One event. One chance.

Doug Wilson showed what that opporotunity can mean this past weekend at the Eastern Regionals. Wilson stepped into his first competition of the year and scored a 9.4 on the vault and 9.65 on the rings.

Wilson has worked in practice to develop himself on those two things. As a specialist he works on only certain routines, hoping to break into the lineup and help out.

That's what the gymnastics specialist practices for, an opportunity to show his stuff on his event. For the men's gymnastics team this year, specialists like Wilson, Rich Briggs, Dave Riordan and Brad Rocklein have played a key part in adding depth and scoring ability to a team on a championship hunt.

Now, one of the four specialist will get a chance at the NCAAs. The team is restricted to a nine-man lineup that features all-arounders Adam Carton, Wayne Cowden, Mike Masucci and Jamie Downer. Also used in in a majority of the events will be Mike Reichenbach, Armando Gonzalez and Tabor Cowden.

The eighth spot goes to the ace of the specialists, three-time NCAA champion on the pommel horse, Mark Sohn. That leaves one spot for the coaches to work with, and one spot for Briggs, Riordan, Rocklein or Wilson.

"You always need backup, and they (the specialist) provide is with that," assistant coach Randy Jepson said. "You need that breathing room and dependable and steady people you can count on."

Wilson took his first turn this year for the team this past weekend at Eastern Regionals. The junior last competed during his freshman year. At the beginning of this semester he suffered some injuries that pushed him back.

"It was nice to see a kid like Doug hang on a couple of years and come through," Jepson said. "Doug saw an opening and he took advantage of it."

Wilson said he was happy to help out the team any way he can. He found out on Thursday he would be competing and began to prepare.

"I was just very, very excited," Wilson said. "I was kind of nervous, but I just concentrsted on doing the set."

The specialist has to prepare every week like he's going to compete, even though, like Wilson, he normally doesn't find out until around meet time. This along with the fact that most of the limelight, except in Sohn's case, goes to the all-arounders can get frustrating.

"It makes you work harder because you know you have to come through to compete," Wilson said.

"It does get frustrating sometimes," Rocklein said. "But the other guys know we're in there pushing in the gym and they let us know we're appreciated, and that's nice to know."

The work the specialists provide in the gym can help push the other team members to work harder, Briggs said. But when it comes to the meet, their job can bring added pressure.

"(Being a specialist) makes what you do very specific," Briggs said. "All-arounders can mess up and still make up for it in their other events; we can't."

Briggs started gymnastics when he was 10. As a junior in high school, he decided to expand his talents to wrestling, a move that cost him. While wrestling in a meet, he blew his knee out, an injury that kept him out of all athletics for his senior year. He eventually worked his way to Penn State where he tried out for and made the team.

"When I got here, Coach Schier told me I looked like a ring man, so I began working," Briggs said.

Briggs worked with Schier's son Kurt on the rings and began developing his talent. Last year he competed in all 11 events, peaking at the NCAAs where he placed seventh with a 9.70. The finish left him .025 from All-America honors. This year has been a change as Briggs has suffered through recurring shoulder injuries that have kept him from three meets.

"Last year was great and I'd like to make All-America again, but there will be more competition this year," Briggs said. "Right now I'm 100 percent and stronger than I've ever been, but my goal is to just make finals."

Riordan, like Briggs, also took some time off from gymnastics but by his own choice. After being a Junior National Team member in high school, Riordan decided to take a break from the gym. He returned as a senior last year after two years off. The road then led him to the Lions.

"We really didn't know about Dave until he was here," Jepson said. "He has turned out to be a real surprise for us. He's had a tough road with some injuries but he has handled it well."

Riordan has added some depth to the teams two weakest events, vault and parallel bars. He posted a season-high 9.2 on the vault in the season's finale against Michigan State.

"I really wasn't expecting anything at all at the beginning of this year," Riordan said. "It's been a lot of fun going from a possible redshirt to helping a team go for a national title."

Riordan said his biggest difficuly in competing in one or two events is the wait. Vault and parallel bars usually fall near the end of the meet, and that leaves a lot of time for sitting.

"Sometimes the meets go so slow," he said. "Specialists have only one event and they have to make it count."

Rocklein began on the team as a freshman, but took most of the year off to work on his academics. He returned to train as a sophomore last year, but did not compete.

This year, Rocklein showed strong improvement on his high bar routine, which pulled him into the lineup against Iowa.

"Competing in that meet made it all worthwhile, all the pain and suffering and work," Rocklein said. "It was nice that I got my opportunity."

Rocklein said he and the other specialists are unsung heroes of sorts. The big part he said is learning to accept your role and what's best for the team.

"I got my opporotunity and I enjoyed it," Rocklein said. "You learn to appreciate things more when you compete. You just have to get used to your role as stand by."