Week 8 #NCAAMGym Recap
Springfield vs. Stanford (Virtual)
Springfield College 368.1500, Stanford 404.4000 (Virtual)
Stanford (404.40) finally broke the 400 mark on Friday in a romping of the Springfield College Pride (369.50). Brody Malone, Brandon Briones, and Ian Gunther were back in the lineup for the Cardinal, albeit only on a couple of events, but their return was clearly welcome. Also, the debut of freshmen Colt Walker and Jeremy Bischoff showed that Stanford has a lot to look forward to in the coming years.
Stanford came out of the gate a little bit slowly on floor with a team score of 65.30. The rotation was highlighted by a 14.45 performance from Blake Wilson. Pommel horse was nicer to the Cardinal who put up 66.80 points led by event winner, Brody Malone (14.15). Rings was also a rough spot for Stanford (65.25), high scores on the event came from Ian Gunther (13.85) and Matthew Szot (13.45). It looks like there is room for improvement on that event. As Briones, Malone, and Riley Loos work their way back into the rings lineup, look for that event score to improve significantly.
The vault run from Stanford was a textbook display of power and precision. A 73.65 event score is the highest vault score in the country thus far and it came without the help of Riley Loos’ massive 15.6 start value. The lowest score recorded for the Stanford vault score at this meet was a 14.65. Brandon Nguyen led the vault team with a 14.80. Parallel bars (67.00) and high bar (66.40) were both solid events that enabled the Cardinal to surpass the 400 barrier. Blake Sun and Colt Walker led the way on parallel bars with massive scores, 14.30 and 14.10 respectively. Brandon Briones led the high bar squad with a 13.75. This meet might be the turning point for Stanford as some of their top athletes were reintroduced to their lineups. It is clear that the Cardinal still have a lot of room to grow this season. Once their top lineup is back on each event they will be nearly impossible for any team to challenge.
Springfield also started slowly on floor (59.95) which may have been why they were unable to break 370 and ended with their lowest score of the season. Pommel horse (60.3) was better for the pride, led by freshman standout, Colton O’Brien (13.4), who tied for second on the event with Ian Gunther. Rings (58.45) was also a rough point for Springfield. The five-up five-count format proved to be challenging, as one disastrous routine really hampered their efforts on the event. Vault (68.15) helped correct the course of the day for Springfield, led by Dominic Ramalho (14.25). Parallel bars, a weak event for many teams, seems to be a stronger event for Springfield. The Pride scored a 62.40 on the event, again led by sophomore Dominic Ramalho (13.25). A couple of strong performances on high bar from Kyle Lukaesko (12.70) and Jakarie Williams (12.55) closed out the meet for the Pride.
A silver lining of the challenges that we’ve all faced this year is that the virtual format for NCAA competitions was approved paving the way for contests such as this one. This matchup may have been the first time that Springfield and Stanford have ever had a dual meet and would likely not have happened if not for the virtual format.
Penn State @ Minnesota
Penn State 398.2500 @ Minnesota 404.3000
As expected, returning Shane Wiskus to your lineups is a big deal. The olympic hopeful missed the first three meets of the season preparing for Winter Cup at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. After a fourth place finish in the all-around, a floor title, and a national team berth in Indianapolis, Wiskus returned to NCAA competition to lead Minnesota to a win over Penn State. Their 404.30 was an almost seven point improvement upon their previous season high.
Wiskus won the all-around with an 84.05 to go along with event titles on floor (14.80), p bars (14.75), and high bar (14.35). Ben Eyles captured the final event title on the day for Minnesota with his T-1st 14.30 vault. Crew Bold and Donte Mckinney were also excellent on Saturday, providing big contributions on p bars and high bar, where Minnesota now ranks fifth and sixth in the country respectively. Bold took third on p bars (13.80) and tied for second on high bar with McKinney (13.75).
The story was the opposite for Penn State as they turned in their second score below the 400 mark in their last three meets. Early season fireworks from their freshman class have fizzled out as they have started to struggle closing out meets on p bars and high bar. Minnesota gained 5.25 points over the Nittany Lions on those two events alone.
