Stanford, Michigan, Navy win conference titles ahead of NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships

Three squads claimed victory at conference-title meets last weekend, closing out the last few competitions before the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships that are set for April 14-15. 

Michigan posted a season-best team score to edge Penn State and Nebraska at the Big Ten Championships, while Stanford handily defeated Oklahoma to secure the MPSF crown. 

Navy also earned a confident win, defeating Springfield, William & Mary, and other teams to place first at the ECAC Championships. 

Here’s a recap of Week 13 in NCAA men’s gymnastics. 

Stanford scores 14-point win at MPSF 

The Cardinal took the lead after the first event at Saturday’s MPSF Championship and held it through the end, finishing more than 13 points ahead of Oklahoma. 

The team led by almost 10 points after just two events, a result of the Cardinal’s starting on vault and OU’s rough horse performance in the second rotation. Stanford had the best event scores on all six apparatus and claimed individual titles on four, while Asher Hong won the all-around with a score of 83.7. 

Stanford finished with a 423.15, its second-best total of the year and third score above 420. No other team has broken the 420 mark this year. OU finished second with a 409.5, Air Force placed third with a 397.35, and Cal was fourth with a 388.6. 

The Cardinal’s strong night started on vault, where Zach Martin and Taylor Burkhart led the lineup with scores of 14.8 to share first place. Hong performed a Kas 1.5 rather than his Ri Se Gwang and scored a 14.55, tying teammate Brandon Briones for fourth. 

Stanford posted its second-best score of the year on parallel bars to extend its lead. Hong performed the team’s best routine, earning a 14.8 after sticking his double front half-out dismount, while J.R. Chou tied for second with a 14.4. Jeremy Bischoff also stuck a double front half-out dismount, and Ian Gunther finished fifth with a 14.3.

The Cardinal counted one fall on high bar but still managed to tally a season-best score on the event. Chou stuck his dismount after catching a Kolman and other releases to score a season-high 14.35 and tie for third. Brandon Nguyen connected three Tkatchevs in his routine, and Gunther stuck his dismount to post the lineup’s second-best score of 14.15.

Stanford led by 11 points after three and proceeded to hit all five of its routines on floor, with Kuebler’s 14.1 leading the way. The team’s 69.25 on floor was a season-best score. 

Khoi Young then led Stanford to its second-best horse rotation of the season. Young performed a scissor handstand, Busnari, flops, a Wu, and a smooth handstand dismount to score a 14.75 for a more than seven-tenth win on the event. 

Stanford claimed the top five spots on rings, with each counting routine scoring above 14.3. Mark Berlaga won the event with a 14.6, while Hong and Gunther tied for second with scores of 14.45. 

Oklahoma opened its competition with a strong 69.1 on floor. Emre Dodanli won the event with a score of 14.4 after sticking a layout to randi and triple-full dismount, while Spencer Goodell landed his layout double-double and full-in dismount to score a 14.1 and tie for silver. 

But the next event, pommel horse, was OU’s undoing. The team erred on a couple dismounts and counted two falls in other sets, resulting in approximately four misses and a score that was roughly eight points less than the team’s season-best. Ignacio Yockers turned in a much-needed hit from the anchor spot but had a few breaks during the routine, scoring a 13.95 to take third. 

The Sooners rebounded on rings to put up their second-best total score of the year. Adriel Perales and Alan Camillus stuck their dismounts to lead the lineup with respective scores of 13.9 and 14.05. 

OU counted another fall on vault, but Goodell planted a nice front handspring double to place third with a 14.6. Goodell also stood out on parallel bars, leading the lineup with a score of 14.4 and a runner-up finish. Dodanli and Perales also delivered clean hits on parallel bars, scoring 14.35 and 14.25, respectively. 

Oklahoma had a couple more misses on high bar, but Dodanli and Kelton Christiansen had season-best performances with respective scores of 14.35 and 14.3. 

Air Force started its meet on parallel bars, where Erich Upton stuck a floaty double pike to score a 14.15 and lead his team on the event. The Falcons moved to high bar and recorded a huge routine from Garrett Braunton, who won the event with a score of 14.45 after catching a Cassina, Kolman, layout Tkatchev, and landing his layout double-double dismount. 

The team trailed Cal after two rotations but bounded ahead of the Bears following floor, where the Falcons went five-for-five. Jake Sampier had Air Force’s best floor routine, scoring a 13.55 to finish top 10. 

Patrick Hoopes had a brilliant horse routine — floating through a Kehr to F flop, Sohn, full stockli, and much more — until erring on his dismount and coming off the apparatus. But Hoopes repeated the element well and still managed to score a 14.0 for second place. 

