Greater Buffalo's boys reign at Buffalo Challenge gymnastics

The boys competitive team from The Greater Buffalo Gymnastic and Fitness Center recently competed in the 2007 annual Buffalo Challenge Gymnastics Meet hosted by Greater Buffalo Gymnastics.

The Western New York Region of The Junior Olympic teams were represented by several area gyms, including Niagara Frontier, Gymnastics Unlimited, GTC- Rochester, GC2, Buffalo Turners and Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center. The competitors ranged in ages from 6-18 years old with skill levels ranging from Level 4- Level 10.

Level 10 all around first place honors were awarded to Michael Morse (Clarence) from Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center with a high score of 8.9 on the floor and 8.8 on the vault. Morse placed second on pommel horse and took first place on all other events.

Jarred Foreman (Getzville), also from Greater Buffalo Gymnastics, followed close behind to capture the second place all around. Foreman scored a 8.0 on the high bar event and took second place on rings. He also added three third-place finishes to his meet on the floor, vault and parallel bars.

Michael Maizel (Amherst) from Greater Buffalo, also competing in level 10, finished in fourth place all-around. Maizel achieved his all-around finish by placing third on pommel horse and rings, and fourth on floor, vault and parallel bars.

The team consisting of Morse, Foreman, Maizel and Gage Greiner (Lockport) took home the first place banner in team competition for levels 7-10.

In the level 6 category, Alex Wittenberg (Tonawanda) took first place overall with an all-around score of 52.30. Wittenberg finished first on both rings (8.9) and on parallel bars (9.1), placed second on high bar and took third on both pommel horse and vault.

Spencer Keiffer (East Amherst), also from Greater Buffalo, made a strong showing on pommel horse where he placed fourth with a score of 8.8. Keiffer placed in the top 10 on several other events and finished seventh with a final score of 44.00.

Dallin Wright (Clarence Center), the last member making up Greater Buffalo's level 6 team, added to the stellar performances by contributing a ninth place overall finish. Wright excelled on floor, pommel horse and high bar as his combined total of events landed him a 40.40 all-around score.

The Greater Buffalo level 5's faired well against the strong competition as Elliot Wittenberg (Tonawanda) scored a 9.3 on vault and an 8.5 on rings to help his all-around score of 48.00. Joey Chearmonte (Amherst) captured seventh place on vault with a score of 9.2 and finished with an overall score of 47.80.

Justin Sullivan (Tonawanda) helped his teammates by contributing a 9.0 on vault, an 8.2 on parallel bars and an 8.0 on floor.

The level 4 team, brand new to competition, also demonstrated solid performances at their first ever gymnastics meet. Daniel Hedges (Williamsville) scored a 9.1 on the vault and his all-around score of 50.50 was backed up with an 8.9 on both the rings and parallel bars.

Tyler Will (Amherst) had a strong meet with his scores on vault (8.9) and rings (8.4) helping him contribute to the team's overall finish.