ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Week 1 Recap: Greenville, Simpson near program records in opening week
One week into the 2024 season and Greenville and Simpson are already showing their strength as second-year programs, with both starting their seasons scoring just under two points shy of their respective program records in a tri-meet against Michigan.
Elsewhere, Army had a few highs and lows throughout its meet against Penn State, overall falling a bit short of expectations but with plenty of room to improve.
No. 11 Army @ No. 6 Penn State
The Black Knights traveled to State College to take on No. 6 Penn State for their first meet of the year on Friday. Penn State ultimately capitalized on a few of Army’s mistakes to take the win, finishing 393.8 to 370.45.
Army started the meet on floor, where the first meet nerves and early-season endurance issues seemed to get the best of them. A trio of first-years led off the team’s rotation, with Nick Lester leading the squad with a cleanly-executed routine, scoring a respectable 12.05 – the highest of the rotation. They continued with Jaden Blank and Max Rubin, who completed his collegiate debut with a stuck triple full dismount for an 11.95. Franco Peirano closed out the rotation with some impressive tumbling but fell short on his second and final pass. Army trailed Penn State by 3.85 after floor.
The Black Knights came back pretty strong in the second rotation on pommel horse, having a few mistakes but showing excellent potential on the event. Sophomore Blaze Kennedy had a fall mid-routine but remounted and continued with a clean Sivado, Magyar, and dismount to earn a 10.55. Gabe Almeida followed with impressive flare work (12.95), and Lester continued the momentum toward the latter half of the rotation with a 12.5. Maddox Pabellon worked through his routine with ease to score a 13.45, grabbing a second-place finish. First-year Noah Duran closed out the rotation with a beautiful set but ran out of steam toward the end and wasn’t able to press up to his dismount. Army finished with a total of 60.25 on horse.
Rings was a solid event for Army, with consistent performances across the board. Much of the team utilized the cleanly executed Kip to L for their swing-to-strength requirement, earning them high 11s to mid 12s across all five performers. The highlight came from Blank, who stuck his full-twisting double tuck dismount to earn the high score of the rotation with a 12.7.
Vault was Army’s strongest event of the evening, nearly tying Penn State’s score for the event – 68.85-68.15. After not competing last season, Steven Manolakis started his team off with a big Kas full. Three more Kas fulls followed, with a short landing from Pabellon and a pair of 13.8s from Lester and Peirano. Johnathan Pinc closed out with a massive double-twisting Yurchenko and a stuck landing, earning a second-place finish with a 14.25.
Dismounts proved to be a bit of an issue for Army in the fifth rotation on parallel bars. Kennedy and Duran hit solid sets, as well as Buselmeier, who landed short on his double pike dismount but managed to stay on his feet. Lester and Rubin also hit nice routines but struggled on their own double pike dismounts, over-rotating and under-rotating, respectively.
The Black Knights saved their best event for last, earning a 64.7 on high bar. Junior Zachary Perez led them off with a nice opening release combo and a sky-high double layout that received a 13.7 and a tie for second place with Penn State’s Akseli Karsikas. Lester completed his all-around performance with a 12.45 on high bar, taking the title as the sole all-around competitor with a 73.85. Noah Pace, Buselmeier, and Blank finished off the meet on a positive note with three hit routines.
No. 14 Greenville & No. 15 Simpson @ No. 2 Michigan
Greenville and Simpson held their own against a tough opponent in their first meet of the year and remained steady throughout the competition. Simpson finished with a 366 and Greenville with a 383.5 – both shy of Michigan’s 404.9 but still impressive in their own right as near-program records.
Greenville
The Panthers took an early lead after an impressive performance on rings in the first rotation. Sophomore Ethan Poole hit a clean set with only a layout dismount but still earned a 13.1 thanks to that execution. With an upgraded dismount he will certainly be in reach of an event title on rings at some point during the season. The highlight of this rotation, however, came from freshman Sergey Popov, sticking his full-twisting double back dismount after a clean debut set to get a 13.4 – enough for fourth place.
They continued their momentum on floor, with sophomores Michael Avery and Zach Connelly leading the way. Avery debut on the event featured a stuck front layout to front double full and a clean back 2.5 to earn a 13.65 and a second-place finish. Connelly took the title with a career high 14.1 after a perfectly stuck opening full-in.
Three first-years took control of the third rotation on pommel horse, showing tremendous potential despite a few errors. Jacob Foster was pumped after hitting his set and grabbing the highest score for the Panthers with a 13.15.
The fourth rotation on high bar was where the Panthers struggled the most, counting two falls. Freshman Mac Pollock made his collegiate debut with a big Tkatchev and a stuck full twisting double layout. He was awarded with a 13.10 and finished in fifth place behind four Wolverines.
Greenville stole the show on vault, earning a team score of 70.65 – the best rotation score of all five men’s teams competing this past weekend. Avery showed a clean, stuck double-twisting Yurchenko for a 14.5 and third place. First-year Logan Watterson absolutely nailed a huge Kas 1.5 and was rewarded with a 14.95. That score earned him his first event title. He’ll certainly be one to look out for in the future.
Greenville finished its impressive team performance on parallel bars. The top score of the rotation came from first-year Jaxon Clapper. A clean and confident start with a Healy and Peach to handstand paved the way for a strong debut performance and a 13.35, nearly reaching the podium in fourth place.
Simpson
Simpson had the difficult task of starting the competition on pommel horse but should be happy with how they started. Milo Staley had the highest score of the rotation (12.75) with Alex Catchpole’s (12.65) quick pommel work coming up right behind him. Sterling Pariza also began his all-around performance with a solid 12.4.
The Storm then moved on to rings in the second rotation. Pariza continued his momentum with a clean 13.0 set and first-year Brian Rollison anchored with an impressive combination of strength and swinging elements. His difficult and cleanly executed routine brought in a 13.65 score and third-place finish.
The Storm struggled with landings on floor, leading to only a 59.9. Floor was one of Simpson’s best events last season, so it’s likely just first-meet jitters. Pariza’s 12.9 led the squad and was highlighted by clean lines and an opening full-twisting double back.
Parallel bars brought back some of the Storm’s momentum with three 12.5+ routines from Catchpole, Pariza, and Tiedemann. Those scores helped propel the team to a 61.95 – nine-tenths higher than their top parallel bars score last season.
The momentum brought back from the last event seemed to dwindle as the Storm moved on to high bar. Some mistakes and lower difficulty routines led to the lowest score of the day with a 55.85, but plenty of room to improve in the future.
The Storm closed out their day with a formidable performance on vault, highlighted by a powerful double-twisting Yurchenko from sophomore Camden Bontempo, who earned a career high 14.3. The score was supported by Pariza’s 13.55, adding to his all-around total of 76.9. Staley also completed his all-around performance with a 70.9 after a 12.4 on vault.
“Today wasn’t everything we wanted to start off the season, but from the first event we showed that this is a very different team than last year,” head coach Colin Payne said. “There is a lot left in the tank and I’m excited to see how this team builds on this first meet.”
