IOWA CITY - It was 5:45 p.m. on Friday, and the Michigan men's gymnastics team was warming up for the Big Ten team finals.

Suddenly, a familiar and totally unexpected sound rang out into Carver-Hawkeye Arena - the clank of the cowbell.

Its effect on the Wolverines was electric. Not only was someone pounding out the "Let's Go Blue" rhythm, but that someone was senior Justin Laury, striding down an arena stairway with a huge grin on his face.

"Being down on the floor and with the team, it was kind of like magic," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "Everybody's looking up, going, 'It's Laury! It's Laury!' It was great. It's amazing sometimes what little things can do. . Little things can really be uplifting."

Laury's grand entrance was not the only surprise of the night in Michigan's fourth-place finish (210.775). The Wolverines' biggest nemesis changed suddenly from the pommel horse, where four of six gymnasts competed cleanly, to the parallel bars.

"We started strong (in) the first two rotations, and then (parallel) bars was just out of nowhere, not at all what we were expecting," said senior Luke Bottke, who finished sixth in floor exercise finals. "We picked it up (after), but we didn't bring it back completely. It hasn't set in yet. We had such high expectations. Things went okay, but the things we missed weren't things we were expecting. Could be better, could be worse."

Michigan began the night on still rings. The Wolverines enjoyed solid performances on the apparatus, especially from junior Aaron Rakes and freshman Phil Goldberg. They finished seventh and 10th in rings finals, respectively. And just like that, Michigan was in fourth place.

The Wolverines then vaulted, literally, into first place. The final four gymnasts received scores over 9.0 for their vaults, culminating with senior Drew DiGiore's unofficial Newt Loken award-winning two-and-a-half twisting vault (9.55).

But then missed dismounts began to plague Michigan on the parallel bars. None of the six competitors scored in the 9.0 range, and four either came off the apparatus or fell on their dismounts, sinking Michigan back into fourth place.

On the high bar and floor exercise, the Wolverines kicked it back into gear. Senior Gerry Signorelli, anchoring the high bar team, hit his signature release, the Kolman, for the first time in competition since the Pacific Coast Classic in late February. His score of 9.25 matched freshman Joe Catrambone, who competed through a painful torn labrum. They finished eighth and seventh, respectively, in high bar finals.

"It's game time, and I know there are no second chances," said Signorelli, who finished sixth in the all-around competition. "This is where it counts . (The Kolman has) been a problem for the past month. I seem to have worked it out. It's a relief, definitely."

The Wolverines hit their routines on the floor exercise, but according to Golder, the judging was excessively harsh. After freshman Scott Bregman's solid set, Golder expected to see a 9.3 score out of a possible 9.7. Instead, the Iowa-chosen judge put up a 9.1, and the Michigan-chosen judge showed an 8.6.

"I was really pissed when the Michigan judge on (Bregman's) routine that (he) really nailed . was five-tenths lower than the Iowa judge," Golder said. "I was so pissed I could have gotten unsportsmanlike conduct. I swore at him. That's just crap, because you know (with) the other teams' judges, they're on the high side all the time. They're sure as heck not going five tenths below on their own team."

Despite the judging issues, Michigan was in second place going into the pommel horse. But even four clean sets on the apparatus weren't enough to keep the team there. The Wolverines dropped to fourth in the final standings, behind Big Ten champions Ohio State (215.625), Illinois (214.80), and Iowa (213.75).

"Horse was okay," Golder said. "We had four hit routines, so I wasn't disappointed with horse that much. We did get our four hits, and that's what you need. But (parallel) bars was an opportunity to score at least three points higher."

Those three points would have boosted Michigan into third, matching last season's finish with Laury, who is redshirting this year, and Andre Hernandez. Golder believes that if the team had had Laury and Hernandez Friday in Iowa, the Wolverines likely could have finished second.

Michigan did achieve a first-place finish on the weekend with DiGiore's performance on the vault in event finals. The penultimate competitor, DiGiore executed his vault perfectly and stuck the landing. Even before the score was posted, the Michigan bench and fan section exploded in cheers and celebration. The senior's score of 9.637 locked up his third Big Ten vault championship in his four-year Michigan career.

"I definitely pictured it happening exactly like that," DiGiore said.