Oklahoma

OU Hosts Michigan, Simpson in Home Finale – University of Oklahoma

Published

10 months ago

February 15, 2025

OU Hosts Michigan, Simpson in Home Finale – University of Oklahoma

THE MEET

• No. 1 Oklahoma plays host to No. 6 Michigan and No. 14 Simpson at McCasland Field House on Saturday. The tri-meet is set to begin with introductions at 5:45 p.m. and the first routine at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m.

• The meet will be televised on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Matt Wenske calling the action. Live scoring will be available via OUStats.com.

TICKETS/PROMOTIONS/ENTRY

• Saturday is Senior Night, Student Group Night and Flipping Through the Decades Night. The first 100 fans can receive a free throwback seniors poster.

• Tickets can be purchased for $7 ($5 for youth and seniors) through the OU Athletics Ticket Office or at the door.

• Students always get in free, and can receive 200 points towards Sooner Rewards by attending this meet.

• Fans can take advantage of $2 beer, soda and popcorn at the concession stands. There will be a t-shirt toss, socks for sticks and ice cream coupons for the loudest fan.

• The University of Oklahoma enforces a clear-bag policy and walk-through metal detectors at all home athletics events. Review policies and prohibited items at SoonerSports.com/clearbags.

STICKS

• Saturday’s meet will feature three Olympians in the lineups, one for OU and two for Michigan. Oklahoma’s Emre Dodanli competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics with his native Turkey, while Michigan’s Paul Juda and Fred Richard were part of USA’s bronze medal team. Dodanli helped Turkey to a ninth-place finish, just .235 points shy of advancing to team finals in the country’s first Olympics with a team qualified for men’s gymnastics.

• Oklahoma edged out Michigan for second place at the 2022 NCAA Championships in Norman, but Michigan has placed second ahead of OU at each of the last two NCAA Championships. The Sooners and Wolverines have split their last two regular season meetings. OU won against Michigan in 2023 by a 414.550 to 410.400 margin. The Wolverines won in Ann Arbor last season, 416.300 to 409.550.

• Simpson is a relative newcomer in its third year as a program. The Storm competed their first season in 2023. OU finished ahead of Simpson at the Rocky Mountain Open last month, won a dual meet at Simpson in Indianola, Iowa, last year, and claimed a dual-meet victory over Simpson at McCasland Field House in 2023.

• Oklahoma’s only defeat inside McCasland Field House since the 2007 season was in the 2024 MPSF Championship when OU finished second to Stanford. Oklahoma is unbeaten against its last 76 regular season opponents, encompassing 64 consecutive regular season meets, inside McCasland Field House, dating back to the 2007 season. The streak began on March 17, 2007, with a victory over Iowa. OU’s last regular-season loss in the field house was March 3, 2007, against Ohio State. Oklahoma and also Stanford tied in a dual meet in McCasland Field House during the 2021 season.

• Oklahoma has registered three of the top five and four of the top 10 team scores nationally this season. Its 330.700 against Illinois on Jan. 25 is the highest collegiate men’s team score in the four-up, four-count meet format introduced for the 2025 season, while its 329.100 last week is the second highest team score of the season. The Sooners are ranked No. 1 for the third straight week and the fourth time in five weeks this season. OU has been ranked No. 1 at some point in every season since 2001.

• Freshman Francisco Velez Belendez was named the CGA Co-Rookie of the Week after scoring a team season-high 14.350 on still rings to help lead Oklahoma in its meet with Stanford and Greenville. He was the fourth Sooner to stick his rings dismount, as OU notched a season-best 56.500 on the event. Velez Belendez surpassed his previous career-high score by .250 points to finish second on rings during the meet. The San Juan, Puerto Rico, product ranks third nationally on still rings with his 3-score average of 14.083. He shared the weekly award with Illinois’ Ian Sandoval.

