2020 #NCAAMGym Season Preview: Individual Event Predictions
To add to our preview of the 2020 NCAA men’s gymnastics season, the CGA has taken an in-depth look at which gymnasts are most likely to contend for an event title at NCAA Championships in April. These projections are based on performance from last season and potential for improvement in 2020, and they come courtesy of Yordan Aleksandrov, Ben Cooperman and Alex Wittenberg (Cal, PSU and Minnesota alums, respectively).
Floor Exercise
Brody Malone — Stanford
On the way to leading Stanford to their first NCAA title since 2011, Malone won an all-around, floor and high bar title. Not bad for a freshman. Malone enters 2020 as the top dog on FX, and we expect the clutch instinct he exhibited so well last season to be in full force once again.
Gage Dyer — Oklahoma
Dyer missed out on an All-American citation last season on floor, but the standout junior should have no trouble contending this time around if he’s able to execute the 6.0 set he has planned. That start value would probably put him well ahead of the pack, so the big task for Dyer will be to control his power and land cleanly.
Bailey Perez — Stanford
Stanford could very well dominate floor this season, and a lot of that potential comes thanks to Perez, who was less than a tenth behind Malone at NCAA finals. Perez, in true Stanford style, has a healthy mix of power and panache that makes his sets look effortless. With teammates Malone and Riley Loos to compete with on the event, Perez is set up well for a huge season on floor.
Jacob Moore — Michigan
If Perez makes floor look effortless, Moore makes it look downright simple: The Michigan junior appears perennially unfazed sticking double-doubles and triple-full dismounts — no small feat. That helped him earn bronze at NCAAs and gold at Big Tens last season. Moore is one of the most confident competitors in the country, and as a junior, he’s well poised to challenge for an NCAA title come April.
Sebastian Quiana — Illinois
Quiana has an uncanny ability to stick his floor passes, a quality that helped the Illinois senior take fourth at NCAAs last season. We expect Quiana in his final season with the Illini to be back atop the podium on floor. Quiana has always seemed able to compete a harder set, so it’ll be interesting to see if he ups the difficulty during the year.
Pommel Horse
Stephen Nedoroscik — Penn State
The Penn State senior came up just shy of a three-peat at last year’s championships, as Alec Yoder edged him by a mere 0.233. Unfortunately for the rest of the field, Nedoroscik’s championship-caliber routine this year is getting a seven-tenth boost in start value from 2019.
His 16.8 set will be difficult for any of the competition to catch.
Michael Paradise — Illinois
Paradise was a force on pommel horse for the Illini last year, scoring above the 14.5 mark 10 of 12 times and notching a score of 15+ once. There may be no one in the country who can out-execute the senior on this event, putting him in great shape to be in contention come April. The question will be whether or not his 16.3 start value will be enough to catch Nedoroscik.
Khalil Jackson — Nebraska
The race for the 2020 pommel horse title will admittedly be a two-man show, but Jackson could very well find himself on the podium. Coming off of a terrific freshman campaign, Jackson was less than a tenth away from All-American honors on pommel horse to go along with those he earned on high bar. The Cornhusker saw two scores of 13.8+ last year and could be breaking the 14 mark this year.
Bennet Huang — Iowa
Iowa has an extremely talented worker at the back of their lineup. Huang was scoring in the mid-13s last year with a routine that was relatively easy for him. With a couple upgrades he could easily find himself in the running in 2020.
Ian Skirkey — Illinois
The top three scores for Skirkey in 2019 average out to a 13.82. This is a very solid base and even more intriguing when thinking about the leap Illinois pommel horse specialists have been known to make in their sophomore season. If history tells us anything, watch out for Skirkey to be the next in a long line of Illini pommel horse greats.
Still Rings
Isaac Hammet — Penn State
Hammet will be the anchor on rings this year for the Nittany Lions, featuring arguably the best strength positions in the country. The senior was able to hit the 14 mark eight times last year with a season-best 14.8. Considering a low-14 should be good enough to take the rings title this April, Hammet should easily be one of the favorites in 2020.
Danny Graham — Illinois
Illinois suffered an unfortunate loss last year when Graham went out early in the season following an injury. Before that, he came out of seemingly nowhere, scoring a 14.3 against UIC to open 2019. With Alex Diab graduated, Graham will face the tall task of anchoring the Illini ring lineup. It is safe to say that the Illinois native will be back with an even higher ceiling than last year.
Ian Gunther — Stanford
Gunther may never do another rings routine with as much pressure on him as there was at last year’s championships. That set was good enough to help Stanford clinch the NCAA title and garner him All-American honors with a fourth-place finish. All four of the individuals who placed above him have graduated, leaving the door wide open.
Shane Wiskus — Minnesota
Rings is probably one of Wiskus’ worst events, yet he still finds himself as a candidate to potentially take the NCAA title. He is that good. Wiskus scored a 14.1 at last year’s championship and a pair of 13.9s at World Team Selection Camp. He will almost definitely be in the mix.
Parker Clayton — Penn State
Clayton was a quiet force in a stacked ring lineup for Penn State last year. His name became known when he tallied a third-place finish at Big Ten finals with a 14.325. Clayton had an impressive seven scores of 14+ last year and will be someone to watch out for on rings all season.
