The UCSB men’s gymnastics team competed against #3 Ohio State at Rob Gym on Friday night, but was unable to maintain a high performance level throughout the entire meet, falling 211.32-202.2.

“We did pretty well up to the last three events and even after that,” UCSB Head Coach Mircea Badulescu said. “We were OK, right on target. It’s the end of the season and we have to get together and do better.”

Although the Buckeyes came in with a higher ranking, Santa Barbara held its own in most of the events.

Sophomore Geoffrey Howell led the Gauchos in the floor routine, scoring a 9.0. But Howell couldn’t match OSU’s Dick Huntwork, who finished with a 9.15, leading OSU to a 35.4 to 34.6 victory.

The scores were also tight during the pommel horse event, with Howell tallying an impressive score of 8.9. But UCSB had a few too many compromising mistakes, falling 34.7-33.25.

Ohio State held a slim lead heading into the rings and the Gauchos came out strong during the event. Junior Michael Kelly-Sang-Ho and sophomore Danny Levine both scored an 8.6. But the scores weren’t high enough, and UCSB narrowly fell 33.8-33.2.

The parallel bars segment was not as competitive as the previous events, due to UCSB’s various mishaps. Both sophomores Damian Langere and Donald Mahr struggled to maintain their balance at times during the event, finishing with scores of 7.9 and 8.3, respectively.

Despite coming up short in many of the events, the Gauchos remained positive, and will head into next weekend’s Gold’s Gym Challenge with some extra confidence.

“I think we did the best we’ve done this year and it’s probably due to the energy we have,” Levine said. “We have a home meet next weekend that I think we’ll do even better.”

-Kim Cantor