2021 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Semifinals recap: Stanford, Wiskus dominate day one
If Stanford seemed behind the curve earlier in the season, it’s made enough strides to once again be the team to beat heading into Saturday’s 2021 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics finals.
After starting the season shorthanded and unsure if it would have a season at all, the 2019 men’s team champion started strong during the men’s second semifinal on Friday evening and never let up the gas, making a statement with its 413.855 win and setting itself up to defend its title.
Stanford opened the meet with a whopping 73.065 on vault, with all five scores going 14.4+ and all five finishing in the top 10 on the event for the day.
As Stanford Assistant Coach Syque Caesar previously told Gymnastics Now, making the Cardinal’s lineups is probably harder than making the U.S. men’s national team, which isn’t surprising seeing as not one Stanford gymnast competed in the all-around on Friday, despite certainly having plenty of capable athletes.
The next closest finisher to the Cardinal? Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers’ impressive 408.623 was enough to win the first semifinal and beat Oklahoma (406.190). If Nebraska can take that momentum into night two, the Sooners uphill battle just got a whole lot steeper.
Michigan was the only other team to post a score of 410+ Friday. Led by 2021 Winter Cup all-around champion Cameron Bock and teammate Paul Juda, the Wolverines pulled together an impressive 411.455 despite minor mistakes from vault specialist Nick Guy (13.466) and two rough outings for Jacob Moore on pommel horse (11.900) and parallel bars (11.900).
Host Minnesota came from behind in the final two rotations to knock Iowa out of contention and clinch the final berth from semifinal 2, hitting a 404.623 thanks in large part to senior star and 2021 Nissen Emery Award winner Shane Wiskus’ stellar 86.464 in the all-around.
The sixth and final team set to compete for some hardware on Saturday night is Olympian Justin Spring’s Fighting Illini. While Ohio State (394.956) put up a fight, the depleted Buckeyes were outmatched during Friday’s afternoon session, and Illinois earned its berth with a 400.721.
While Stanford and Michigan are favorites in the team competition after the conclusion of semifinal competition, individual titles are more up in the air.
Wiskus is the overwhelming all-around favorite and has the numbers, consistency and score-wise, to back it up. Barring a catastrophic performance, the Olympic hopeful is certainly a podium favorite. His biggest competition has yet to compete in the all-around this weekend, but be on the lookout for Michigan’s Juda and Bock, Oklahoma’s Matt Wenske, and Stanford’s…. well, entire lineup potentially… but most likely Brandon Briones, Riley Loos, and/or Brody Malone.
Notable individual qualifiers not part of the six qualifying teams include Ohio State’s Jesse Tyndall, who placed first in the all-around in semifinal 1 with an 81.665, and Kazuki Hayashi on floor; Penn State’s Nick Mock on pommel horse and Matt Cormier on floor; California’s Noah Newfeld on high bar; Iowa’s Evan Davis and Bennet Huang in the all-around; and Navy’s Giovanni Gambatese on high bar.
Click here for individual qualifiers from Semifinal 1. Click here for individual qualifiers from Semifinal 2.
Saturday’s final is set for an 8 p.m. ET start and will see both the men’s team and individual champions crowned. Click here for our men’s championship preview, including how to watch and links to our live blogs.
Relive today’s meets with our live blog coverage of Semifinal 1 and Semifinal 2.
