NCAA men’s gymnastics Week 5 preview: Big Ten, Academy rivals face off

A pair of Big Ten dual meets and an Academy matchup on Saturday are set to bring more clarity to the national rankings five weeks into the NCAA men’s gymnastics season.

Here’s what to look forward to in Week 5.

Nebraska to host Big Ten rival Michigan 

The Huskers are riding momentum from a narrow win over Penn State last week and a strong showing at the Rocky Mountain Open in Week 3 where they beat Michigan by more than five points. Nebraska now has a second opportunity to defeat the rival Wolverines this Saturday and get their team score back into the 400s. 

Nebraska’s total potential team score — counting their top five scores on every event so far this year — is about eight points less than Michigan’s, so the Huskers will need to hit well to capture another win over the Wolverines. The team proved capable of performing under pressure last weekend, so Saturday should see a tight contest between two of the conference’s best programs. 

Routines to watch from the Huskers include:

• Donte McKinney’s vault. McKinney found a clean landing on his Yurchenko 2.5 last weekend to take the event title. 
• Cooper Giles’ horse set. Giles was in top form last weekend on pommel, performing a full Kehr, flops, and clean travels on his way to winning the event. 
• Zac Tiderman’s high bar routine. Tiderman has one of the best Tak halves in the country and big Tkatchev elements. He won the event last weekend. 

Michigan is coming off a victory over Ohio State last weekend and a conference-best score of 409.2. The Wolverines have an advantage in difficulty score over the rest of the Big Ten and will be focused on building mid-season momentum with a road win on Saturday. 

Michigan has an edge over Nebraska on floor and parallel bars. Hits on those events will be especially important for the Wolverines this weekend. Routines to watch from Michigan include:

• Landen Blixt’s floor set. Blixt won the event last weekend with a 14.65 after performing a front layout to Randi, double-double, and a back 1.5 to a front double full. 
• Fred Richard’s horse. Richard’s set last weekend was full of difficult elements, including a few flared spindles and a triple Russian between the handles. 
• Evgeny Siminiuc’s parallel bars. Siminiuc was runner-up last weekend after moving through a clean peach half, Bhavsar, and straddle front one-and-a-quarter. 

Penn State travels to Illinois after narrow defeat at home

Illinois will host the Nittany Lions on Saturday and looks to extend a streak of strong competitions that saw the team come within a point of Oklahoma in Norman last weekend. The Illini’s last major Big Ten matchup was at Windy City in Week 2, where the Illini came away with a win. 

Illinois set the nation’s highest horse score last weekend against OU. A similar performance on the event this Saturday would likely give the Illini a significant lead over Penn State, whose best horse total this season is a 66.65. Routines to watch from Illinois include: 

• Ian Skirkey’s horse. Skirkey hit his 6.5-difficulty routine last week to lead the team to its nation-best performance on the event. 
• Tate Costa’s high bar. Costa has a clean swing and great inbar elements. He led the Illini on the event last week. 
• Amari Sewell’s vault. Sewell has one of the best Kas 1.5s in the country. 

Penn State fell to Nebraska following a rough horse rotation and a couple costly mistakes on high bar. The Nittany Lions will be looking to clean up on those events and take advantage of their edge over Illinois on parallel bars and rings — their top scores on both events are more than two points greater than those of Illinois. 

Routines to watch from the Nittany Lions include: 

• Josh Karnes’ horse. Karnes went 13.25 with a fall last weekend and has excellent flare elements in his routine. 
• Michael Jaroh’s rings. Jaroh won the event last weekend with a 9.3 execution score and a stuck dismount. 
• Matt Cormier’s high bar. Cormier came off on his Kolman last week in an otherwise strong set. 

Navy takes on Army in West Point

The Black Knights will host Academy rival Navy after a hard-fought road win over Springfield last weekend. Navy enters the weekend having earned its second-best score of the season last week during its win over William & Mary. 