Vault
Gage Dyer — Oklahoma
I’m going to risk some credibility and bet we see Dyer compete the triple this season. If he does do it, he could very well be the only guy in the country with a 5.6 start on the event, given Anthony McCallum graduated. That would make him tough to beat.
Bryan Perla — Stanford
Perla clutched and stuck his Kas 1.5 at NCAA finals last season, and he was rewarded for it, losing fewer than four tenths in execution and earning a silver medal. With a clean entry and great air sense, Perla has all the makings of high-scoring vaulter. He should put up big numbers in 2020.
Ben Eyles — Minnesota
Eyles is another vaulter with excellent execution and an ability to stick. At NCAAs last season, as a freshman, he planted his Kas 1.5 to go 14.8, which was good enough for fourth. In his sophomore season, expect Eyles to hone his ability to land and contribute big for the Gophers on vault. It’s likely we’ll see a few sticks.
Stewart Brown — Iowa
Brown was another standout freshman vaulter last season, taking third at Big Tens and providing some much-needed oomph in the Iowa lineup. He only went 14.6 or higher twice, but with his experience from last year and his power on the event, Brown should be consistently ranking in the top-five nationally in 2020.
Sean Neighbarger — Ohio State
Neighbarger missed NCAA finals on vault but took fourth at Big Tens with his Yurchenko 2.5. He also notched three scores of 14.7 throughout the season. Yurchenkos tend not to incur as much deduction as Kas vaults — see: Anton Stephenson — so Neighbarger is in good position to vie for titles on vault in his junior season.
Parallel Bars
Shane Wiskus — Minnesota
Coming off a parallel bars national title in 2019, Wiskus will be looking to do the same and defend his title in 2020. Wiskus not only possesses a beautiful style of gymnastics, but he also has one of the highest start values on this apparatus. If you add his experience from competing two full seasons in the NCAA and representing the USA National Team at the 2019 World Championships, another NCAA title seems almost inevitable.
Cameron Bock — Michigan
Although a couple minor errors prevented him from earning an All-American on parallel bars in 2019, Bock tied Wiskus for the highest start value in the meet. Along with his impressively high D-score, Bock has an incredible amount of experience and success on the international stage. In 2019 at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Bock won the bronze medal on parallel bars.
Brody Malone — Stanford
After watching Malone dominate the majority of competitions during the regular season and leading his team to an NCAA title, it's fair to say that this guy has no weak event. Malone makes up for what he lacks in difficulty on PB with superb execution: He recorded one of the highest E-scores on parallel bars at last year’s NCAA Championships. Malone will be striving to use that clean execution to All-American in 2020.
Blake Sun — Stanford
After scoring 14.5 or above on PB at four different competitions during the regular season in 2019, Sun was able to back up his success on the event with an impressive third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Sun’s high level of difficulty, beautiful under-bar work and consistency should once again push him to be on the podium this season.
David Pochinka — Minnesota
Even though last year was Pochinka’s debut season in the NCAA and he might have lacked a bit of experience, his performances on PB during the regular season proved that he was one of the best workers on the event in the nation. With his 5.5 difficulty score from last season and a little bit more confidence and experience, Pochinka will be determined to find a spot in the top eight during 2020.
High Bar
Brody Malone — Stanford
In comfortably winning the 2019 NCAA high bar title and posting a massive 14.633 score, Malone was able to demonstrate just how much of a complete all-around gymnast he was. What was even more remarkable than his final score was his 8.933 execution score. In an Olympic cycle Code of Points where HB is by far the lowest-scoring event, execution scores above 8.5 are rarely seen. With a couple more tenths added to his already stacked routine, Malone could be untouchable in 2020.
Hamish Carter — Illinois
A finalist from last year’s World Challenge Cup in Szombathely, Hungary, Great Britain National Team member Carter must be in the mix for an NCAA high bar title. Carter’s unique and fluid routine on the HB features an intricate Tkatchev combination that is backed up with some gorgeous in-bar work. With this high-level routine, Carter will be aiming to top his sixth-place finish from last year and add another All-American to his collection.
David Jessen — Stanford
Jessen is another high bar finalist from the 2019 World Challenge Cup in Szombathely, Hungary, and a fourth-place finisher at last year’s NCAA Championships. The Czech Republic National Team member has the experience, style and difficulty to compete with the best NCAA gymnasts on this event. A 2016 Olympian, Jessen will be using his experience from the international stage to push for his first individual NCAA title.
Shane Wiskus — Minnesota
Just barely missing out on an All-American on HB, USA National Team member Wiskus will be looking to add yet another All-American to his large collection. With a stacked routine that features several releases and a couple of one-arm giant skills, Wiskus is a favorite for a top-three finish at the 2020 NCAA Championships.
Khalil Jackson — Nebraska
Placing in the top eight on an event and earning an All-American award is a huge accomplishment and a tough task for any gymnast. Doing so in your debut NCAA season is an even more incredible achievement. Jackson from Nebraska demonstrated to everyone just how much of a talented high bar worker he was at last year’s NCAA Championships by performing a beautiful routine that showcased some massive Kovacs skills and a stuck landing. Jackson showed that it’s not always about the difficulty when it comes to scoring high on this apparatus, and he will be seeking to back up last season’s All-American with another one in 2020.