Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Week 9 Recap: Michigan takes down No. 1 Oklahoma, Nebraska nearly bests Stanford

Following a thrilling Winter Cup competition, Big Ten men’s gymnastics is back in full swing. Illinois started the weekend strong, delivering a 410.500 with their newcomers leading the way on multiple events. In the matchup of the week, No. 4 Michigan brought down No. 1 Oklahoma in commanding fashion, winning by nearly 7 points. Penn State secured a victory over Springfield at home but has not crossed the 410.000 team score plane. Nebraska nearly took down a Stanford team that had all its stars in the lineup. Meanwhile, Ohio State was on a bye.

The Big Ten showed its potential in Week 9 and looks to be gearing up for a contentious second half of the season. 

#14 Simpson, #13 William & Mary @ #3 Illinois

Final score: Illinois: 410.500, William & Mary: 374.950, Simpson: 363.050

Following the Winter Cup break, Illinois claimed another victory. The Illini haven’t lost since their season opener. Illinois was able to exercise depth in this non-conference competition, as many newcomers were able to shine. 

Coming off a disappointing weekend at Winter Cup, captain Connor McCool came back strong on the floor, winning the floor title with a season-high 14.700. Tate Costa came in second with another squeaky clean set, scoring a 14.150. 

Following his third place finish on pommel horse at Winter Cup, Brandon Dang nailed another pommel set, scoring a 14.950 for an easy victory. Will Hauke came in second on the event, delivering a routine with clean scissors and flops for a 14.000. Illinois swept the rings podium, highlighted by Ashton Anaya’s perfect Maltese and cross positions (14.400).

Amari Sewell drilled his Kas 1.5 to secure the vault title (14.900). He was followed closely by his teammate, Garrett Schooley, who scored a 14.700 and has become a strong contender for a postseason vault title. Illinois also swept the parallel bars podium with the top three scorers being only 0.150 apart. Vahe Petrosyan won his first-career event title with a 14.150 on parallel bars.

Ryan Vanichtheeranont and Logan Myers both performed clean Tkatchev sequences to seal the victory, going first and second on the event with a 14.000 and 13.800, respectively. Myers currently sits in the top 10 nationally (eighth), based on 3-score average. Another highlight competitor of the evening was Preston Ngai, younger brother of Illini legend Brandon Ngai, who scored impressive marks on pommel horse (13.900) and vault (14.550) in just his second outing for the Illini.

Schooley won the all-around title – the first of the freshman’s career – with a 79.400 against three other athletes.

Illinois has proven to be a consistent team this season, maintaining a high hit percentage and delivering 410+ scores on a regular basis. Illinois will have a tough task in Week 10, taking on Nebraska in Lincoln. If Illinois can win that competition, they will be in the driver’s seat for the Big Ten title.

#1 Oklahoma @ #4 Michigan

Final score: Michigan: 416.300 – Oklahoma: 409.550

The matchup of the week did not disappoint as Michigan cruised to a victory against Oklahoma at home. Although Oklahoma took the lead early with a 70.050 score on floor, Michigan put up its highest floor score of the season with a 69.350. Fred Richard and Landen Blixt led the way for the Wolverines with a 14.300 and 14.350, respectively. Blixt recently placed eighth on the floor at Winter Cup and is ranked in the top five in the NCAA on the apparatus. Richard is still performing a “downgraded” floor routine as he recovers from a minor injury.

Paul Juda and Kevin Chow nailed their pommel horse routines to prevent the Sooners from pulling away further on their strongest event. Juda put up a career-high 14.750 on a 15.4 start value routine. Chow also put up a career-high score on a routine that includes high amplitude flairs, coming in second behind Juda with a 14.000. 

The Wolverines truly turned the tide on rings, where they beat Oklahoma by 6 points on the event. Chris Read, who is currently ranked in the top 5 on rings, delivered another clean routine, scoring a 14.050 and landing a second place finish. Javier Alfonso, coming off his third place finish at Winter Cup, nailed his full-twisting double layout dismount, scoring a 15.050 and nearly breaking his career-high 15.100. Michigan continued to roll on vault, where David Wolma once again stuck his Kas 1.5, scoring a 14.900. Juda came in second with a 14.650. 

Returning from injury, Lais Najjar returned to Michigan’s parallel bars but fell on his dismount. With that said, the remainder of the Wolverines’ parallel bars lineup dominated, scoring a 69.950 with a fall. Crew Bold put up an NCAA season high and career-high score of 14.950 to take the event title over teammate Evgeny Siminuic, who scored a 14.500. Despite two falls in the final rotation, the Wolverines completed their victory with a 14.100 and 14.850 from Siminuic and Richard, respectively.

“It didn’t matter who we were competing against today, the goal was bring our performance from training to competition. That’s that part we’re still nailing down; if we can compete how we practice, then we win” said co-captain Najjar following the competition in regard to Michigan’s mentality coming into the meet. With Richard having not competed all-around yet and Juda having only two all-around outings, the Wolverines clearly have room to grow in the postseason.

