Week 1 #NCAAMGym Recap: ASU Holds Off Washington For First Win

Week 1 of the 2020 NCAA men’s gymnastics season kicked off last Saturday with a win for Arizona State at the Washington Open. 

The Sun Devils, who finished 15th in the country and second at USAG Nationals last season, put up a 383.1 to eke out a one-point win over Washington. SC United and NorCal United finished third and fourth, respectively, with scores of 340.0 and 229.8.

Arizona State was dominant on floor, vault and high bar. They swept the podium and were at least two points ahead of Washington on the three events. The floor and vault effort was led by Nick Garcia and Anthony Mills, who tied for the vault title and went 1 and 2 on floor. ASU’s Colton Palmer was best on high bar, and Dalton Hopkins won rings. 

The Sun Devils probably should’ve won by a wider margin, but a poor effort on parallel bars opened the door for Washington. ASU counted a 9.7 and a 10.55 on the event to score just 57.05. To give some perspective, a 57.05 would have been ASU’s lowest parallel bar score last season by almost five points. 

ASU heads to West Point Open this weekend to face a slew of opponents. To best Army and William & Mary, like they did at USAGs last year, the Sun Devils will need to get back above 60 (at least) on parallel bars and be just as good on floor and vault. 

On another exciting and loud night the Huskies presented themselves on January 4th, 2020 strong and confident on their way to the best season yet. And although many mistakes were made and lots of work still needs to be done, they took second place (382.050 points) just 1.05 points behind @asumensgym. @southerncaliforniaunited (340.000) and @norcalunited (229.800) United took home the third and forth places respectively. The huskies also won Rings and Parallel Bars for themselves arriving second in all of the other 4 events. Luka Sisauri @luka_sisauri (PH 13.600!), Connor Pattison @connor_pattison (PB 13.000!) and Ben Bloom @benb269 (AA 75.850!) took also first places on pommel horse, Parallel Bars, and in the All-Around competition respectively. "We did mistakes, and so did the other teams. However, I know that these guys haven't shown yet all they can and I'm looking forward to a great season with these guys" said Coach Mora after a night packed with a roller coaster of emotions.

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Washington came within striking distance of ASU, an impressive showing considering the departure of Nathan Tsuji. Their 382.05 was over five points higher than their 2019 season debut, a good sign of what is to come for this young team.

The Huskies had a pair of event winners in Luka Sisauri (PH — 13.6) and Connor Pattison (PB — 13.0). Benjamin Bloom also took the all-around title with a 75.85. Every total event score for Washington was above the 60-point mark, setting a solid base for the rest of the season.

Washington is off to the Rocky Mountain Open this Saturday to face Air Force, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Another score in the 380s for the Huskies could make things difficult for Air Force. 

SC United secured a third-place finish with a score of 340. William Pearce had a solid day in the all-around, finishing second with a 73.35, and just missed the podium on vault and high bar. Troy Mendelson claimed third place in the all-around with a score of 71.2. 

SC United’s biggest struggle, by far, came on pommels. Their top score there was an 11.1, and they had to count two scores in the 7s. The team can’t afford to count an event score in the mid-40s, so a goal for SC United this season should be improving on horse. Fortunately, their 43.9 on the event was an outlier: Their next-lowest score was a 57.4 on rings. 

SC United is off until Feb. 1. 

NorCal United rounded out the Washington Open with a fourth-place finish. Parallel bars was the highlight for them where Brandon Garcia and Will Ryan each scored a 12.45 to tie for fifth place. Garcia also finished fifth in the all-around. 

NorCal is also off until Feb. 1.

Written by: Ben Cooperman and Alex Wittenberg