Substance trumps style

She may not be the gymnast that grabs the headlines, the one with the sky-high tumbling or nail-biting beam flips. But when you tally Missouri’s team score at the end of every competition, there is one name that will always count — that of senior Amanda Pezzullo.

Pezzullo, a Wheaton, Ill., native, will have a bit more of the spotlight on her this Friday when she competes in the final home meet of her career at Hearnes Center. She has been a constant in the Tiger’s vault, beam and floor lineups since her freshman year in 2004, delivering solid routines and becoming as much of a sure thing as can be in gymnastics.

“Amanda’s kind of the quiet one,” coach Rob Drass said. “She just tends to go about what she does quietly, and at the end of the day you go, ‘Wow she just had a great meet.’ It’s never really flashy or anything else. She puts up like a 9.85 and 9.9 on every routine, every turn almost. And it’s kind of, she does so quietly, and she’s very, very reliable.”

Pezzullo agrees with her coach’s characterization, admitting that while she may not always turn in the awe-inspiring performances made for highlight reels, she relishes her role as the reliable senior.

“I’ve never really been the highest-scoring person on an event, but I’ve been really consistent,” Pezzullo said. “I think I’ve fallen in 3, 4 or 5 meets all four years. And I guess that’s just an accomplishment for me because, yeah it’s nice to get 9.9, but it’s nice to also not fall off beam two years in a row. It’s nice to just be there and be able to do that for your team.”

That reliability has not gone unnoticed by her teammates, who draw confidence from the senior’s steadiness.

“She’s kind of like a rock, you know, what you see is what you get,” junior Ashley Khederian said. “Every week in meets she just — you know she’s going to hit, you’re never worried about what she’s going to do. There’s a sense of confidence when she competes because everyone’s kind of at ease because everyone knows she’s going to hit.”

The confidence she inspires in her teammates isn’t confined to meets. Her calmness in the gym during practice and otherwise is a trait that will be missed by other MU gymnasts.

“I’ll miss her easy-going manner because she really brings a sense of calmness to the team,” Khederian said. “There are times when she gets kind of riled up but she’s very calm and she’s definitely helped me to relax more in meets and be like, ‘Take your time, you know, it’s not a big deal.’”

“She’s really supportive,” junior Katie Kluga added. “If you’re ever having a hard time she’s always there helping.”

Pezzullo’s accomplishments extend beyond the gym into the classroom. She was one of 26 national winners of the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics, which made her the recipient of a $6,000 scholarship for graduate school.

Graduating in May with a degree in Nutrition and Fitness, Pezzullo will continue attending Missouri for graduate school, after which she hopes to become a strength and conditioning coach. Ultimately, she would like to end up back around the sport that has taught her so much.

“I guess with being in strength and conditioning, my goal one day would be to work with gymnastics,” she said. “Hopefully that way I could be connected with gymnastics, be able to travel with the team, and stuff like that and be in the gym.”

Academics have always been one of Pezzullo’s highest priorities, shown by her two-time recognition as an Academic All-Big 12 Conference first-team honoree as well as a two-time pick as a National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women Scholar Athlete.

“Gymnastics isn’t going to stay with my forever,” Pezzullo said. “I’m done in a month and a half and there’s not professional gymnastics or anything, so academics is the only thing you have to fall back on. And I just believe that here you’re a student before you’re an athlete, and if you can’t stay strong in academics then you have no business doing your sport. So I’ve always tried to keep up on academics.”

Pezzullo, one of three seniors celebrating senior night at Hearnes Center on Friday, hopes to conclude her final season by earning a trip to team nationals. But even if that’s not in the cards, she says she is proud of where the team has come since her freshman year.

“My senior year of high school the [Mizzou gymnastics team] was ranked 25th, and then the next year — man I’ll have to look this up — we were ranked 18th or 17th and then we were 14th two years in a row,” she said.

“So just to be able to grow with the program like that and know that you’ve been part of something that’s growing better is just an amazing feeling.”

Her coaches and teammates agree that her influence has been a big factor in MU’s climb in the rankings the past four years.

“She really embodies what we try to do on this team — she’s a solid level 10 gymnast that came out and worked really hard and I think her best years have been in college,” Drass said. “Each year she seems to get better and better, and that’s really how you want to end your career on the high note. It just is a lot more fulfilling that way.”