ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Week 3 Recap: Greenville continues to break records, big upset at Navy Open

In Week 3 of ECAC men’s gymnastics, Greenville continued to break records, earning a program-record team score for the second week in a row. Meanwhile, Navy put up a strong performance at home, upsetting No. 5 Penn State and grabbing multiple event titles. 

Here’s all that happened in Week 3.

#4 Illinois @ #9 Greenville

Final score: Illinois: 401.450 – Greenville: 388.850

Greenville continued to impress in Week 3, building on its momentum from last week to come away with another program-record score (388.850).

The Panthers started the day on floor, with leadoff Michael Avery solidifying his status as a consistent floor worker, nailing his final pass to earn a 13.45, which was the highest of the rotation. Sophomore Zach Connelly had a nice redemption routine (12.95) after a struggle last week to finish the rotation strong and earn a 63.8 team score, consistent with what they have been scoring all season. 

Being a routine to watch, Landon Benas did not disappoint on pommel horse this week. He was extremely aggressive with his pommel work and hit his Russians to start the Panthers with a career-high 13.4 en route to a season-high team pommel score (63.3).

Rings continues to be solid for the Panthers, once again earning a team score in the 63s and highlighted by a pair of 13.1s from Benas and Sergey Popov, who stuck their dismounts. Vault is by far the strongest event for Greenville, as they once again smashed their program record with a massive 71.7 score on the event. Michael Avery nailed his Yurchenko double full for a 14.55, and Logan Watterson’s vault title streak ended despite scoring a 14.55 as well.

The Panthers showed nerves on parallel bars but were brought back by sophomore Donovan Diviney, who made his season debut on the event with a nice 12.7. Koby Cantu and Jaxon Clapper closed out the event with strong Diamidovs, Healys, and Peaches to tie for third place (13.3). Similar to last week, Greenville was eyeing a 390 going into the last routine but came up just over a point short.

#12 Army @ #3 Michigan

Final score: Michigan: 412.500 – Army: 382.950

Army put up a quality performance this week, staying in the zone and keeping its focus against a top-ranked team, something the team struggled with against Penn State in its season opener.

The Black Knights began the day on arguably their weakest event, floor, where they once again continued to have struggles on landings. They came up short on three of their dismounts and counted three falls during the rotation. Senior all-arounder Steven Manolakis, however, came in clutch at the end of the rotation, making his season debut on the event and earning a nice 13.1.

The Black Knights scored nearly four points lower on pommel horse this week than they did at the West Point Open, but some of the individual performances were arguably stronger. Gabe Almeida continues to have a big impact on this rotation, starting with a Mikulak and showing great extended flairs throughout to earn a 13.45. First-year Noah Duran hit for the second week in a row to close them out with a 13.25. 

Rings is consistent for Army, with very similar routines featuring a Kip L, Jonasson, Yamawaki, back giant, and full-twisting double back dismount performed by almost the whole lineup. They have a bit of a lower difficulty score on this event but have nice execution to maximize scoring. Vault is the event where the Black Knights show the most confidence, especially from senior Franco Peirano and sophomore Johnathan Pinc, who both nailed their vaults for a 14.3 and 14.2, respectively.

Senior Jackson Pophal made his season debut this weekend on Army’s fifth event, parallel bars, where he showed a nice Makuts and a double pike dismount to earn a respectable 13.4 on the event. As per usual on high bar, the highlight came from junior Zachary Perez, who moved from leadoff to anchor, which paid off as he came away with fourth place on the event and the highest score for the team with a 13.15.  

#11 Springfield, #14 William & Mary, and #7 Navy @ Navy Open

Final score: Ohio State: 397.300, Navy: 391.250, Penn State: 385.200, Springfield: 372.550, William & Mary: 366.100

Navy

Navy had a great day on Saturday, coming up short on No. 6 Ohio State but besting No. 5 Penn State and the two other ECAC teams in attendance.

With the home field advantage, the Midshipmen began on floor, with an unfortunate fall from Colby Prince in the leadoff spot after he came up short on his back 2.5 dismount. The team rallied after that with solid landings and big tumbling to earn four straight 13+ scores, with Syam Buradagunta taking the title with a 13.75.

