Iowa at Minnesota

Recap

The Big Storyline: Minnesota put up an absolute barn burner to run away with this one, securing its spot to the night session of the conference championship. Iowa was strong across three but had a slightly rocky start on bars that held things back. Linda Zivat was out of lineups again, which dampened the vault and floor totals.

Implications: Minnesota locked down its No. 4 conference championship seed (since Nebraska lost to Michigan). Iowa will have a berth to the afternoon session of the conference meet. This number doesn’t do much for Minnesota’s NQS since it is both a home score and now the high drop number. 

Records: This is a program record number for the Gophers and their first ever 198.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 13 Iowa at No. 8 Minnesota

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: So much rides on this meet. The final spot at the conference championship, a big NQS away number for the Hawkeyes and a comeback meet for the Gophers. The last two times out have been tough for Minnesota, which has been plagued by uncharacteristic beam issues. The Gophers are not used to counting falls and bobbles, but they have the past few weeks, with Lexy Ramler and Ona Loper both having mistakes on the event. This is a chance to get back on track at home before heading out for a huge road test at Utah next week. For Iowa, this meet is a chance to drop a 196.125 from its NQS. 

What We’re Watching: All eyes on the Gophers. How will Loper recover from an odd two-mistake day at Big Fives? Will Minnesota have five clean beam sets? Plus, Linda Zivat hasn’t been dressed out the past two weeks for Iowa; will we see her important vault here?

What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: This meet will decide the final team in the Big Ten night session (assuming Michigan beats Nebraska). If Iowa wins, it will walk into the night session. If Minnesota wins, its record will be tied with Iowa, and the Gophers will win the tie break because they won the head-to-head dual between the two. (Note that if Nebraska wins its dual and Minnesota wins here, the three-way tie break will go to Nebraska since it beat Minnesota at Big Fives).