Braunton was best for the Falcons on rings, scoring a 13.7, and the team capped its competition with a strong vault rotation highlighted by Samuel Metzler’s stuck Kas 1.5, which somewhat inexplicably scored only a 14.35. 

Cal’s Khalen Curry notched two personal bests during Saturday’s competition and was the Bears’ best individual finisher, placing seventh on floor with a score of 13.7. Chris Scales’ 13.45 on rings was also a personal best. Theodor Gadderud finished top 10 on parallel bars with a score of 13.65, and Noah Sano placed ninth on horse with a 13.2. 

Illinois wins three, Nebraska nabs second-ever gold at Big Ten event finals 

On Friday, Michigan’s Fred Richard led his team to its third-consecutive Big Ten title. Read our full recap of the team and event finals below.

Navy secures decisive victory at ECACs 

The Mids earned their second postseason win on Saturday, outpacing Springfield, William & Mary, Army, and other teams to capture their fifth-straight ECAC title. 

Navy finished almost eight points ahead of second-place Springfield with a score of 394.45. The team had its best performance of the year on high bar and claimed individual titles on four events. The Mids’ Isaiah Drake also won the all-around with a score of 80.35. 

Navy started on pommel horse, where Ronan McQuillan set a new career-high score of 14.45. McQuillan performed a D flop, E flop, Roth, and smooth handstand dismount to lead the lineup. Syam Buradagunta finished second with a 13.4. 

Drake was the Mids’ top finisher on rings, placing second with a score of 13.4 after sticking his full-twisting double back dismount. On vault, Navy counted a fall and a couple of rough landings, but Buradagunta landed a clean Kas full to tally the team’s best score of 13.95. 

Navy took the top two spots on parallel bars. Drake finished first with a 13.8 after performing a free-hip mount, whip-it, peach handstand, and double pike dismount, and Vishal Mandava was right behind in second, scoring a 13.75 after executing excellent peach work. 

The Mids’ 64.95 on high bar was its best score of the year. Giovanni Gambatese led the way with his 13.4, catching a Yamawaki, Kovacs, Kolman, straddle Tkatchev, and sticking his full-twisting double layout dismount to take the title. Caleb Hickey scored a 13.0 to finish third. 

Navy closed its competition with three counting scores above 14 on floor from Drake, Connor Van Loo, and Buradagunta. Drake won the event with a 14.35, while Van Loo and Buradagunta tied for second with scores of 14.05. Navy’s Ian Dinmore finished fourth with a 13.95. 

Springfield’s runner-up finish qualified it for the NCAA Championships. It also marked just the third time in approximately 50 years the Pride has finished second at ECACs and the first time it has done so in back-to-back seasons, according to Pride athletics. 

The Pride had a difficult pommel horse rotation but performed well elsewhere, with seven gymnasts finishing in the top five on events. Dominic Ramalho and Sam Kaplan finished second and third, respectively, in the all-around, and Springfield bested Navy as a team on both vault and parallel bars. 

Jakarie Williams finished fifth on floor with a score of 13.4, and David Handron’s 13.4 on rings tied him for third. Andrae Butler and Ramalho led Springfield’s strong vault rotation, placing fourth and fifth, respectively, with scores of 14.1 and 14.05. 

Ramalho also placed third on parallel bars with a 13.6, while Kaplan finished fourth, scoring a 13.55. Owen Carney took second on high bar with a score of 13.25. 

Springfield finished with a score of 386.65. 

William & Mary qualified 11 gymnasts to the NCAA Championships, and Christian Marsh won the rings title with a score of 13.7. Trenton Peazant tied for silver on vault with a 14.25, while Aidan Cuy and Mark Fu finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the all-around. Sam Smith finished just off the podium on horse in fourth. 

The Tribe ended the meet with a score of 383.55. 

Army had three gymnasts finish in the top three on events. Gabe Almeida was third on horse with a 13.25, Patrick Armstrong finished second on rings with a 13.55, and Jonathan Pinc was runner-up on vault, scoring a 14.25. Army scored a 377.65 for fourth at the meet and qualified as a team to NCAAs.

Greenville’s Ricky Mays posted a season-best 14.4 on vault to claim the title. Koby Cantu, Jacob Foster, and Major Bain scored in the high 12s on horse to help Greenville post the second-best pommel score of the meet. The team finished fifth with a 376.25, just back from Army.

Mays also qualified to compete all-around at NCAAs, where he’ll join seven other individual qualifiers from Greenville.

Simpson qualified three gymnasts to NCAAs: Sterling Pariza and Michelangelo Villani in the all-around and Alex Catchpole on parallel bars. Simpson finished sixth with a score of 346.65.