Catch the Wolverines traveling to Columbus for their rivalry matchup against Ohio State next week on March 9 at 2 p.m. ET.

#12 Springfield College @ #6 Penn State

Final score: Penn State: 403.100 – Springfield: 381.650

The Nittany Lions won big in Week 9 following the Winter Cup break, putting up a 403.100 to Springfield’s 381.650. Despite some mistakes on floor, the Nittany Lions maintained the lead throughout the competition. 

Following a top 10 finish on parallel bars and high bar at Winter Cup, Matt Cormier returned to the floor lineup, sealing the first floor title since his knee injury, scoring a 13.950. Luke Esparo and Akseli Karsikas also had strong finishes on floor with a 13.750 and 13.700, respectively. Derek Schlagenhauf delivered a season-high 13.800 on the pommel for second place, closely followed by Ethan Dick, who scored a 13.750. Following a strong showing at Winter Cup, where he finished second on floor, ninth in the all-around, and made the national team, Karnes showed his durability, still competing three events for the Nittany Lions. Karnes scored a 13.600 on a hit pommel routine, just missing out on the podium.

Matthew Underhill won rings with a season-high score of 13.900. Despite being inconsistent so far this season, Underhill has the difficulty to contend with some of the top rings competitors in the country. 

Penn State swept the vault podium, with Esparo winning the event title after a career-high score of 14.550. Coming off of his Winter Cup performance, Michael Artlip returned to the vault lineup with a second place finish, scoring a 14.300. On parallel bars, Karnes showed why he is the No. 1 gymnast in the country on the event, scoring a 14.850. Ian Raubal finished second, also scoring above a 14 on the event (14.100). Kacper Garnczarek rounded out the podium with a career-high 13.800 on the event. Karnes racked up another event title on high bar, capping a strong day with a 13.700 on the event. Cormier finished in second with a 13.350, followed by Garnczarek with a 12.900.

Penn State opted to rest Michael Jaroh and their Winter Cup contingent on many events, leaving room for a lot of growth in potential team score.

Following the competition, co-captain Cormier said, “As far as the team’s performance, I would say we still have some places to improve like sticking landings and overall confidence, but at this point in the season, I’m very glad to see that we are able to put together a decent meet with essentially any lineup … I’m expecting that through the rest of the season, as we gear up into our max lineups, we should be able to rival anyone.”

Penn State will not compete in Week 10 but will have a difficult matchup after the bye against Michigan in Ann Arbor in Week 11.

#2 Stanford, #5 Nebraska, Air Force @ #8 California

Final score: Stanford: 410.850, Nebraska: 408.150, California: 394.850, Air Force: 386.800

Nebraska beat out California and Air Force but fell to Stanford’s 410.850 team score. 

The Cornhuskers started on parallel bars, delivering a solid rotation and scoring a 67.350 on the event. Sam Phillips put up the highest score for Nebraska on the event with a 13.750, followed closely by Taylor Christopulos with a 13.650. Nebraska put up the strongest high bar rotation of the competition, taking two podium spots. Zachary Tiderman’s clean Tkatchevs led to a 13.850 and a second place finish. Phillips also hit his routine, scoring a 13.750 to finish in third.

Christopulos delivered another strong performance on floor, scoring a 14.000 and nearly missing out on the event title behind Tyler Shimizu’s 14.100. Luke James’ unique routine nearly made the podium, mounting with a front Randi down the side of the floor and including a back 3.5 twist. 

Cooper Giles sealed the pommel horse title in a field that included world silver medalist Khoi Young after a 14.200. Nathan York also contributed a solid score, posting a season-high 13.500 on the event. 

Despite rings being one of their weaker events, the Cornhuskers posted a strong 68.350, which is a season best thus far. Chris Hiser tied his personal best on the event and nearly made the podium with a 14.050.

Nebraska put up a competition-best 71.600 on vault, showing why they’re No. 1 on the event in the country. James led the way, scoring a 14.450 on a clean Kas 1.5. Christopulos placed right behind his teammate, scoring a 14.400. Christopulos’ durability and leadership were on full display as he contributed on four events following his top 10 placement on the pommel and in the all-around at Winter Cup. Toby Liang also competed and placed top 10 on pommel at Winter Cup but rested on the event and only contributed on high bar this week.

Phillips cruised to an all-around victory, scoring an 80.200, which puts him in the top five nationally. Phillips said, “[The fact we were] able to put it all together in comp, hit 30/30 in an away meet, and put some heat on Stanford is a success in itself.”

The Cornhuskers will have another challenge in Week 10 when they face a strong Illinois team at home in Lincoln.

#7 Ohio State

Ohio State was on a bye during Week 9 but will have a tall task in Week 10, facing a red-hot Michigan team that’s coming off a win over the No. 1 team in the country. The Buckeyes have a great opportunity to make a statement at home against their rival.