slate for the Cougars and along with it the careers of some stellar seniors.

Ohio State has been remarkably consistent this season, scoring above 197 in all but three meets this season. Sophomore Payton Harris has been an all-around star for the Buckeyes, but other gymnasts have stepped up to bring in some high scores as well. Despite losing Jojo Warga to an injury, Ohio State is in line for a seeded position in postseason, but getting another 197 will help those hopes along.

BYU is coming off a narrow loss to Southern Utah on Monday evening, but the bright spot of the evening was that it finally hit 197. If the Cougars want to move into a safer position for postseason, another 197 at home will be imperative this evening. It is also the final home meet for several seniors and regular competitors, including Elease Rollins, Anyssa Alvarado, and Allix Mason. Get ready for senior night shenanigans.

You can follow along with live stats here and video here on ESPN Plus!

Rotation 1: BYU vault, tOSU bars

Rollins (BYU): Full on, tuck off, good amplitude off the table, small hop back on the landing. 9.725

Pritchard (OSU): toe hand to Geinger to immediate overshoot, nice height on the release, little tight on the handstands, blind full to double tuck dismount, stuck. 9.700

Dudley (BYU): Yfull, lot of distance! Some knees in the air, hop back on the landing. 9.750

Washington (OSU): almost overcooks the first handstand, Maloney to Pak combination, beautiful pirouette on the low bar, better position in the handstand, blind full to double tuck dismount, hop back on the landing. 9.750

Jorgensen (BYU): Full on, pike off. Low chest on the landing, but beautiful form in the air! Small hop back on the landing. 9.775

Vetter (OSU): Tkatchev, lost a little toe point in the air, but nice straight arms on the catch. Bail to handstand, nice tight position on the low bar. Full-in dismount, small step on the landing. 9.800

Earl (BYU): Yhalf, super tight twist in the air, hop forward in the air. No form issues, so the only real deduction should be the landing. Love that she’s found this landing this year! 9.775

Harris (OSU): Tkatchev, much cleaner toe point. Little leg separation on the bail to handstand, blind full to double tuck dismount, stuck. Nicely done! 9.825

Benson (BYU): Yfull, beautiful block off the table, good form and flares out on the landing. Small scoot on the landing. 9.850

Riccardi (OSU): good first handstand, Ray release move, good distance but short on the handstand afterwards. Pak salto to half turn on top of the low bar, blind full to double tuck dismount, stuck. 9.875

Mason (BYU): Yfull, lacked a little distance off the table, some knee form in the air, hop back on the landing. 9.775

Hankins (OSU): blind change to Jaeger, the blind was not quite vertical on the high bar, Pak to switch kip, good. DLO dismount, stuck. Good bar rotation for the Buckeyes! 9.850

After 1: tOSU 49.100, BYU 48.925

Overall a solid rotation for both teams! BYU struggled to hit its landings and only Sydney Benson managed to score above a 9.800. The Buckeyes ended with four straight scores of 9.800 and found several sticks on their landings. Moving into rotation 2, the Cougars need to find some sticks to keep pace with the Ohio State vault team.

Rotation 2: tOSU vault, BYU bars

Washington (OSU): Yfull, good form and amplitude, smallest of slides back on the landing. 9.850

Jorgensen (BYU): Season debut on this event for the freshman! Ray release to open, caught it close, but pulled it off. Bail to handstand, nice and tight on the low bar, DLO dismount, and there’s a stick! 9.800

Grimes (OSU): Yfull, beautiful form in the air, tiny controlled hop backwards on the landing. 9.850

Al. Alvarado (BYU): Maloney to bail, good handstand position on the low bar, DLO dismount, really deep knee squat on the landing. She got the stick, but the deduction for the knee bend basically erases the stick. 9.800

Riccardi (OSU): Yfull, another really good full from the Buckeyes! Highest amplitude of the 3 so far, small hop on the landing. 9.825

Hunter-Kempler (BYU): Back in after a couple meets off. Ray release is good, clear hip to bail is on top of the low bar. DLO dismount, another knee bend, but no movement of the feet. 9.825

Harris (OSU): Y 1.5, lacked a little bit of distance, slightly off-center on the landing, and the tiniest foot movement, but it was a good vault! 9.925

