It was an April night in Oklahoma.

That was in 2006, and the Michigan men’s gymnastics team had just hit rock-bottom, finishing out of the NCAA team finals for the first time since 1998.

The Wolverines never forgot the terrible feeling of sitting in their chairs and staring at the scoreboard, knowing their season was over.

But it was that moment that laid the foundation for Michigan’s return to greatness. This season, for the first time in years, the Wolverines set goals and met them — to win the Big Ten Championships and finish in the top three at NCAA Championships.

“We would never want anyone to feel that way, not making Super Six, ending the season the way we did,” senior Joe Catrambone said. “The fact that all the guys caught on to that and really pushed themselves … and made sure that each year we stepped it up a notch, was really impressive.”

This year, the season seemed to be going as so many others had — a promising start and a rough middle, culminating in a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Pacific Coast Classic and a Senior Night loss to Illinois.

Then came the final regular-season meet against Ohio State meet on March 21. The Wolverines practically danced their way to a huge win over their rivals in Columbus, and something clicked. They'd learned that having fun led to success.

Led by star sophomores like Thomas Kelley, Chris Cameron and Ben Baldus-Strauss, as well as the strong senior class, Michigan tied for the Big Ten Championship with Illinois.

“I think this was the first year that we met our expectations, the expectations that we set for ourselves,” senior Kent Caldwell said. “To actually fulfill them was kind of unexpected in a way, and really satisfying.”

Any doubts the gymnastics world may have had about Michigan’s conference title were erased by the team’s performance at the NCAA Championships. Michigan came in second — the only Big Ten team on the podium.

For the seniors, it was the best way to end their careers.

“It was, start to finish, the most fun experience I’ve ever had with this team,” senior Scott Bregman said of NCAA team finals. “I think we made Stanford think that they had lost, because we were so excited. … It wasn’t that we had won, it was just that we had done our absolute best.”

And now, the seniors have to learn to live without their team and without their sport.

“We don’t know what the world does between 3:00 and 6:00 (p.m.),” fifth-year senior Paul Woodward said. “We never have known, our entire lives. … No matter what’s going on in that week or what’s going on with our lives, you know you’re going to the gym. You know you have three hours where nothing else matters.”

Gymnastics is often be an extremely individual sport. But in college, as it is nowhere else, the team is paramount.

“When you come here, the team becomes a lot more important,” senior Jamie Thompson said. “You want to do well for the team. I think most people would agree with me that you would probably rather see the team succeed than any individual person.”

And this season, the Wolverines saw their team dreams become reality.

For the seniors, the success was especially sweet because of the road they’d taken to get there.

“Our class started from square one,” senior Ryan McCarthy said. “We were a rebuilding class. ... I think our class has really helped to turn this team around through our leadership to where it’s gotten today.”

Now, they'll leave the team they helped to build, knowing that it has a bright future.

“I’ll miss walking into that gym and right away seeing that big block M on the wall and making the left turn into the locker room,” senior Ralph Rosso said. “I think just walking in and seeing the block M, that’s pretty special.”