NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Week 3 Recap: Ohio State upsets Stanford, Fred Richard returns

By Aidan Giusti | January 29, 2025
Michigan's Fred Richard competing at the 2024 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships.
© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now

In Week 3 of NCAA men’s gymnastics, Ohio State upset Stanford at the Stanford Open, Oklahoma posted the highest team score of the season, and Fred Richard returned to competition for the first time since the Olympics.

See below for the top stories of the week.

Attendance shines in Week 3

Arguably the most important highlight from the weekend was the incredible attendance across the country.

Penn State and William & Mary’s head-to-head had 581 spectators, the Stanford Open had 1,293, and Illinois vs. Oklahoma saw 1,527 people in the stands (with a long line before doors opened).

The tri-meet between Michigan, Army, and Springfield College didn’t have an official attendance listed on Road to Nationals, but the stands were packed full of excited young gymnasts and families. No doubt Richard competing drew a crowd. This is a welcome sight worthy of celebration in the NCAA men’s gymnastics community. I think I speak on behalf of the entire community when I say thank you to all those who came out and supported!

Top Scores of the Week

Team

Oklahoma posted the highest team score of the week (and the season thus far) with a 330.700. The Sooners are red-hot and establishing themselves as the front-runners to de-throne Stanford at NCAAs. That score was without star Fuzzy Benas, who is still coming back from injury. Perhaps it’s home-field advantage, or maybe it’s the Sooner mentality. Regardless, Oklahoma is once again looking formidable early in the season.

The Sooners hosted Illinois at McCasland Field House on Saturday in front of an electric crowd. The Illini didn’t make it easy, putting up the second highest team score of the week with a 325.500. The Sooners claimed at least a share of each event title except for pommels: Emre Dodanli took floor (14.05) and tied for vault (14.35), Matthew Burgoyne won rings (14.1), Colin Flores took p-bars (13.65), and Kelton Christiansen won high bar (14.35). Illinois looked good, led by Sam Phillips (80.6 for the all-around title), Brandon Dang (14.5 on pommels for the title), and Ian Sandoval (14.35 to tie for the vault win). Still missing from the Illini lineups was Tate Costa, who is recovering from injury.

Individual

  • All-Around: Taylor Burkhart (Stanford) – 83.9
  • Floor: Kameron Nelson (Ohio State) – 14.6
  • Pommel Horse: Brandon Dang (Illinois) – 14.5
  • Rings: Matthew Burgoyne (Oklahoma), Carson Eshleman (Michigan), Matthew Underhill (Penn State), Francisco Velez Belendez (Oklahoma) – 14.1
  • Vault: Kameron Nelson (Ohio State) – 14.55
  • Parallel Bars: Brandon Nguyen (Stanford) – 14.0
  • High Bar: Kelton Christiansen (Oklahoma) – 14.35

Ohio State Upsets Stanford at Stanford Open

The Buckeyes snapped Stanford’s five-year win streak at the Stanford Open when they triumphed 323.000-319.850. Highlights of the competition included Kameron Nelson claiming the floor (14.6) and vault (14.55) titles and Taylor Burkhart, who posted the highest all-around score of the season with an 83.9 (Burkhart also posted a career-high 14.3 on pommels).

Also joining the competition was Team USA, which was composed of Stanford team members and alumni: Asher Hong, Kai Uemura, Jeremy Bischoff, Kiran Mandava, and Riley Loos. California rounded out the NCAA teams; the Bears improved on their Week 1 performance and posted a 310.200, led by Aidan Li’s 14.35 on pommels to earn a share of the event title.

The Stanford Open was also the final Winter Cup qualifying meet. Ohio State’s Jesse Pakele and Kristian Grahovski qualified as the top two all-arounders in the open field. In addition, 2024 Winter Cup junior men’s champion Jun Iwai, Panteley Kolodii (a former Ukrainian gymnast), and Illinois’ Ian Sandoval booked their tickets as the top three all-around athletes from the combined rank order of qualifying events who were not already qualified. USA Gymnastics said petitions will be reviewed this week to determine final qualifiers and the list of registered athletes is expected next week.

Fred Richard’s first meet since Olympics

Fred Richard was back on the NCAA stage last weekend as Michigan (318.050) won its tri-meet against Army (307.050) and Springfield College (299.55). Richard competed on pommels (13.75), vault (14.0), and high bar (13.85), claiming the event titles on the latter two. Richard also debuted his triple-double layout dismount on high bar (“Fedorchenko”). Another highlight was Charlie Larson’s 14.05 on floor, which included a stuck laid-out double-double.

Army had a solid day, led by Maddox Pabellon’s 14.0 to claim the pommel title. The Black Knights will continue to make their case for nationals as the season progresses. Springfield struggled at home and put up its lowest score of the season so far.

This was a historic weekend for Richard, personally, as he hosted the inaugural Frederick Flips Invitational. The junior competition saw over fifty gymnasts of all levels competing. Many of the young gymnasts stayed to watch and support the college athletes. Recounting the atmosphere, some of the judges mentioned how Ricard was a full-fledged celebrity, with people following him with cameras and swarming him for autographs after the competition.

Richard is in a class of his own for what he’s done for the men’s gymnastics community, and to that, Gym Now says thank you and best of luck continuing to grow and promote the sport. We look forward to continuing to highlight your accomplishments.

Head-to-heads round out the week

Simpson hosted Navy for its home-opener, and the competition was streamed on Virtius. Simpson improved for the third straight week, posting a 297.750, but it wasn’t enough as Navy notched a 306.350 to take home the win.

William & Mary traveled to Penn State for a dual meet. The Tribe struggled, posting only two rotations above a 50, and found themselves sub-300 for the first time this season. Penn State claimed the victory with a 313.900.