NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Week 1 Recap: New rules will take some getting used to, Nelson makes history

Most of the NCAA men’s gymnastics teams kicked off the season last weekend, and there are three key takeaways: the new scoring and competition rules will take some getting used to, Kameron Nelson is insane on floor, and we’re seeing the return of skills we haven’t seen in a long time.
Here are the first rankings of the season, although a note that Stanford, California, Nebraska, and Illinois didn’t compete in Week 1, so those teams won’t be included until the Week 2 rankings are released.
For the master schedule and latest score updates, click here.
New scoring and competition rules
The new quadrennium (“quad”) has officially begun, and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) really changed things up this time around.
First, routine lengths (except for vault) have been shortened from 10 skills to eight. Second, on floor, gymnasts are required to have a balancing element (scale) during the routine and a double-flipping element to end the routine. Third, the dismount element group is worth the value of the dismount (e.g., a piked double back on parallel bars (“D” value) will be awarded four-tenths for the dismount element group instead of the five-tenths it was awarded in the previous quad). Fourth, all vaults have been downgraded four-tenths (note: the FIG typically blanket downgrades vaults at the start of a new quad). There are many more rule changes in effect this season, but these are the most pertinent to NCAA competition.
The NCAA competition rules have also changed significantly. This season has a 4 up, 4 count format – a decrease from last season’s 5 up, 5 count format. A big reason: to shorten the competition to match the number of routines in NCAA women’s gymnastics (24) and increase the opportunities for double dual meets. The change also makes meets more broadcast/stream friendly, fitting within an optimal two-hour timeslot. The travel roster cap has also been reduced from fifteen to twelve. Lastly, it’s supposed to increase parity among programs. Read this article to hear Olympic bronze medalist Stephen Nedoroscik and men’s coaches JD Reive (Army) and Mark Williams (OU) weigh in on the new rules in the NCAA.
With shorter routines and less total routines this season, individual and team scores will be lower. At this point, it’s hard to say just how much the scores will change, but here are some preliminary metrics:
Good Score | Great Score | |
Routine Score | 13.0+ | 14.0+ |
Rotation Score | 50.0+ | 55.0+ |
Team Score | 312.0+ | 325.0+ |
Take these numbers with a grain of salt; as we learn about the skills and routines the gymnasts perform, we will reshape these to better reflect reality.
Top Scores of the Week
Team
Despite competing on Monday so not being part of the official Week 1 rankings, the Stanford Cardinal notched a 318.45 this week to edge out the Oklahoma Sooners by 0.25 and earn the top score in the country to start the season. The comp was different this year – disconnected from the usual Cal Benefit Cup and falling on a Monday night. Regardless, it was a night of good gymnastics. Olympian Asher Hong competed on all events except parallel bars. He claimed the rings title with a 13.8. Taylor Burkhart and Colt Walker were the sole all-arounders and ended up tying with matching 80.4s. The comp also saw the return of Ian Lasic-Ellis on pommel horse (13.05). Walker claimed a pair of event titles on floor (14.1) and vault (13.95); Brandon Nguyen matched that feat with two titles of his own on parallel bars (13.85) and high bar (13.7). Aidan Li (Cal) claimed the horse title with a 13.85.
Despite some hiccups and falls throughout, the Cardinal looked good. Hong, Walker, and Burkhart comprised more than half of the routines for Stanford. Unsurprisingly, the Cardinal is picking up right where it left off and is off to a great start on the road to six-straight national titles.
Individual
- All-Around: Taylor Burkhart (Stanford) and Colt Walker (Stanford) – 80.4
- Floor: Colt Walker (Stanford) – 14.1
- Pommel Horse: Parker Thackston (Ohio State) – 14.5
- Rings: Asher Hong (Stanford) – 13.8
- Vault: David Wolma (Michigan) – 14.35
- Parallel Bars: Drake Andrews (Ohio State) – 14.05
- High Bar: Brandon Nguyen (Stanford) – 13.7
Notable debuts
Redshirt freshman Arthur Ballon made his debut for the Oklahoma Sooners, and it was a good one. The Frenchman hit three-for-three, highlighted by a clean Kas 1.5 for a 14.3 and the vault title. During the competition, OU-alum Bart Conner and Matt Wenske recounted Ballon’s journey to Oklahoma: he met Sooner great and Olympian Yul Moldauer at an international competition where Moldauer mentioned how awesome it would be if Ballon became a Sooner.
Kellen Ryan (Penn State) made his NCAA debut as well, competing all-around for the Nittany Lions after transferring from Minnesota, where he had an impressive GymACT tenure, most recently winning the 2024 vault title.
The Cal Bears also had some debuts, including fifth-year transfer Tomo Kawada (Ohio State) and Canadian Matteo Bardana.
OU vs. Air Force stream on ESPN+
The Oklahoma men put up an impressive 318.2 to defeat Air Force at home. The highlight of the competition was the fact that it was streamed on ESPN+, the first of a handful of comps this season. The Sooners won every event title with a different gymnast but did not compete any all-arounders.
A few mishaps tested their adaptiveness. Leo Koike took a nasty fall after missing a Cassina during his high bar routine. A rule regarding potential injuries allowed coach Williams and the team to substitute Ignacio Yockers at the end of the rotation for a 1 point team neutral deduction. Speaking on the comp, Williams said eight Sooners were sidelined with injuries this weekend, including Emre Dodanli (broken hand) and Fuzzy Benas (hand tendon surgery). Despite this, there was a lot of good gymnastics: “[Yockers] and Patrick Hoopes of Air Force put on a show… just spectacular gymnastics, especially for an opening weekend,” Williams said.
Kameron Nelson makes history at West Point Open
Nelson, an Ohio State senior, made a statement by becoming the first gymnast to ever compete two triple backs in a floor routine.
Congratulations to Kameron Nelson on making history as the first gymnast in the WORLD to compete two triple backs in a floor routine ‼️🥳
— Ohio State Men's Gym (@OhioStateMGYM) January 12, 2025
What an incredible accomplishment after all of the work he’s put in!!#GoBucks | @B1GGymnastics pic.twitter.com/YqZwmuj0In
Nelson’s 16.2 start-value routine opens with a back triple pike (Nagornyy), one of the hardest skills in the code at a “J”, worth a whopping 1 point in difficulty alone. He returns with a back triple tuck (Liukin), valued at an “I” (0.9 in difficulty). His fourth pass (read: FOURTH pass) is a front full connected to a front double tuck (C-D + 0.1 in bonus). He finished with a massive back tucked double-double.
“I had so much adrenaline going through my body that I had to stand in the corner extra long to calm my heart and ground myself,” Nelson told Gym Now. “So stoked to be the first to do this… super excited to make this routine even more exciting to watch in the future.”
While this routine was not perfect, it put the NCAA and the world on watch. There are already whispers of Nelson’s potential to vie for an individual spot at this year’s world championships.
Nelson and teammate Drake Andrews led the Buckeyes as they claimed the win in West Point with a 315.8. Penn State (312.75) and Navy (309.5) rounded out the top three, echoing their relative placements at the NCAA finals last April. Nelson and Andrews also qualified to Winter Cup with their all-around performances.