ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Week 6 Recap: Springfield earns highest team score since 2016

ECAC men’s gymnastics impressed in Week 6, with four out of the five teams scoring above 380 and two scoring above 390. The highlight of the weekend came from the Springfield and William & Mary dual, where saw the Pride saw a more than 30-point increase, week-over-week, while the Tribe saw a more than 15-point increase.

Here’s what happened in Week 6.

#15 William & Mary @ #13 Springfield

Final score: Springfield: 397.850 – William & Mary: 385.050

This was a great meet for both teams, with an over 14-point improvement for William & Mary and a 30-point improvement for Springfield. There were some debates on social from former and current NCAA athletes about generous scoring, and that discussion was warranted – some skills were credited that typically wouldn’t be. Nonetheless, both teams had impressive performances that should not be dismissed because of scoring discrepancies.

William & Mary

The Tribe looked like a whole new team and seemed to be a lot more relaxed throughout the meet. It was in part because standout Aidan Cuy was back on five events and led off on four, which set the tone for each rotation.

Floor was solid, with the biggest improvement coming from Will Harrington (12.55), who finally found the landing on his impressive full-twisting double back dismount. Gavin Zborowski struggled on his opening double-double but finished strong and still had a decent score thanks to good difficulty.

Cuy led them off on pommel horse, starting with a strong routine (12.4). Unfortunately, the Tribe was not able to build on that momentum as they had to count three falls in the latter portion of the lineup. After the struggles on pommel, they brought it back on rings with a season-high team score (63.9). They had no stuck dismounts, but their four D+ dismounts made up for it.

Vault was great, with Sam Lee once again putting his Kas 1.5 to his feet and taking the title with a big 14.45. (Lee also recently announced he’ll be returning for a fifth year.) On parallel bars, the Tribe’s grit truly showed. There were a lot of athletes who were off on their elements but refused to come off the apparatus. Cuy was way off center on his Diamidov half but kept it going, and Alek Kuzmenchuk muscled through his giant and kept it going. That fight continued on high bar, with more errors through, but no one came off the event. The rotation was highlighted by Ricky Pizem, whose difficult routine was finally rewarded as he earned the event title (and ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week) with a 13.5.

The Tribe return to action this Sunday, February 18, in a virtual competition against California.

Springfield

After three weeks of competing on the road, Springfield took advantage of those experiences and settled in, competing confidently at home. The athletes built off of each other throughout the whole competition and it all added up, as they got their highest team score since 2016.

They began on the floor, which was by far their best of the season. Will Wilson grabbed the floor title with a 13.7 for his routine featuring a nice double-double,, and Evan Reichert (13.4) and Dominic Ramalho (13.35) joined Wilson to round out the event podium. The energy continued on pommel, hitting five-for-five and sweeping the top five scores on the event. Kriedemann grabbed his first pommel title of the season in a tie with Peyton Cramer – both scoring 13.7.

Rings is the Pride’s weakest event, but you wouldn’t know that based on Saturday’s performance. Wilson was the leadoff, sticking his dismount and grabbing his second title of the day (13.65). They continued with strong routines: a big improvement from Gustavin Suess from the week prior (13.05), and David Handron scoring nearly four points higher than his last time out (13.5).

Their next two events were clean, with a stuck Kas full from Reichert on vault (14.4) and a big 13.95 for Sam Kaplan on parallel bars. After five strong rotations, they were looking to close off strong at home but did not have their greatest rotation. Jaden Laubstein and Kriedemann had strong leadoff routines, but there were no hit routines following. Kaplan had a great all-around performance, taking the title with a 79.6. Regardless of the late mistakes, Springfield had a great day overall, and hopefully, this gave them the confidence that they can reach their full potential this season.

The Pride return to competition on Saturday, February 17 at Michigan.

#12 Army & #8 Navy @ All-Academy Championships

Final score: Air Force: 397.250, Navy: 390.100, Army: 381.050

Army

Army’s consistency is certainly improving, with the biggest transformation coming on floor last weekend. They seemed to dig the Spieth floor, as they scored a season-high 66.7 on the event. There was no score under 13, with the highest score coming from Jaden Blank with a 13.65.

