Minnesota sports scene: Shane Wiskus' return leads Gophers gymnasts to upset

Shane Wiskus made a triumphant return to Maturi Pavilion on Saturday for Senior Day with the Gophers men's gymnastics team.

Wiskus, who has been honing his skills in Colorado Springs at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, won the all-around and three events as the No. 9 Gophers defeated No. 4 Penn State 404.300 to 398.250.

"It'll be great to have Shane Wiskus back in the lineup after coming off of a great weekend at Winter Cup last weekend," Gophers coach Mike Burns said before the dual meet.

Wiskus was fourth in the all-around at the prestigious Winter Cup in Indianapolis, first in floor exercise and second or third in four other events.

Against the Nittany Lions, he had an 84.050 in the all-around — even as the lone competitor — and had the third-highest score in NCAA competition this season. He also won floor exercise (14.800), horizontal bars (14.350) and parallel bars (14.750). Teammate Ben Eyles tied for first in vault (14.300).

"[Our guys] really stepped up, and having Shane back in the lineup obviously didn't hurt our team score at all," Burns said. "It was good to just pretty much have a full team back on the floor, and there was just really good energy from all of the guys tonight. Lots of positive energy out there, and that drives a lot of really good things. They put on a show."

Wiskus is one of four seniors on the Gophers (1-3), who have one home meet left — vs. Illinois on March 22. And after this season, men's gymnastics is one of three men's programs that will be dropped for cost-cutting and Title IX reasons. The Board of Regents made that decision last October.

Lakeville swimmer Regan Smith finished second in the 100-meter backstroke in one of the most exciting races of the Pro Swim Series meet in San Antonio.

Smith, 19, finished in 59.50 seconds, only .01 of a second behind winner Olivia Smoliga.

Smoliga's time is fourth-fastest in the world this year, while Smith's is fifth-fastest.

Rachel Blount

Junior Max McHugh of the Gophers won the 200-yard breaststroke (1:50.93) at the Big Ten Swimming Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The day before, he won the 100 breastroke for the second straight year with the fifth-best time in NCAA history.

McHugh went into the 200 breaststroke finals with the second-best time (1:52.84) in the preliminaries and dropped nearly two seconds.

Michigan repeated as conference champion with 1,401 points; Minnesota was ninth with 564.

In a matchup of one-win men's tennis teams, the Gophers defeated Wisconsin 5-2 at the Baseline Tennis Center. Vlad Lobak defeated Robin Parts 7-6, 7-6 at No. 3 singles for the clinching point for Minnesota (2-3). The Badgers dropped to 1-5.

Minnesota United officially announced the signing of 35-year-old team captain Osvaldo "Ozzie" Alonso. The veteran defensive midfielder got a one-year deal for his 13th MLS season. "We've managed to retain a player who I believe has been the best in his position for the last 10 years in MLS," Loons coach Adrian Heath said in a team news release.

Alonso has played 37 games over two seasons after the Loons acquired him from Seattle before the 2019 season.

Augsburg's Emily Shilson won her third national title in the Cliff Kean National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships in Tiffin, Ohio. Shilson, a Mounds View graduate, won all three of her matches at 109 pounds on 10-0 technical falls.

Shilson is 8-0 this season, 22-0 in her college career with eight pins and 12 technical falls. Teammates Autumn Flanigan (136 pounds) and Marlynne Deeds (155) each placed third and as a team the Auggies were fifth.

• The Gophers baseball team lost 16-1 to Rutgers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Zach Raabe hit a homer in the first inning for Minnesota's run.

• The Gophers women's soccer team and visiting Illinois played to a scoreless draw.