ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Week 4 Recap: Navy, William & Mary earn season highs

The first weekend of pure dual meets for ECAC men’s gymnastics did not disappoint, with impressive season-high performances from Navy and William & Mary, and a home win for Army against Springfield.

Here’s what happened in Week 4:

#13 Springfield @ #12 Army

Final score: Army: 382.300 – Springfield: 367.200

Springfield

Springfield had a rough performance on Saturday afternoon, recording a season-low team score of 367.200 against Army. 

The Pride started solid on floor, with leadoff Timothy Templeton paving the way with a solid set and a 12.7. Anchor Dominic Ramalho had a nice stuck double layout to start his routine, earning a 13 to finish at the top for Springfield. 

The Pride then moved on to pommel horse, where it seemed like they had solid, hit sets, but judging was tough. Senior Juan Gomez was the only gymnast on the team to break into the 8.0 execution range, despite three other hits from the team. First-year Peyton Cramer stayed on the pommel but was not as smooth as he has been in weeks past, still earning a commendable 13.

Rings was a brutal event for Springfield. They started with a leadoff fall from Will Wilson, and no one seemed to be able to pick back up the momentum. Gustavin Suess followed with a mistake on his Jonasson, not getting enough swing to complete the following Yamawaki as he usually does, which lowered his start value. David Handron showed a ton of grit in his routine but needed more energy at the end, falling short on his dismount. Sam Kaplan followed with another fall on his dismount, and they were closed off with a hit from Cramer.

The struggles continued on vault and parallel bars, counting an additional two falls on each event. Despite this, parallel bars was highlighted by Kaplan. He showed a nice peach handstand, Tippelt, and Diamidov, finishing off with only a small hop on his double front dismount, despite landing off the mat. He earned a 13.1 and took the title. 

Springfield was looking to finish out strong on high bar. Felix Kriedemann had a nice routine with a big layout Tkatchev and a stuck dismount to get a 12.8 and third place. Owen Carney showed a high-flying routine with three releases to take the high bar title with a 13. Kaplan fell in the anchor spot, making no rotations hit five-for-five for the Pride.

With a week off, Springfield will be looking to rest up, reenergize, and return strong for the team’s home opener against William & Mary.

Army

Army had a nice showing on Saturday, scoring a 380+ for the third week in a row.

Army has had some difficulty on floor in the past few weeks, and Springfield could have had an opportunity to get an early lead in this competition based on performances so far. However, Army stepped up and showed some better consistency this week. Jaden Blank (13.05) had a difficult 3.5 twist in his opening pass, which he stuck. Franco Peirano (13.55) grabbed another floor title after sticking his triple full dismount, and Steve Manolakis closed out the Black Knights with a 13.35.

The second rotation was solid, with a lot tougher judging than their previous home meet at the West Point Open. Gabe Almeida is typically a high scorer for the Black Knights but may have gotten hit on not showing full support in his scissors travels or a slight hiccup on the dismount (11.35). Maddox Pabellon grabbed the pommel title with a 13.45 after a nice set. Rings was solid, with Blank earning the title with a 12.85. Army led by almost 8 points after three.

Army’s prowess on vault continued with a pair of stuck Kas fulls from Manolakis (14.5) and Peirano (14.4), who got first and second, respectively. No score was counted below 14. Parallel bars was hit five-for-five, and they closed out with five-for-five again on high bar. Tucker Blanchard, who made his high bar debut last week, earned a 12.1 this week for a very clean set, and Zachary Perez found the landing on his dismount for a 12.85 and second place.

Army looked much more relaxed and confident this week and can hopefully build on that to challenge Navy next weekend.

#15 William & Mary @ #8 Navy

Final score: Navy: 396.500 – William & Mary: 370.900

William & Mary

A lot of improvements were shown by the Tribe this weekend, as they recorded a season high with a 370.900.

They started with a season-high 61.35 to get the ball rolling for the afternoon. Malcolm Baytop (12.5) had a great opening routine to get William & Mary started, and Ricky Pizem notched a career-high 12.65, with the highest execution score on floor by any competitor. Trenton Peazant led the team with a 12.8.

Aidan Cuy (12.15) had a great opening routine on pommel horse and was followed by Jared Noyman (12.15), who was looking so strong but unfortunately crashed on his dismount. Despite that, he still managed to score in the 12s, which is very impressive. Gavin Zborowski followed Noyman with a fall on his Sivado, but the Tribe were closed out with another clutch hit from Pizem. 

Rings was great, with a season-high score of 63.1 and multiple gymnasts earning season highs. Cuy made his season debut on rings after working through some injuries and secured a big 12.7 for his leadoff set. After struggling in weeks one and two, first-year Evan Willkins came back strong to earn a 12.6.

The Tribe almost took the vault win from Navy, with big vaults from Sam Lee (14.2) and Pizem (14). Some highs and lows came on parallel bars, with a beautiful set from Noyman (12.7), who looked poised to redeem himself from pommel, but he once again fell on his dismount. Lee had a massive stuck double pike to earn a 13.6. William & Mary closed off with some struggles on high bar, with five major errors coming from three different gymnasts. Evan Sikra (12.5) earned a seaso high for his routine.

The Tribe is improving each week and will be aiming for their first win of the season against Springfield on February 11.

Navy

Navy had an impressive meet at home, earning a season-high 396.500 and grabbing all six event titles.

The Midshipmen started strong with five hit routines on floor. First-year Benjamin Thurlow Lam (12.6) was a bit under-rotated on his 1.5 going into his front full but fought hard to keep it on his feet with an impressive save. Isaiah Drake (13.75) took the floor title after a stuck front full to front double full and a stuck 2.5 dismount.

Ian Dinmore (10.9) struggled to get up to handstand on his pommel dismount despite a great effort and had to repeat it to get credit. Syam Buradagunta and Ronan McQuillan (13.85) did not let it phase them with a 13.65 and a 13.85, respectively, for the two highest scores of the day. First-year Julian Galves (12.9) made his collegiate debut on rings, hitting a clean routine with a stuck full-twisting double back dismount to earn a share of second place with teammate Erik Engelke (12.9). They were edged out by just 0.05 from teammate William Champagne, who took first with a 12.95.

Vault was led off by Matthew Rosendahl (13.6), who did a beautiful Kas full with just a small hop on the landing. A pair of Kas 1.5s closed out the rotation – one from Matthew Petros (14.05) with a short landing and another from Drake, who won with a 14.3.

Navy earned a season high on parallel bars with a 67.05 and counting no score below 13 for the first time this season. Petros started his routine with a Honma, followed by a clean Healy, and a stuck double pike dismount to take the title with a career-high 14.05.

You can tell Navy was hungry for a 400 score, as the gymnasts were super aggressive on high bar and were going after those landings. Though it was a bit of a reach, they stuck four of their dismounts and hit all five sets, including Engelke (12.3), who kept his routine going after clipping his heel on the bar during his inbar. Petros took home his second title of the day with a 13.45 for his routine, nearly matching his career-high.