Navy will be focused on getting into the mid 390s by performing well on high bar and floor. Routines to watch from the Mids include: 

• Connor Van Loo’s floor. Van Loo was back in the floor lineup for Navy last weekend, winning the event with a double-double opening pass and a triple full discount. 
• Isaiah Drake’s rings. Drake took the rings title last weekend after performing a maltese, Azarian cross, and sticking his dismount. 
• Caleb Hickey’s parallel bars. Hickey has the team’s top score on the event and earned a title last weekend with a routine that finished with a big double-front dismount. 

Army’s win on the road got the team above 380 and closer to its season-high 390.15 from Week 2, but the Black Knights had to count a 58.65 on horse last week – a 6.5 point drop from their season-best performance on the event. Army will be focused on improving on horse this Saturday, and a score into the mid-60s would help put pressure on the higher-seed Navy team. Routines to watch from Army include:

• Maddox Pabellon’s horse. Pabellon has scored as high as 14.35 on the event and will be central to the team’s effort to get back into the mid-60s.
• Jonathan Pinc’s vault. Pinc stuck his Yurchenko double full last week to earn an event title and score of 14.6.
• Joseph Buselmeier’s high bar. Buselmeier won high bar last week after catching his Kovacs and sticking his full-twisting double layout dismount.

OU hosts Simpson after home win over Illini

Oklahoma will look to advance its strong start to the season with a win over Simpson this weekend. The Sooners were runners-up behind Stanford their first meet and held off the Illini last weekend to take their first home win of the season. 

OU had standout performances on horse and high bar last weekend. They underperformed on vault — counting two falls — and will have their sights set on getting back into the 410+ range. Routines to watch from the Sooners include: 

• Ignacio Yockers’ horse. Yockers won the event last weekend with the best pommel score of the 2023 season. 
• Raydel Gamboa’s high bar. Gamboa caught a Kovacs and layout Tkatchev before sticking his layout double-double dismount for the event title last week. 
• Vitaliy Guimaraes’s floor. Guimaraes is tied for No. 1 in the country on the event thanks to a full to double front opening pass and oft-stuck triple-full dismount. 

Simpson didn’t compete last weekend but had its second-best performance of the season the prior week. The team will be focused on getting back to 340+ and into the 50s on pommel horse. Routines to watch from Simpson include: 

• Sterling Pariza’s floor. Pariza went 12.85 at Simpson’s last meet after landing his full-twisting double back opening pass and a 2.5 dismount. 
• Michelangelo Villani’s vault. Villani has scored as high as 14.05 this season for his Kas layout. 
• Camden Bontempo’s high bar. Bontempo has the team’s highest score on the event with a 12.05.

William & Mary travels to Springfield

Springfield came within four points of Army last weekend, putting up a 377.65 for the team’s second-best score of the season. The Pride will want to get back above 380 this weekend while competing at home. A floor score in the mid-60s and a 70+ vault rotation should help the team get there. 

Routines to watch from Springfield include:

• Felix Kriedemann’s floor. Kriedemann had another strong routine against Army last weekend, sticking his triple full to win the event. 
• Colton O’Brien’s horse. O’Brien was runner-up on pommel last weekend with a routine that included an E flop, Russians between the handles, a Wu, Roth, and triple Russian dismount. 
• David Handron’s rings. Handron won the event against Army after displaying clean giants, a Maltese and Nakayama, and a stuck dismount. 

William & Mary fell to Navy last weekend and counted three event scores in the high-50s, though the Tribe has scored in the 60s on every event save pommel this season. The Tribe will be looking to get back above 370 this Sunday. Strong routines from the following gymnasts will be key to that effort: 

• Christian Marsh’s rings. Marsh tied for second at Navy with a Maltese push to planche and a stuck dismount. 
• Ricky Pizem’s high bar. Pizem caught a lofty Kovacs and turned a nice Zou Li Min on his way to a fourth-place finish last week. 
• Aidan Cuy’s horse. Cuy notched a season-best 12.1 with a well-paced set last weekend.