Moldauer takes title

Yul Moldauer won the allaround title at the U.S. men’s gymnastics championships Saturday night, overcoming an early bobble on high bars to hold off Oklahoma teammate Allan Bower and all but lock up a spot on the world championship team. Moldauer posted a two-day total of 171.600, a full point better than Bower and nearly two points clear of 2016 Olympic alternate Donnell Whittenburg. Moldauer, the 2016 NCAA champion, wasn’t quite as crisp in the finals as he was in preliminaries, but it hardly mattered. Shortly after sticking his dismount on parallel bars despite clipping one of them on the way down, Moldauer embraced Sooners Coach Mark

Williams before celebrating with his teammates. Akash Modi, the reigning NCAA champion, began the night with the best chance at chasing down Moldauer but ended up fourth thanks to significant form breaks on four of the six events. Olympic bronze medalist Alex

Naddour likely locked up a spot on the six-man world championship team with a 15.250 on pommel horse, his signature event. Whittenburg went through another uneven night but finished with a flourish, posting a 14.850 on still rings and a 15.000 on vault to surge past Modi and onto the all-around podium. Two-time Olympian Sam Mikulak, recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, finished second on pommel horse and third on high bar to make a compelling case to high performance director Brett McClure that he’s healthy enough to contribute when the worlds begin in Montreal in October. Moldauer appeared jittery during the start of finals. He sailed off the high bar on his first event, scoring a 12.8 that briefly opened the door for the rest of the field. He shut it just as quickly, putting up a 14.950 on floor exercise that equaled the best of the night and put him firmly back in control of the meet.