Sooners, Buckeyes look for rematch in '03

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Ohio State coach Miles Avery is looking forward to clashing with Oklahoma again at the 2003 NCAA men's gymnastics championships. <br><br>``The rubber match will be next year in

Sunday, April 7th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Ohio State coach Miles Avery is looking forward to clashing with Oklahoma again at the 2003 NCAA men's gymnastics championships.

``The rubber match will be next year in Philadelphia,'' Avery said. ``We have one, they have one, and next year it's at a neutral site.''

Oklahoma won the team title on its home floor Friday night by edging the Buckeyes. In 2001, Ohio State _ also competing at home _ topped Oklahoma for the title.

``I competed on a team that won at home, and there's nothing like it,'' said Sooners coach Mark Williams, who was part of an NCAA title team at Nebraska. ``I just thank these guys for the effort they showed.''

The three-day championships drew 4,281 fans, the third-lowest total since the NCAA began recording attendance for gymnastics in 1976. It also marked the end of men's gymnastics as a scholarship sport at Vermont, Massachusetts and Cal-Santa Barbara. Next year, only 20 Division I schools will have men's gymnastics programs.

The Sooners, who entered the meet ranked No. 2 behind Ohio State, got off to a slow start in the team competition. But so did just about everyone, allowing Oklahoma to stay at or near the top after each rotation.

The Sooners led by just 0.25 of a point heading into the final rotation but got a big lift from Quinn Rowell on the high bar.

Rowell has had knee, shoulder and neck injuries, and in December shattered a bone in his right arm. He returned to competition in March, and had only competed in a handful of meets before the NCAAs. But he scored a 9.4.

``He showed some unbelievable heart and desire,'' Williams said. ``The trainers were telling him there's no way you'll compete this year, and he refused to believe them.''

Rowell was the second competitor in the rotation, and Williams said it helped his other gymnasts relax.

``He wasn't even supposed to be competing at all this year, and as it turns out he may have been the difference,'' Williams said.

The Sooners scored 36.950 on the high bar, while the Buckeyes were scoring 36.550 on rings. That left Oklahoma with a 219.300 total, and Ohio State with 218.650. California finished third, followed by Michigan, Iowa and Stanford.

Raj Bhavsar of Ohio State, runner-up in the all-around last year, won that title this year. He finished ahead of California's Zhang JinJing and Oklahoma's Daniel Furney.

Clay Strother of Minnesota repeated as champion on the pommel horse and floor exercise, and Stanford had two individual winners _ Marshall Erwin on rings, and Dan Gill on vault.

The other individual winners, determined Saturday night, were Cody Moore of California on parallel bars, and Daniel Diaz-Luong of Michigan on the high bar.

Bhavsar had a tough night, finishing fifth on the pommel horse and vault, and last on rings after coming off during his routine.