2024 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Championships Recap: Fred Richard, Paul Juda lead Michigan to fourth consecutive title
Despite five falls, the Michigan Wolverines won the 2024 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Championships on Friday – their fourth consecutive title.
Led by huge performances from Paul Juda and Fred Richard, Michigan eventually pulled away from Illinois, 418.100-413.750, despite the Illini leading at the halfway mark. The Fighting Illini came in second with a sizable lead over the rest of the field. Nebraska claimed the last podium spot with a 407.350.
Ohio State finished in fourth (406.550) behind strong performances from Kazuki Hayashi and Kameron Nelson. Penn State suffered two costly injuries in the final weeks of the regular season to Ian Raubal and Matt Cormier, creating major gaps in their lineups. They ultimately placed fifth with a 404.050.
Even with three falls on the day, Richard won the all-around with an 83.900 over Nebraska’s Taylor (83.100) and Josh Karnes (83.000).
On Saturday, the top 10 qualifiers on each event from Friday’s competition competed in event finals. Connor McCool (Illinois) and Landen Blixt (Michigan) won floor with matching 14.500s, Brandon Dang won pommel horse (14.800), Ashton Anaya (Illinois) won rings (14.200), Amari Sewell (Illinois) won vault (14.820), Crew Bold (Michigan) won parallel bars (14.550), and Michael Jaroh (Penn State) won high bar (14.3250).
Keep reading for a rotation-by-rotation recap of Friday’s team competition and full results.
Rotation 1
The Wolverines started shaky on floor exercise, with falls during the first two routines.
Richard stuck his first five passes but fell on his dismount (13.950). Juda stopped the bleeding with his crisp flair sequence and stuck double Arabian half dismount. Juda’s 14.750 was the highest floor score of the day.
Landen Blixt also posted a top score on floor with a 14.450.
Elsewhere, Chase Mondi drilled his vault for the Cornhuskers, taking a small hop forward on his Kas 1.5 (14.450). The following vaults, including an uncharacteristic fall from Zac Tiderman (13.250), put Nebraska at a disadvantage in the first rotation.
After starting the competition with a fall, the Buckeyes finished the pommel rotation with hit routines, highlighted by Parker Thackston, who earned a 14.050.
Penn State came out of the gates hot on parallel bars. Josh Karnes led the way for the Nittany Lions, sticking his dismount and scoring a 15.100.
Illinois started on one of their weaker events with rings but hit all of their routines cleanly. The highlight was Ashton Anaya toppling his previous career high to score a 15.050.
Rotation 2
Illinois jumped to a commanding lead over Nebraska and Michigan when they headed to vault, where they posted a 72.750.
Preston Ngai stuck his Kas 1.5 to lead the Fighting Illini with a 14.900 score. Amari Sewell followed close behind with a massive 14.800 despite a small step.
Despite mistakes on the parallel bars, Taylor Christopulos and Cole Partridge delivered strong scores for the Cornhuskers of 14.000 and 13.800, respectively, to keep them in the hunt.
Michigan struggled on pommel horse, making large mistakes or counting falls on the dismounts of their first three competitors. Juda once again stopped the bleeding with a flair-filled routine, earning a 14.050. Blixt also contributed a strong score of 13.800, earning him a spot in the pommel final.
Kameron Nelson drilled his rings routine for the Buckeyes, earning their top team score of 14.100 to keep them rolling.
Rotation 3
Despite an uncharacteristic performance from Javier Alfonso, Michigan delivered a strong performance on rings, earning a team score of 69.850, with Richard earning the top mark of 14.350.
Ohio State posted a huge 72.250 on vault to put them back into the top 3. Their rotation was highlighted by Hayashi and Nelson’s clean vaults, scoring 14.600 and 14.650, respectively.
Will Hauke and Michael Fletcher helped Illinois build their lead over the field on parallel bars, scoring 14.200 and 14.100, respectively. Both competitors earned a spot in the event final for their performances.
Rotation 4
Down nearly 6 points to Illinois, Michigan stormed back on vault, taking the lead by 3 points with a season-high 73.300 vault rotation.
Juda and Blixt stuck their 2.5 twisting vaults, posting the two top scores of the competition with a 15.050 and 15.000, respectively.
Illinois struggled on high bar, losing the lead behind a 64.750 event total. Sebastian Ingersoll posted their top score of 13.700, earning him a spot in the final.
Nebraska fought back into podium contention behind Christopulos’ 14.500 on floor.
Rotation 5
On parallel bars, Michigan continued to roll, putting up three scores at or above 14.500, leading to a 71.050.
After a slow start, Richard found his groove, scoring a 14.750 on the event. Crew Bold scored closely behind his teammate, earning a 14.600 on his stuck routine.
Landing errors on floor prevented Illinois from closing the gap on Michigan’s lead. Connor McCool led the way for the Fighting Illini with a 14.150, which earned him a spot in the floor final.
Cooper Giles kept Nebraska’s head above water on pommel horse, earning a 14.200, which was the top score of the day.
Penn State had fallen out of contention following inconsistent performances on floor and pommel.
Ohio State held on to third place entering the last rotation, despite having multiple falls on high bar. Hayashi and Thackston scored a 13.700 and 13.650, respectively, which were enough to make event finals.
Rotation 6
Heading into the final rotation, it was a battle between Michigan and Illinois for first and a tightly contested fight for third between Nebraska and Ohio State.
Evgeny Siminiuc stuck his dismount to post a 14.100 on high bar and earned a spot in the final. Bold tied Siminiuc‘s score using high-flying releases, including a clean Cassina and Kolman.
Richard fell on his Liukin but still scored a 13.600, which gave him the lead in the all-around. Juda also fell on high bar, but Michigan had already created a substantial lead over the field to confirm the title.
Despite falling to Michigan, Illinois nailed its pommel horse rotation, putting the most competitors into the final. Will Hauke tied Giles’ top score of 14.200, and Ngai followed close behind with a 14.050. Brandon Dang survived multiple balance checks on his massive 6.5 start value routine to earn a 14.150, which will put him into the event final as well.
Karnes completed a stellar day for the Nittany Lions, earning an 83.000 in the all-around, giving him the bronze medal on the day.
Nebraska put together five clean rings routines to hold onto third in the end.
Results – 2024 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Championships
Team
- Michigan – 418.100
- Illinois – 413.750
- Nebraska – 407.350
- Ohio State – 406.550
- Penn State – 404.050
Individual
- AA: Fred Richard (Michigan) – 83.900
- FX: TIE Connor McCool (Illinois), Landen Blixt (Michigan) – 14.500
- PH: Brandon Dang (Illinois) – 14.800
- SR: Ashton Anaya (Illinois) – 14.200
- VT: Amari Sewell (Illinois) – 14.820
- PB: Crew Bold (Michigan) – 14.550
- HB: Michael Jaroh (Penn State) – 14.325
