Boys gymnastics: Fremd left to look for at-large options

There won't be a third consecutive trip to the state finals for Fremd's boys gymnastics team.

The Vikings came up a bit short Friday, scoring a 149.40 at the sectional they hosted in Palatine.

Deerfield won the sectional with a 160.20, earning an automatic spot in next week's state finals at Hinsdale Central.

Fremd finished second, but the Vikings' score was not enough to be one of the top three at-large scores. Buffalo Grove (152.55), Wheaton Co-op (151.25) and York (149.50), which competed Wednesday and Thursday, currently occupy those spots with competition continuing Saturday at the two remaining sectionals.

"Sometimes you just come up short," Fremd coach Tim Hamman said. "This is one of those times. I am proud of the boys. They had a great season."

Fremd, which had qualified for state the previous two years and finished third in the state last year, just could never seem to get fully on track on Friday.

"Things just didn't go our way," Hamman said. "That happens in sports. Unfortunately it was tonight when it was at sectionals."

The Vikings still will have individual qualifiers at state with Ryan Roth and Eric Barnd finishing in the top 5 of individual events that earned the automatic advancement spots.

Roth qualified on the vault with a 9.10 that gave him a fourth-place finish and a 9.00 that earned him a second on the rings with a 9.00.

"The last three years have been great," Roth said. "But even though we are not going as a team, there are lots of us who can still make it."

Eric Barnd qualified in three events. He was second on the pommel horse with an 8.80, second on the high bar with an 8.55 and fourth on the rings with an 8.65.

Roth and Barnd, along with teammate Nick Oyasu, will wait until the end of all the sectionals on Saturday to see if they qualify as at-large gymnasts in individual events, including the all-around where only the top three gymnasts automatically qualified.

"It was a pretty good meet, but we had a few bobbles," said Barnd, who finished fifth in the all-around with a score of 51.40. "We are going to watch the scores online and hope for the best."

Cary-Grove's Luke Sisauri, the two-time defending state champion in the pommel horse, won the event Friday with a score of 9.35. He also won the high bar with an 8.60 and qualified on the vault.

"It was a little rough but I nailed pommel horse which is my main event," said Sisauri, who was fourth in the all-around with a 51.55. "I wanted to nail it and I did, so I feel pretty good."

Prospect's Jack D'Onofrio also punched his ticket to the state finals as an individual. He qualified in the vault with a 9.25, where he was second and on the rings where he was fifth with an 8.60.

Hoffman Estates' Will Fernandez also automatically qualified. The senior was fifth in the vault and is hoping to break through as an all-arounder after finishing ninth with a 47.90.

"I am hopefully going to make it as an all-arounder," Fernandez said. "I started off strong, had some trouble on high bar, then picked up the pace."

Conant's Cole Aykroid also qualified on the vault, tying Fernandez for fifth with a 9.00.

Crystal Lake Central's Douglas Ulrich qualified on the floor, where he was fourth with a 9.30 and was sixth in the all-around with a 50.45.

Rolling Meadows' Benjamin Kowalski will also be waiting as an all-around potential qualifief as his 49.05 score earned him an eighth-place finish.

Deerfield dominated the meet. The Warriors' Harry Wise won the all-around with a 53.00. Teammates Will Kruse was second with a 52.40 and Louie Solovy was third with a 51.60.

Wise won the floor with a 9.65 while Michael Norwesh won the vault with a 9.30, Clayton Petrasek won the rings with a 9.10 and Matthew Kroscher won the parallel bars with a 9.20.

"You try to peak at the end of the year," Deerfield coach Doug Foerch said. "This is not the end but the kids had their best meet of the year, so obviously we are happy about that."