The crowd at Rec Hall welcomed a new star Friday night, a star it hopes to see grow brighter and brighter over the next four years.

Freshman Mike Masucci, competing in his first collegiate meet, tied sophomore Wayne Cowden for all-around honors as the men's gymnastics team downed Syracuse, 270.55-265.55.

Masucci, the 1989 National Boys Invitational Champion, scored a 9.1 or better on every event except the horizontal bar and placed in the top three on five of the six events. He tallied a 9.3 on floor exercise (third place), a 9.65 on pommel horse (second place), a 9.3 on rings (third place), a 9.2 on vault (second place) and a 9.1 on horizontal bar (second place).

"Masucci is a very talented guy, he just needs some time," Coach Karl Schier said. "This is all a little bit strange. He loves it, though.

"I was amazed at how quickly the crowd took to him. As he got ready for parallel bars, everyone was already yelling 'Mike, Mike, C'mon Mike.' didn't realize he knew that many people. But his first presentation on floor exercise was really beautiful. He presented it so calmly they took to him right away and knew that he had talent."

Despite the accolades from both his coach and the crowd, Masucci will not be satisfied with his 55.25 all-around score.

"I was a little bit nervous, but the crowd was really cheering for me," he said. "I had a couple of bobbles on other events. I did all right, I think, but I still need to improve."

Masucci was not the only gymnast who shone for the Lions, however. Cowden, whose 55.25 all-around tied his career best, also made a name for himself. Cowden finished second in floor exercise (9.35), third on pommel horse (9.45, also a career high), and first on parallel bars (9.35). Cowden, too, had troubles on the horizontal bar, where he mustered an 8.6.

"He really didn't miss a trick all night long," Schier said. "Wayne was hitting quite well all the way through. And then a half-inch on one hand and he'd had that high bar. Normally he never misses that release."

No one left Rec Hall disappointed as the Lions' improved their opening season score a full seven points from last season. Besides the all-arounders, several others excelled on individual events as well.

Although his routine was a new one, team captain Mark Sohn did not let the crowd down on his event. The two-time NCAA champion on pommel horse scored a 9.75 to give him top honors. His efforts also earned him the Gene Wettstone Award presented at the end of each meet to the gymnast performing the best routine of the evening.

Karl Abraham, who left the team in the middle of last season, competed for the first time since Feb. 18 Friday night. The lone senior on the squad earned first place on vault with a 9.25 and horizontal bar with a 9.35.

"I was happy. We got back early and worked out all week," Abraham said. "The second week, the week of classes, was definitely hard for me. I wasn't working out as I would like to at all. Things weren't coming together the way I would have liked. So that put me a little bit on edge coming in tonight. But I tried to keep myself calm as to what I was doing. I'm very pleased, actually."

Like Masucci, none of the freshmen seemed to be suffering from the first-meet jitters that usually accompany the Lions in Rec Hall. Raul Bonet tallied an 8.35 on rings, Richard Briggs an 8.45 on rings and Jacob Wan an 8.7 on horizontal bar. Jim Delaney, who trained with Masucci while in high school, competed on five of the six events despite twisting his ankle in his first routine. His best score was a 9.25 on pommel horse.

"It was almost like they would get out with freshmen enthusiasm and they were going on rote memory through the first two-thirds of the routine," Schier said. "And then they would almost stop and say, 'How did I get this far?' and you'd see the roughness. But they'll get through that."