Navy swung great on pommel horse with clean sets from all five guys. However, Ian Dinmore and pommel specialist Ronan McQuillan ran out of steam toward the end, with both having to repeat their dismounts for the element group credit. Rings was solid, with Colton McCormack stepping up in the second spot and Isaiah Drake closing out with a 13.2, just narrowly missing the podium.

Vault was big for Navy, where they notched a 71.9 – the highest event score of any team in the meet. Credit to William Champagne for nailing the landing on his Kas full and Drake again finishing them out with a stick and a second-place finish (14.8).

Danilo Viciana led the Midshipmen off on parallel bars with a beautiful set, grabbing an 8.3 execution despite a fall on the dismount. Drake notched a huge 13.95 to take the title with Ohio State’s Caden Spencer, but his score was for the all-around, not the team. Caleb Hickey and Erik Engelke made their way into the high bar lineup this week, hitting their respective routines to lead Navy to a 391.250 and a big upset at home. Isaiah Drake also came away with the all-around title (80.65).

Springfield

Springfield got its day started on vault – a great way to get the team pumped up for the rest of the competition. They had a great rotation (70.0) with the spotlight on Will Wilson, who dialed in this week to earn a career-high 14.5 for his Kas 1.5. Dominic Ramalho followed with a big Kas full to nearly match his career high with a 14.4, just half a tenth short. 

The Pride looked collected in their following two events, counting only one fall on high bar. However, they were only able to count one stuck landing from those two events combined, something that could be a focus in the future to increase those event scores by a couple of points.

Floor looked a bit different for Springfield this week, replacing Matt Browne and Will Wilson with Timothy Templeton and Felix Kriedemann. It is great to see them testing out lineups and seeing what works best for them, and they were still able to score an improved 62.5 despite a leadoff fall from Templeton, thanks in large part to a big 13.3 from anchor Ramalho. 

Pommel horse was a weak spot for Springfield, counting a total of four falls from three gymnasts that didn’t allow them to break into that 60 event score. Senior Juan Gomez made his debut on the event with a nice hit, and once again, first-year Peyton Cramer came in clutch for his team, hitting his set to earn a 13.9, just half a tenth short of the top score of the day (Michael Jaroh, 13.95).

Rings is an event with a lot of promise for this team. They were going for big skills and difficult strength elements, which is not that common for teams in the ECAC who often opt for simpler ring sets. Unfortunately, it did not pay off in this meet, as they were hammered by the judges. The deductions likely came on their strength elements and lack of stability in their handstands, earning an average of 6.7 in execution for their four hit routines. Springfield finished with a respectable 372.550 for their second meet of the season.

William & Mary

Although the Tribe had some struggles in the Navy Open, you could tell that they are settling in and going to look better week by week.

William & Mary began its day on high bar, where the team had to count a fall from leadoff Will Harrington. Still, they kept it going for the next two athletes. Senior Sam Lee had some challenges in his routine as well, misreading the distance of the high bar and coming off on his Tkatchev. If he can hit his routine to its full potential soon, he is looking at a big 13+ score for the team. Sophomore Ricky Pizem closed out the event with a very unique and difficult routine, including a Kolman, Kovacs, Zou Li Min, and a one-armed front giant.

On floor, they earned a respectable 60.95 team score, accentuated by Trenton Peazant’s impressive air awareness, full-twisting double back, and clean landings to notch a 13.15. The Tribe then moved on to pommel horse, where they showed a ton of fight. Aidan Cuy, Jared Noyman, and Pizem were determined to stay on the event, making adjustments throughout their routines to keep the rhythm going. The fight was impressive, but the judges were strict on execution, leading to only a 55.7 on the event after falls from the other two competitors. 

Vault was great for William & Mary, thanks in large part to Evan Sikra, who nailed his Yurchenko 1.5 in the leadoff spot, earning a 9.7 execution (tied for the highest of the entire competition) and a 14.2 overall. They closed out with a big Kas 1.5 from Sam Lee, who finished third on the event (14.7). The Tribe finished their day out on parallel bars, where Harrington rallied after a bit of a tough start to the competition to lead them off with a 12.6. This seemed to fire them up, as they earned a 64.55 team score – 4.5 points higher than at the West Point Open.