Boys gymnastics: Strong optionals day highlights Permian's title

There were few surprises Wednesday when the final results were tallied in the District 3-5A Boys Gymnastics Championships at the Permian Fieldhouse.

The host Panthers ran away with the team title, amassing 333.70 points to outdistance San Angelo Central (321.70).

Micah Tripp led the Permian onslaught by capturing his first district all-around crown with 113.30 points, with teammates Ryan Press (109.20) and Matthew Martinez (108.30) second and third, respectively.

Individually, Tripp earned titles on pommel horse and rings, with teammate Matthew Martinez bringing home the high bar crown.

"We had our best optional meet of the year," Permian coach Todd Vesely said. "You are supposed to build as the season goes along, so you can't be disappointed in today.

"Now we just have to keep on doing what we've been doing and get everyone on the same page. Hopefully we'll improve in a week, but it's very difficult to make huge strides in a week. But there are plenty of things that we have to work on to get better."

A key to the Panthers victory came in their high-bar set to close out the competition.

Permian used the 9.4 markings of Tripp and Martinez and a 7.9 score by Press to finish with 26.70 points for the rotation.

That was 5.5 points better than Abilene, 7.3 more than Odessa High, 7.5 ahead of Abilene Cooper and 8.1 better than San Angelo Central.

"We had a very good high bar set today," Vesely said. "High bar and pommel horse was the key."

One eyebrow-raising result did pop up in the final standings - in a very positive way for the programs in the Permian Basin.

Odessa High, which has struggled the past three years to make a regional qualifying score, finished third with 308.20 points to easily qualify for next week's Region III Championships, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday back at Permian.

Should the Bronchos be able to repeat Wednesday's performance, they would be booking a trip to the state meet from April 24-26 in Garland.

Teams must score 305 points in the regional meet, and finish in the top three, to make the state meet.

OHS coach Tony Gonzalez, back to head the program after a three-year absence, was pleased with the result, but concerned about some of the efforts Wednesday as the Bronchos struggled with some familiar skills.

Isaiah Joe and Jackie Johnson led the Bronchos with a tie for seventh in the all-around competition with 102.70 points.

Joe won the vault crown with 19.50 points, nearly a full point (18.90) better than teammate Chris Berger in second. Johnson finished in a third-place tie with Permian's Riley Murphy with 18.80 points.

"I'm very happy with the score," Gonzalez said. "Now it's time to get back to work for regionals and correct the little things that we did wrong.

"We stumbled on rings and high bar, but came out and hit some good routines on the other rotations. We need to be more consistent and focused and that's something that we definitely will be working on this week."