There were a couple of mistakes on pommel, but certainly not from Noah Duran. Duran had by far his best routine of the season, having plenty of momentum on his dismount to get right up to handstand and grab a team-high 13.05 on the event. 

Blaze Kennedy took fifth on rings with a commendable 12.75 after sticking his full-twisting double back in the leadoff spot, and Nick Lester grabbed third on vault with his clean Kas full (14.1).

They had some highs and lows on parallel bars, with a high coming from leadoff Jacob Brenner, who had the highest score for the team with a 13.45 after sticking his double pike dismount. Steven Manolakis had some struggles on his opening skill, a Honma, but fought through the rest to have a hit routine. They were closed out by Blank who balked on his first dismount attempt and then redid it but fell back on the double front.

Tucker Blanchard continues to be a great leadoff on high bar, swinging smoothly again this week and sticking his dismount (12.85). Lester and Hunter Mamawal had a pair of falls on their piked Tkatchevs, and Blank took a fall on his dismount. They were closed out with a nice set from Zachary Perez (12.6), who was a little close on his opening release combo but snagged a stuck landing at the end of his routine.

Army returns to competition on Saturday, February 17 against Greenville and Nebraska.

Individually, Jaden Blank will represent the team at Winter Cup.

Navy

The Midshipmen continue their steak of 390+ scores this week despite some mistakes. Floor was tough for them, losing seven-tenths purely in out-of-bounds deductions. Along with that, Ian Dinmore had a scary crash on his opening whip to 2.5, but he was able to finish his routine and walked away seemingly unscathed. Luckily, Syam Buradagunta was there to salvage the rotation, as he took second place with a big 14.2. You couldn’t ask for much more on pommel horse, with the team going five-for-five and the lowest score still being near a 13.

Rings were a challenge for Navy, scoring a season-low 61.35. Julian Galvez had a hard time finding his balance in the handstand after his opening front giant, which threw off his momentum and swing for the remainder of the routine, which cost him. William Champagne, however, came in clutch in the fourth spot, nailing his dismount and narrowly grabbing the rings title with a 13.15.

Vault was not their greatest, with some underrotated skills and a missed opportunity from Matthew Petros, who sat down his Kas 1.5 – a score they needed if they were hoping to challenge Air Force for the team title. They brought it back on parallel bars, just one-tenth shy of their season-best team score. Petros redeemed himself, falling just half a tenth short of the parallel bars title (13.95).

Vishal Mandava hit a clean routine to grab the title on high bar (13.15), and Riley Rose was close behind him, finishing third with a 12.85. Petros had an impressive save after missing his hand on his Quast but kept the routine going. Overall, this was by no means Navy’s best performance of the season, but it shows that they can put up some big numbers even without Isaiah Drake.

Navy will return to competition after the Winter Cup break with an away meet against Oklahoma on March 9. Drake is set to compete at Winter Cup in Louisville.

#14 Simpson @ Evo Elite Collegiate Open

Final score: Illinois: 416.150 – Simpson: 366.100

Simpson

In a tough environment against a top-five team (now top three) and a plethora of national team members, Simpson had a solid team performance.

They started on pommel horse, which is never easy in that type of environment, and unfortunately, it got the best of them. They were only able to get one hit, which came from anchor Milo Staley (12.3). Their team score on the event was nearly 6 points lower than last week.

They left the struggles behind and had a nice showing on rings, particularly from Brian Rollison, who earned a big 13.9, which should be a big confidence boost for him. Vault was not the Storm’s strongest, with Jack Campbell competing a Kas in place of Camden Bontempo’s usual double-twisting Yurchenko.

Parallel bars wasn’t bad for the Storm, with the exception of a fluke slip on an opening giant from Sammy Shafransky, who was able to finish well. They were not super crisp on the event, with small adjustments here and there that seemed to add up. High bar was great, thanks in large part to upgrades, especially from Jake Sweeten, who added nice German giants into his routine to up the difficulty. It paid off as he earned a season and team-high 13.1.

They finished the day on floor, which was also a struggle. The tumbling through the air was great, but they weren’t able to find the landings. Bontempo was not present in this lineup either as he works his way back from a minor Achilles injury.

Simpson returns home this weekend to take on top-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday, February 17