• Five current Sooners have earned qualification to USA Gymnastics Winter Cup, which will be held Feb. 21-23 in Louisville, Ky.: redshirt junior Fuzzy Benas (all-around), junior Kelton Christiansen (high bar), senior Brigham Frentheway (floor exercise), sophomore Tas Hajdu (still rings) and junior Ignacio Yockers (pommel horse). OU signees Sasha Bogonosiuk and Nathan Roman and alumnus Yul Moldauer are also qualified for Winter Cup. Moldauer will be unable to compete at Winter Cup.

• Following Saturday’s meet, Oklahoma takes a break in the team schedule for USA Gymnastics Winter Cup, which will be held Feb. 21-23 in Louisville, Ky. OU’s next team meet will be Friday, Feb. 28 at California/vs. Nebraska in Berkeley, Calif.

• Mark Williams is in his 26th season as Oklahoma head coach. He has led the Sooners to 596 victories (596-58-1 [.911]), nine national championships and 18 MPSF conference titles since his first season in 2000.

NATIONAL RANKINGS NOTES

• Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team sits atop the national rankings again this week, the first in which rankings are based on each team’s three highest scores. OU is ranked No. 1 with a 329.000 average. Stanford (325.850), Ohio State (322.567), Illinois (322.167) and Penn State (319.917) round out the top five.

• Oklahoma is ranked in the top five on all six events and leads the nation on floor exercise (54.967), still rings (56.000) and horizontal bar (54.883). OU ranks second on pommel horse (55.033), third on vault (56.333) and fifth on parallel bars (53.000).

• Emre Dodanli (14.033) and Kelton Christiansen (13.950) are the top two on high bar (13.950), while Matthew Burgoyne (14.117), Francisco Velez Belendez (14.083) and Tas Hajdu (14.083) are second, third and fourth on rings.

• Dodanli, (13.917), Burgoyne (13.800), Brigham Frentheway (13.767) and Arthur Ballon (13.70)) are ranked fourth through seventh on floor exercise. Ignacio Yockers ranks fourth on pommel horse (14.467) while Zach Nunez is tied for eighth (14.017). Frentheway is also ranked seventh on rings (13.767).

• On vault, Dodanli (14.217), Ballon (14.183) and Frentheway (14.150) hold down the seventh through ninth spots. Dodanli is ranked ninth on parallel bars (13.583), while Colin Flores (13.350) and Tyler Flores (13.333) are 12th and 13th. Brandon Zepeda-Orth is ranked fifth on high bar (13.650) and Frentheway is ninth (13.550).

• In all, the Sooners hold 18 spots in the top 10 on the six apparatus, and 20 spots in the top 12. Dodanli and Frentheway are both ranked among the top 10 in all four of their respective events, and Ballon is ranked in the top 8 on both of his events.

LAST TIME OUT

• Emre Dodanli’s high bar routine clinched the victory, as Oklahoma scored 329.100 to defeat Stanford (328.850) and Greenville (308.800) in front of a record crowd of 2,149 last Saturday on Cleveland Night and Alumni Night at McCasland Field House.

• The Sooners needed at least a 13.650 on the final routine of the night to stay ahead of the Cardinal, which had concluded its vault rotation, and Dodanli hit a 13.850 to seal the team win and claim the individual event title.

• Ignacio Yockers notched a season-high 14.650 to win the pommel horse title. Oklahoma posted the best score of the meet on floor exercise (54.950), pommel horse (season-best 55.050) and horizontal bar (54.050). The team total was OU’s second highest of the season while Stanford tied its best score and Greenville set a season-best mark.

• Oklahoma trailed Stanford by half a point after the second rotation but retook the lead, 166.500 to 164.550, with a huge rings set in which all four gymnasts stuck their dismounts. OU increased its advantage to 2.85 points after its vault rotation, and led the Cardinal by a 275.050 to 272.600 margin after the fifth event.