Eaquinto (BYU): Maloney to Pak salto, good control on the transition. Half pirouette on top of low bar, DLO dismount, cleaner on the knees, small slide backwards. 9.825

Vetter (OSU): Yfull, good arms on the block, smallest shift of the feet back on the landing. 9.850

Bramblett (BYU): Slightly short on the first handstand, Ray to overshoot, good control on the transition, DLO dismount, hits her knees on the landing and falls. Ugh, that breaks my heart for that to happen on senior night. 9.125

Gregory (OSU): Y 1.5, slight leg separation on the preflight and on the landing, small step forward on the landing. 9.825

An. Alvarado (BYU): Needs a hit to drop the fall from Bramblett. Beautiful first handstand, Maloney to Pak salto, good half pirouette, didn’t quite finish on top of the low bar though. Full twisting DLO dismount, step forward on the landing, but it will erase Bramblett’s fall. 9.800

After 2: tOSU 98.400, BYU 97.975

Ohio State extends its lead with clean vaults and minimal deductions on the landing. BYU appeared to be trying a little too hard on their landings, resulting in no scores above 9.825. Heading to rotation 3, the Buckeyes need to keep their foot on the gas, while BYU needs to settle down and let its landings happen naturally.

Rotation 3: BYU beam, tOSU floor

Mason (BYU): Full turn to open, BHS LOSO, spot on on the series. Side aerial, good. Switch leap to split jump, the angle kind of makes it hard to see split positions, but it looked good from here. RO double full dismount, stick, little leg separation on the twist. 9.775

Gonzalez (OSU): Double pike to open, good control on the landing. Front layout to front full 2nd pass, maybe a slight leg separation on the FLO. Good extension on the leap series, closes with a back 1.5 to front layout, much cleaner on the front layout this time. 9.775

Raesly-Patton (BYU): Low beam choreo to open, front aerial to split jump, tiniest foot form on the jump. Switch leap to split jump, again with the weird angles!! BHS LOSO, covers a slight wobble on the landing. Full turn, another tiny tiny balance check. RO 1.5, stuck. Two sticks in a row! 9.850

Riccardi (OSU): Double pike to open, nice height in the air. Leap series above 180, great toe point! Back 1.5 to front layout 2nd pass, good punch between elements. Double tuck to close, nice high chest position on the landing. 9.900, career high!

Dudley (BYU): BHS LOSO to open, switch leap to straddle quarter, good 180 position (i have a better angle now lol). Cat leap to side aerial, nice control on that aerial. RO 1.5 twist dismount, the tiniest movement of the toes on the landing. Maybe a half stick? jk, the foot moved. 9.850

Washington (OSU): Beautiful double pike to open, good pike position in the air. FLO to front full 2nd pass, pretty sizeable leg separation on the front layout. Double tuck to close, very controlled lunge back. Great routine! 9.875

Millar-Crossman (BYU): BHS LOSO to open, nice and confident on the landing. Leg lift on the switch half in her leap series, another tiny balance check on her cartwheel. Needs to regain her confidence. Front full dismount, small hop forward. Good, but not her absolute best. 9.800

Vetter (OSU): Double tuck to open, good control on the landing. She really knows how to get her leaps around and had nice toe point throughout. FLO to front Rudi, tiniest knee bend on the layout, but overall good routine! 9.900

Rollins (BYU): The beam queen takes her final bow. Switch leap to straddle quarter, good control. Front aerial to BHS LOSO, spot on. Good control on the full turn. BHS gainer full, small hop back on the landing, but a great way to end her career at the Marriott Center! 9.925

Harris (OSU): FHS front double full to front tuck, WOW! Maybe could’ve used a little more punch into the front tuck, but that’s if I’m picky. Paulicivic pumping her arms on the side just made me lol. Double pike to close, stick with a controlled lunge back. 9.925

Andersen (BYU): Rollins heir apparent here. BHS LOSO, spot on. Beat jump to straddle half, covers a tiny check on the landing. Cat leap to side aerial, good. BHS gainer full, stuck. Will drop a 9.775 from Mason, but how high will it go? 9.975, WOW

Hodges (OSU): Double pike to open, lot of control on that landing slightly flexed feet in the air. Switch half to straddle full to straddle full leap series, good toe point. Closes with a FHS Rudi to back LOSO, nicely done! 9.950

After 3: tOSU 147.950, BYU 147.375

Brynlee Andersen is ready for her role as BYU’s new beam queen. She sets a new career high with a 9.975 and leads BYU to a new season-high score on beam. Ohio State kept applying the pressure and had four scores of 9.900 or better. This final rotation promises to be good!

