The No. 4 Illinois men’s gymnastics team opened its season on a winning note Saturday night at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago, Illinois. The Illini had the top team score (355.400) for the second year in a row.

They defeated defending national champion No. 2 Michigan (346.100), No. 8 Minnesota (340.700), No. 6 Ohio State (339.800), No. 10 Iowa (332.800) and No. 12 UIC (327.300).

Senior Paul Ruggeri won the all-around for the second straight year (88.900) and junior Tyler Mizoguchi took second (88.200).

Illinois athletes took four of the five individual event titles, Ruggeri on the high bar (15.800), senior Chad Wiest on the floor (16.00) and vault (15.900) and junior C.J. Padera on the parallel bars (15.200).

The Illini return to competition Saturday Jan. 22 in a tri-meet against Minnesota and Nebraska in Minneapolis, MN.