HISTORY AND TRADITION

• Oklahoma has won 12 national championships (1977, ’78, ’91, 2002, ’03, ’05, ’06, ’08, ’15, ’16, ’17, ’18), tied for most in NCAA history (tied with Penn State), including nine national titles since 2000. The Sooners have finished first or second in 19 of the last 23 NCAA Championships, and have reached 24 consecutive NCAA finals, or every championship held since 2000 (does not count the 2020 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). OU has finished among the top 3 in 22 of the last 23 NCAA Championships held, dating back to the 2001 season.

• Mark Williams has led Oklahoma to nine national titles and 18 MPSF conference titles over the course of his 25 full seasons as head coach of the Sooners. OU won an NCAA championship held in Norman three times: 2002, 2006 and 2015.

• The Sooners last won an NCAA championship in 2018 in Chicago, Ill., capping a run of four consecutive national titles (2015-18), then claimed second place in three straight championships: 2019, ’21 and ’22.

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Oklahoma

Six bridges damaged by semi truck hauling ‘illegally over-height’ load, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority says

Published

5 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Six bridges damaged by semi truck hauling ‘illegally over-height’ load, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority says

Oklahoma authorities are investigating multiple bridge strikes that occurred along the I-44/Will Rogers Turnpike on Tuesday afternoon.

On December 16, 2025, “an illegally over-height commercial motor vehicle drove this afternoon from Tulsa to near Miami,” causing damage to “multiple county bridges above the I-44/Will Rogers Turnpike,” according to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA).

The OTA notes that “it is illegal for trucks taller than 14 feet to travel the state highway system without permits and approved routes. The bridges damaged today range from 14 feet and 11 inches to 15 feet and 4 inches in vertical clearance, well above the legal limit.”

OTA

“We are continuing to see damage to our state transportation infrastructure from illegal, over-height semi-trucks. This is a critical issue that puts the traveling public at risk and is unacceptable. We are extremely grateful no one was injured in this incident,” OTA Executive Director Joe Echelle said. “We implore truck drivers to follow all Oklahoma laws and work with the state’s Size and Weights permitting office to ensure that all travelers are safe on our roadways and that our infrastructure remains undamaged by these careless acts.”

Officials say that the following bridges were struck:

E. 530 Rd. – closed between S. 4130 Rd. and Lakeway Rd.
S. 4220 Rd. – closed between E. 460 Rd. and E. 470 Rd. east of Claremore
N. 429 Rd. – closed between E. 390 Rd. and SH-28
N. 4300 Rd. – closed between E. 380 Rd. and W. 390 Rd.
N. 4310 Rd. – open
W. 370 Rd. – open

The Will Rogers Turnpike is open, but drivers should expect temporary delays as crews continue to inspect the damaged bridges.

“OTA is working closely with officials from Rogers County, City of Claremore, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and ODOT in response to this incident,” the agency said.

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Oklahoma

How to watch Oklahoma-Alabama in the College Football Playoff: TV/streaming info and more

Published

17 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

How to watch Oklahoma-Alabama in the College Football Playoff: TV/streaming info and more

For the second time this year, we’ll see Oklahoma and Alabama face off in a pivotal showdown.

The Sooners (10-2) will host the Crimson Tide (10-3) for a College Football Playoff showdown Friday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. The last time these teams faced off, Oklahoma came away with a 23-21 win over Alabama on the road.

Will Oklahoma once again topple Alabama? Here’s everything fans should know about Oklahoma-Alabama in the CFP:

How to watch Oklahoma-Alabama in the CFP

When: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19

Where: Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (Norman, Oklahoma)

TV: ABC/ESPN Streaming: ESPN app

A prime-time showdown

None of the four first-round College Football Playoff games overlap, but Alabama-Oklahoma really takes center stage.

With the other three games on Saturday, including Texas A&M-Miami, this game is the only one on Friday night and doesn’t overlap with any of Saturday’s NFL action like Tulane-Ole Miss and James Madison-Oregon do.

