Week 4: #NCAAMGym Recap
Nebraska @ Penn State
Nebraska 403.0500 @ Penn State 406.9000
The Nittany Lions will walk away from this meet with a marquee win over Nebraska, but the real story out of University Park is what Coach Jepson has in this freshmen class. After opening the season with a 383.60 and Ethan Dick the lone freshman competing, Penn State has now gone 399.30 and 406.90 since then as the rest of the class has flooded the lineups.
Matt Cormier and Michael Jaroh are shaping up to be one of the best duos in the country after just two competitions together. Jaroh competed on five events, averaging a 13.89 and capturing a share of the pommel horse (14.10) and vault (14.55) titles while taking high bar outright (14.00). Cormier averaged a 14.03, took the floor title (14.75), and finished second on high bar (13.90). Michael Artlip, Colin Wingrove, and the aforementioned Ethan Dick, all returned solid performances for Penn State to round out the impressive day for the freshman class.
Help came from upperclassmen as well, highlighted by Parker Clayton’s rings title (14.05) to prop up an otherwise weak rings lineup by Penn State’s historical standards. Brennan Pantazis turned in a 14.40 second place performance on floor and fellow senior Alex Frack provided a quietly solid performance on four events, averaging a 13.40.
A lot of pressure was on Nebraska in their season opener and even though they did not come away with a win, it was still an imposing debut. While not quite as powerful as their opponent, the Huskers also had a strong showing from their freshman. Taylor Christopulos competed on four events and took a share of the vault title (14.55). He is a name to watch moving forward as this young season progresses.
Cooper Giles captured the only other title for Nebraska with a 14.10 on Pommel Horse, an event that will be strong for this team. A positive take away for the Huskers was their lack of reliance from their typical staples. Jake Bonnay, Khalil Jackson, and Griffin Kehler competed only four routines combined. This number will surely tick up as the season goes along and suggests that their ceiling may be much higher than their opening 403.05.
Army vs. California (Virtual)
Army 371.5500, California 380.7000 (Virtual)
Cal was able to secure a 380.60-371.55 victory over Army in their virtual competition this past weekend.
Cal started on the floor exercise with a few missed sets, but closed out with a 13.50 from junior Miles Lee. On pommel horse, Cal was able to post a 13.10 from Noah Newfeld and a 13.20 from Will Lavanakul. The Golden Bears headed to rings and vault where they struggled as a team, only posting a 62.10 (SR) and 68.5 (V). Caleb Rickard was able to highlight the vault run by scoring a 14.35. They had more success on parallel bars and high bar where they were able to sweep the podium on both events. Miles Lee took the parallel bars title with a 13.25 and Noah Newfeld won high bar with a 13.05. The Golden Bears had a handful of falls throughout the competition, but it proves that they still have plenty of room to grow during the remainder of the season.
Miguel Aquino was able to lead Army on floor with a second place finish (12.75). Aquino was backed up by a fourth place finish from Mathew Davis. On pommel horse, Matthew Martin’s impressive performance landed him a 13.50 and the event title. Highlights from the rest of the competition included a first place finish on rings from Mathew Davis (13.500) and a third place finish from Corban Barstow on vault (13.90).
Army struggled on pommel horse and high bar for the second week in a row where they went sub-60 as a team on both events. Once they figure out how to start executing these two events, they should see a huge jump in their team score.
Minnesota @ Ohio State
Minnesota 387.2500 @ Ohio State 401.0500
Ohio State finally managed to break the 400 barrier at home against Minnesota on Saturday, scoring a 401.05. The Golden Gophers remained consistent, scoring only .2 higher than their season debut last weekend to land them at a 387.25. Notably, Shane Wiskus is still missing from the Minnesota lineup – his absence is clearly having an impact on the Gophers competitiveness this season.
Ohio State started on floor, scoring a 69.0 with a series of strong showings and a standout effort from Jesse Tyndall (14.2). Pommel horse was not as kind to the Buckeyes as they tallied a 63.25, led by Justin Ah Chow (13.75) while counting three scores in the 12 range. Our prediction from last week about the ability of Ohio State to score 2-3 points higher on rings came true as the boys from Columbus improved 2.6 points from last week to a 66.95 team score on the event this week. Angel Leon led the team on rings (13.7), vault (14.5), and parallel bars (13.95) in one of his best outings as a Buckeye. High bar was a rough event for Ohio State as they managed a meager (62.55). Ohio State continues to improve and still has plenty of room to grow.
The story for Minnesota thus far has been all about how to manage the recurring absence of Shane Wiskus. Making things more challenging for the Golden Gophers this weekend was the additional absence of David Pochinka. However, Michael Moran stepped up and provided a 79.0 all-around winning performance and a vault score of (14.5) for the event title to boost the Gophers. Assisting Moran were a pair of consistent seniors, Colton Dee and Henry Meeker. Dee held the Gopher floor and vault lineups steady with a 14.05 to lead the team on floor and posted a solid (13.9) on vault. Meeker led Minnesota on pommel horse (13.3) and contributed a (13.25) on rings. Another bright spot for the Gophers this weekend was Crew Bold’s parallel bars performance in which he put up a (13.65). We’ll keep an eye on Minnesota as they smooth out the kinks from their first couple of showings.
Northern Illinois (Virtual)
Northern Illinois 338.8000 (Virtual)
NIU posted a season high 338.80 in a solo virtual meet this past Saturday. David Dortmund continues to impress, putting up a 75.40 in the all around after winning every event except rings and vault. Northern Illinois will not compete again until March 27th, but at this pace they could very well find a spot in the top 18 come end of season.
Contributions from Bailey Perez, Max Soifer, and Ben Cooperman.