No. 6 Bears Place 3rd at Quad Meet, Earn First Win of 2015

MGYM1/25/2015 2:55 AM | By: Cal Athletics

No. 6 Bears Place 3rd at Quad Meet, Earn First Win of 2015

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STANFORD, Calif.  - The No. 6 California Golden Bears placed third in a quad meet at Burnham Pavilion on the campus of Stanford on Saturday evening, finishing with a total team score of 423.500. No. 1 Oklahoma claimed the team title, posting a total of 440.450, surpassing the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal in the final rotation (437.550) and the 10th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers finished fourth with a total of 418.050. Stanford sophomore Akash Modi claimed the all-around title with a season-best score of 90.150. Cal junior Kevin Wolting finished fourth with a score of 87.750, including a tie for the individual event win on floor exercise (15.650).  
 
“Tonight was a great opportunity to see what some other schools are doing,” head coach Brett McClure said on Saturday night. “It also allowed us to start our competition on a different event and gave us a different process to challenge us to see where our comfort level is. I think the guys did a fantastic job tonight stepping up and making the adjustments we worked on all week long. Having it show up on the competition floor is exciting and though I knew there would be some mistakes because of it, that is the attitude we wanted this week, that we wouldn't hold anything back. If you make mistakes, it is no big deal. We just have to make the adjustments and improvements to position us well for the second half of the season.”
 
Cal opened the evening on still rings, posting a team score of 69.600. The Bears were paced by junior co-captain Kyle Zemeir, who anchored the rotation with a 14.700 on his routine. Oklahoma senior Mike Squires claimed the individual title with an incredible routine that garnered a score of 16.100.
 
The Bears posted a 72.400 on vault, just a half tenth of a point off of last week's season-best. Wolting earned a career-best 15.300, which placed him second on the apparatus behind Stanford redshirt senior Sean Senters (15.400). Juniors Kevin Ko and Zemeir also showed well for the Golden Bears, posting a 14.650 and a 14.550, respectively.
 
Zemeir led the way for Cal on parallel bars, scoring a 14.500 and the team finished with a total score of 70.100. Modi claimed the individual title with a routine that earned him a score of 15.450.
 
Freshman Yordan Aleksandrov, who finished with an 83.550 in the all-around competition, paced the Bears on high bar, earning a career-best score of 14.400. Oklahoma senior Danny Berardini won the individual event title with a routine of 14.950.
 
Floor is where the Bears excelled, posting a season-best score of 73.400 behind a career-best effort by Wolting. His 15.650 tied with Oklahoma junior Kanji Oyama for the individual event title. Cal also saw great performances by Aleksandrov (14.600) and sophomore Nico Del Junco, who netted a career-best score of 14.400.
 
“We added a lot to (Kevin) Wolting's high bar routine this week,” McClure added. “That includes all of the adds to his routines last week, and he is still hitting 100%. This was the best meet that he has ever had and I am so happy to see all of his hard work paying off.”
 
The Bears concluded the evening on pommel horse with a season-best team score of 69.100 to hold off the Huskers for third place. Junior co-captain Kevin Tran set a new career-best and led the team with a 14.550. Tran was second overall on the apparatus, finishing behind Modi, who claimed the individual event title with a score of 14.800.
 
California next travels to Tempe, Arizona, on Friday, Jan. 30 to take on the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils. The meet will begin at 6:15 p.m. PT at the Sun Devil Fitness Center.
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