Life goes on without the guru of NIU gymnastics, former men’s coach Chuck Ehrlich, as the Huskies take on Ohio State in tonight’s 8 p.m. flip-off at Chick Evans Field House.

It might seem the Huskies would be in disarray with the lingering rumor of the elimination of their program after the season. Interim coach Carlos Silvestre said that the Huskies will continue their season with a positive attitude.

“I’ve talked with the gymnasts about it (the rest of the season), and no matter what happens, we still have a job to do and we’re going to do our best,” Silvestre said.

But NIU will have its hands full with the tumbling Buckeyes, who Silvestre said are a strong team. “We had two meets after Mr. Ehrlich resigned and we did as well as expected. And against Ohio State, I hope to do as well as we can do. Our goal is to score 75 points or more, which is five more points than we scored in our last meet.”

If the Buckeyes expect to see a sick bunch of Huskies because of their current situation, Silvestre said they will be in for a surprise. “The other teams were surprised after the meets that we had such a fighting, competitive spirit. They really don’t know our situation, and they think that we don’t have a full team, but we do and we’re going to do our best.”

As for the future of NIU gymnasts, Silvestri said the younger gymnasts will probably transfer to other schools and some older ones will continue their education at NIU.

In defense of NIU men’s gymnastics Silvestre said, “NIU gymnastics has been one of the more successful athletic programs and it has represented NIU in many national tournaments. It’s a part of NIU tradition which has produced many All-Americans. The fact that it is not as popular as other sports doesn’t mean that people are not interested in it.”