Rotation 4: tOSU beam, BYU floor

Pritchard (OSU): cat leap to side aerial, good form in the air. Full turn was good, BHS LOSO, tiny balance check, but covers it well. Beat jump to split three-quarter, weird angle for leaps so your guess is as good as mine on the split position. RO 1.5, shift of the feet forward. 9.825

Millar-Crossman (BYU): bit of a pause before her music starts. Double tuck to open, slide of the front foot back. Nice extension on the leap series! FLO to front full, cleanest she’s done that pass in a while. Good opening routine! 9.825

Hankins (OSU): Full turn to open, BHS LOSO spot on. Honestly, I had a mini panic attack bc I thought I had erased my entire blog and missed a good chunk of this routine, but the dismount was a double twist, little loose in the air on the twist, but gets the landing. 9.875

Dudley (BYU): Double pike to open instead of the DLO she’s done in the past, good control on the landing. Switch side to wolf full, good toe point on the wolf full. Front full to FLO, nice form on the layout. Double tuck to close, good chest position on the landing. 2/2 so far! 9.800

Harris (OSU): Finishing out her AA competition here. The commentator just openly gushed at her Valdez to open. Leap series was way over 180, front aerial to back tuck, little bit of a pause before she hits the back tuck. I wouldn’t credit it, but I’m not the judge. Double full dismount, stick. 9.775, would love to know what the SV was to see if they credited the series.

Matern (BYU): Double full to open, a little loose, but gets the landing. Back 1.5 to front layout, nice rise on the layout. Switch ring to wolf full, these cameramen don’t like to give me good angles! Front Rudi to close, a very good routine for Matern! 9.775

Vetter (OSU): Need to start hitting in the 9.900s here. BHS LOSO, slight wobble on the layout, side aerial looked good. Switch leap to straddle quarter, good toe point. RO 1.5, knee form in the air, step on the landing. 9.875

Schooley (BYU): Opens with back 1.5 to FLO, nice control on that landing. Switch ring to switch side, lacked a little foot form in the switch ring. Double tuck to close, I really thought she was close to going out, but she gets the landing (with a low chest). 9.800

Hodges (OSU): Ohio State basically has this meet tied up at this point, these are just for fun. BHS LOSO, gets it after a fall last week, slight wobble. Standing layout, leg lift on the landing, her foot landed on the side of the beam so she had to adjust to save it. RO 1.5 dismount, stuck. 9.800, maybe a little high in comparison.

Jorgensen (BYU): Double pike to open, very nicely done! Switch half to wolf full to wolf full, good amplitude on the leaps. Front rudi 2nd pass, and now the student section is vibing with her. Back 1.5 to front layout to close, almost didn’t get that layout around, but pulled it off. Also someone in the BYU student section has taped “10” signs to their crutch. Love it. 9.775

McCann (OSU): RO back layout to two feet, leg lift on the landing but stays on, WOW. Beat jump is clean. Full turn is nicely controlled. RO back 1.5 dismount, hop forward on the landing. 9.750

Ohio State hits 197 before McCann’s routine.

Eaquinto (BYU): Double pike to open, such a good landing! FHS Rudi 2nd pass just as good. Leap series looked good, but with the cameras being front on, I literally don’t know what it looked like. RO back 1.5 to front layout to close, great anchor routine with Benson resting! 9.850

FINAL: tOSU 197.100, BYU 196.450

Ohio State will replace a 196.775 in its road NQS scores with this 197.100, its eighth 197 of the season. BYU replaces a 196.125 with tonight’s score of 196.450, finishing the meet on a high in the second half. Overall a good meet for both teams as we race towards postseason!

VT: Harris (OSU), 9.925
UB: Riccardi (OSU), 9.875
BB: Andersen (BYU), 9.975
FX: Hodges (OSU), 9.950
AA: Harris (OSU), 39.450

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Live blog by Savanna Wellman

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