ECAC Men’s Gymnastics Week 9 Recap: William & Mary building despite two meets in 24 hours

In Week 9 of ECAC men’s gymnastics, William & Mary was put to the test, taking on top opponents over two days and improving their team score. Springfield is on the rise and working toward consistency, while Greenville continues to break all types of records.

Here’s what happened in Week 9.

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

Final score: Illinois: 410.500, William & Mary: 374.950, Simpson: 363.05

William & Mary

The Tribe’s slew of away meets continued on Friday in a tough tri-meet against No. 3 Illinois and No. 14 Simpson.

They got the draw to start the day on rings and were led off with a fall from Aidan Cuy but rallied through the remainder of the lineup. It seems Evan Wilkins’ new bleach blonde hair style brought him luck. He had a stunning routine, with a textbook front uprise L, and nailed 1.5-twisting double tuck for a career-high 13.25. Gavin Zborowski got his all-around day started with a nice kip cross and a big double-double dismount for another career high (12.9).

Floor was on fire, with a season-high 63.9 for the event. Season highs came from leadoff Malcolm Baytop (13.15) and Cuy (12.75) to begin the rotation. Zborowski followed with another career high (13.15) after a perfectly stuck double back and Ricky Pizem notched a career high for his set (12.75).

Good things come in threes, as Zborowski swung smoothly through his pommel set and eased through his quad Russian dismount to snag his third career high of the evening. The Tribe moved to high bar, getting off to a great start from Cuy who had a nice Kovacs and a pair of big Tkatchevs. Evan Sikra couldn’t find the timing of his layout Tkatchev, coming off twice. Sam Lee followed and made sure he caught the bar on his, coming in close and muscling through the following giant. 

Vault was solid, with a career high from Pizem (14.15), and the Tribe were on track to near their season-high team score coming into the final event. Unfortunately, Niko Greenly had a difficult time with his routine, not fully completing his Diamidov or giant, lowering his D-score and incurring a 3-point neutral deduction for only seven counted elements, landing him at only a 7.250. Nonetheless, the Tribe still finished with a commendable score for their performance and had a quick turnaround to competition the following evening. 

Simpson

Coming in just one ranked spot below William & Mary, Simpson was looking for a win over their ECAC opponent on Friday.

The Storm began on pommel horse, with Jake Sweeten leading the way, getting the team and his individual performance off to a great start with a career-high 12.15. Brennan Voss made his collegiate debut in the following spot, muscling through a bit on his dismount but overall a great start to his college career (11.6).

Simpson stuck four of five dismounts on rings en route to a solid event score for them. Brian Rollison struggled a bit this week with some balance issues on his giant elements and a step forward on the dismount but still grabbed a 12.2. Sweeten built on his momentum from Rotation 1, notching a career-high 12.7.

Milo Staley continues to have some difficulty finding the landings on floor, falling on his opening E pass (Randi) and his double front. Sterling Pariza closed off the event with a beautiful back 2.5 to punch front layout and triple full dismount (12.95).

Parallel bars was strong, especially from Pariza. He had the cleanest set of the competition and broke the program record with a big 13.65, which landed him in fourth place. They were keeping it close with the Tribe, but unfortunately, Ethan Sipos peeled off on his dismount on high bar. He did not receive credit and incurred the same neutral deduction mentioned previously, landing him at a 6.65.

The Storm finished off strong on vault, with a career-high 13.2 for Jack Campbell’s Kas and a 13.6 for a new Kas half from Pariza to cap off his third place all-around performance (75.70).

Simpson will take on Greenville for the third time this season on Saturday, March 9.

#12 Springfield @ #6 Penn State

Final score: Penn State: 403.100 – Springfield: 381.650

Springfield

Facing their second tough Big Ten opponent in a row, Springfield is continuing to work on consistency and finding their optimal lineups as we are getting closer to the postseason.

The Pride got off to a strong start on floor, earning their second-highest team score of the season (63.800). Will Wilson got a well-deserved 12.9 for his routine featuring a big double-double, and Owen Carney made his season debut on the event, notching a nice 13.25. Anchor Dominic Ramalho struggled on his dismount, stumbling back on his front double full.