It shouldn’t be as cold as it has been lately in Norman, Okla., as early forecasts are expecting temperatures in the lower-50s and upper-40s on Friday. Combine that with a 7 p.m. kickoff that gives Oklahoma fans plenty of time to tailgate and get riled up for the game, and “The Palace on the Prairie” should be a sight to behold as it hosts its first CFP game.

Oklahoma-Alabama head-to-head

Oklahoma and Alabama have faced off eight times in the past. The Sooners lead the all-time series 5-2-1. As we mentioned above, Oklahoma won the latest matchup in the 2025 regular season.

Latest stories

— Can Oklahoma beat Alabama again in the CFP? History isn’t on its side

— Five storylines for Oklahoma-Alabama: A shot at revenge, turnover battle and more

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— Brent Venables’ aggressive defense gives Oklahoma different look than past CFP teams

— Final College Football Playoff bracket: See where Texas Tech, A&M and Oklahoma landed

Find more Oklahoma coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Oklahoma

Children’s mental health facility reopens in Northeast Oklahoma

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Children’s mental health facility reopens in Northeast Oklahoma

Moccasin Bend Ranch, a residential treatment program in Wyandotte, has reopened after a remodel, expanding access to specialized mental health services for children ages 5 to 12. Leaders say the program fills a critical gap in Oklahoma, where options for young children needing higher levels of care remain limited.

A unique approach for younger children

Moccasin Bend Ranch is a 28 bed psychiatric residential treatment facility set on 12 wooded acres. The unlocked campus is designed to give children access to outdoor play and nature, something leaders say is essential for younger patients.

“This setting allows our kids to act like kids,” said Christina Holum, interim chief executive officer at Willow Crest Hospital and Moccasin Bend Ranch. “Watching them play gives us a renewed sense of purpose. We are confident this change will lead to better outcomes and happier, healthier children.”

The ranch focuses exclusively on children, a distinction that sets it apart from many other programs across the state.

Why early treatment matters

Mental health leaders say many children referred to Moccasin Bend Ranch have already tried outpatient therapy and medication management without success. By the time families seek residential care, behaviors are often increasing in both frequency and intensity.

“If outpatient services are not working, families need somewhere to turn,” said Grant Linihan, vice president of business development for Vizion Health, which owns the facility. “If our program was not available, these, kids, where are they going to go to get treated?”

Linihan and Holum say early intervention can help children develop coping skills and emotional regulation before problems follow them into adolescence and adulthood.

Inside the treatment program

Children at Moccasin Bend Ranch receive a full schedule of therapeutic services, including individual therapy, family therapy and group sessions. The program also emphasizes recreational and expressive therapies to help children process trauma and build skills in a developmentally appropriate way.

Staff members work with families to plan for discharge, aiming to ensure continuity of care once a child returns home.

Making the holidays feel normal

For some children, the holiday season can be especially difficult. Leaders say the ranch makes a point to celebrate milestones and traditions, even while children are in treatment.

The facility hosts holiday meals, seasonal activities and visits from community volunteers, including a volunteer Santa. Children are also taken to see nearby holiday light displays.

“We try to get them to reshape their minds,” Linihan said. “Even though you’re with us, this is still going to be a joyous time for you.”

A broader mental health need in Oklahoma

Mental health providers say the need for pediatric services is tied to broader challenges across the state, including limited funding and access to care. They note that untreated mental health issues in childhood can contribute to long term struggles later in life.

“There will always be a need for this type of service for a certain group of children,” Holum said. “If they cannot get help early, their prognosis becomes much worse.”

How families can get help

Families who are concerned about a child’s mental health can contact Willow Crest Hospital or Moccasin Bend Ranch for a free phone intake. Staff members can help parents determine whether residential treatment is appropriate or if outpatient care may still be an option.

Willow Crest Hospital, also operated by Vizion Health, is a 50 bed acute inpatient psychiatric facility in Miami serving adolescents ages 9 to 17. Together, the programs serve families from across Oklahoma, including hundreds of children from Tulsa County each year.

For more information, families can call (918) 542-1836 to speak with an intake specialist. You can also find their website here.

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