Pommel horse was strong, despite a leadoff fall from Jaden Laubstein. Felix Kriedemann swung smoothly for a 13.45, and Peyton Cramer’s dominance continues as he was awarded a 14.3 and the title for the event. They’ve been finding their groove on rings and were able to count all scores at 12.2 or above.

Tyler Beekman led off with a stuck Kas half on vault (13.95), and Wilson followed with a Kas 1.5 (12.7). He unfortunately twisted right off the table, which caused him to miss his block and fall short. While that was a missed opportunity for them there, Springfield was closed out strong by Carney (13.55) and Ramalho (13.95).

Beekman had himself a day, performing a crisp parallel bars routine with a simple but effective stuck front full dismount to total a big 13.7 and a career high. Carter Cochardo made his season debut on this event (12.35) and Kaplan struggled, missing the swing handstand after his Moy and falling on his double front.

Carney had a miss on his piked Tkatchev on high bar, but the straddled Tkatchev right before was incredible, catching near the handstand position, which is incredibly challenging. Springfield finished their day with a nicely caught Kolman from Kaplan and their third 380+ performance in a row.

Springfield will return to action next Saturday, March 9 in a tri-meet against William & Mary and Army on the Black Knights’ turf.

#13 William & Mary @ #10 Greenville

Final score: Greenville: 391.150 – William & Mary: 376.750

William & Mary

Just 23 hours after their competition on Friday night, William & Mary made their way down to Greenville for their second meet of the weekend. Because of the quick turnaround, some lineup changes and fatigue were anticipated, but they did a great job and improved by nearly two points.

Fatigue didn’t seem to be too much of an issue on floor. Aidan Cuy quickly bested his season-high floor, earning a career high Saturday with a 13.4 after nailing his double pike opening pass. Garrett Kasiski was added to the lineup and it paid off with a solid 12.9. Ricky Pizem had some struggles, falling on his opening and running out of steam on his dismount.

Pommel horse was a weak spot as the Tribe suffered a season-low team score (55.4). Gavin Zborowski was strong with a 12.7, but every other score fell below 11.5. Rings was strong, with Evan Wilkins performing a nearly identical routine to Friday night, nailing his dismount again for a 13.1.

Sam Lee improved on his vault from Friday, taking just one step back on his Kas 1.5 to grab second place with a 14.45. He continued to parallel bars where he took the title with a 13.55. Cuy earned a season-high (13.3) and Mark Fu stepped in for Niko Greenly, helping boost their team total by over six points en route to a season high (65.1)

The Tribe finished the meet well, besting Greenville on high bar and sweeping the podium. Ricky Pizem took first with a 13.0 for his routine, followed by Sam Lee (12.55), and Evan Sikra (12.5). After a long weekend, William & Mary is looking to rest up before traveling to Army for a tri-meet on Saturday, March 9.

Greenville

I’m running out of adjectives to describe this Greenville team after another successful team performance this past weekend. They remain undefeated in the ECAC after besting William & Mary on Saturday evening.

Floor was a massive event for the Panthers, notching a season high and program record 67.25. All five athletes finished in the top six, with Zach Connelly grabbing another floor title this season after nailing his triple full (13.75). The energy from the team and crowd on pommel horse was wild as the team hit five-for-five. Andres Esquivel-Garza made his college debut with a 13.25, and Landon Benas had an amazing save, losing nearly all momentum on his single pommel work but stayed on and finished strong (12.05).

Jacob Foster doesn’t have the most difficult routines, but his execution is among the best, earning him a title on both pommel horse and rings with a 13.3 and 13.15, respectively. Greenville went big on vault, going for three 5.2 vaults. Jaxon Clapper came up short but Logan Watterson went lights out (14.7), adding another title to his name.

Sergey Popov had a great set on parallel bars, with a difficult Honma, Healy, and double front dismount to take second with a 13.4. The Panthers were on pace to break their program record for the fifth week in a row, but short landings on high bar dismounts, form breaks, and a fall broke their streak. However, they still broke 390 and are climbing closer and closer to the top-ranked ECAC team, Navy.