The problems are deeper than just those two events for Penn State. While Nick Mock (13.60) and Parker Clayton (14.30) won the pommel horse and rings titles respectively, the rest of their lineups on those two have been lackluster. Mock and Clayton have been excellent this year but will need others to step up and carry some of the weight.
Oklahoma @ William & Mary
Oklahoma 403.7000 @ William & Mary 384.9000
After several weeks off, Oklahoma hit the competition floor again, posting a 403.70 against W&M. This was the Sooners’ lowest score of the season by several points, but it is important to note that they were missing two of their key gymnasts from the line-up, Matthew Wenske and Gage Dyer.
The Sooners started on the floor exercise posting a 69.05. Morgan Seyler led the team with a 14.45 and was followed up by Spencer Goodell’s 14.25. Once the NCAA floor leader Gage Dyer is back in the line-up, we could see the Sooners’ floor score push into the 71+ range. On pommel horse, OU struggled to put together a consistent run, but Vitaliy Guimaraes led the team with a 13.65. Guimaraes carried his momentum into rings capturing the event title with a 14.10.
Mason Menser led OU on vault with a 14.65 and was closely followed by Morgan Seyler’s 14.55. On parallel bars, Noah Giordano made his season debut, winning the event title with a 13.75. Goodell and Guimaraes also had successful performances both posting a 13.65. OU struggled on high bar, only scoring a 65.35. The Sooners had many successful routines during the competition but uncharacteristic mistakes led them to their 403.70. Don’t let this score fool you, OU is still one of the best teams in the NCAA. Once they have their full line-up in competition they will return to being the team we all know, the one that hits routines and is tough to compete against.
W&M showed significant improvement from their previous weeks performances on floor, pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars. On floor, Cutter Fugett led the Tribe for another week in a row with his 13.30. They scored a 64.95 as a team which was over two points better than their previous week's score. On pommel horse, Spencer Schrandt took third on the event with a 13.35. The Tribe put up a 64.250 on the still rings and were led by Christian Marsh and Jordan Kula’s pair of 13.15s.
W&M didn’t have their usual success on vault, only posting a 68.00. On parallel bars, Marsh and Kula once again tied with a 13.30, helping the Tribe reach a 64.65 team score. They finished the competition with a 62.05 on high bar. W&M showed nice improvements on several events, but flustered on vault which has been their strongest event of the season. If they would have executed their normal vault run, they could have posted a team season high. W&M takes on Navy this weekend where they will look to improve on their consistency and push a team score closer to 390.
Ohio State @ Nebraska
Ohio State 406.7000 @ Nebraska 411.1000
This B1G battle resulted in a successful performance from both teams, but Nebraska’s 411.10 was enough to defeat Ohio State’s 406.70.
Nebraska’s 411.100 was their highest of the season and displayed the Huskers true potential. Although their 69.90 on floor wasn’t their highest of the season, it definitely helped the Huskers start off the competition on the right foot. On pommel horse, Cooper Giles (14.40) performed one of the best routines in the NCAA this season. If he can remain consistent, he will be a tough horseman to compete against late in the season. The Husker’s had a strong ring run scoring a 68.00. Taylor Christopulos and Dylan Young led the team with a 13.80 and 13.65.
On vault, their 72.70 helped them separate from the Buckeyes. Evan Hymanson fed off of the Huskers energy from vault on parallel bars where he scored a 14.55, winning the event title. Both Sam Phillips and Dillian King had strong performances on high bar, scoring a 13.80 and a 13.70. It’s safe to say that Nebraska is a strong team and had a great competition, but they will need to tighten up some routines if they want to be posting scores of this caliber later in the season.
Ohio State scored their season high and have a lot to be happy about from this competition. Justin Ah Chow led the Buckeyes on the floor exercise with a 14.65, which won him the event title. Chow carried this momentum to pommel horse where he placed third with a 13.75. His teammates Luke Smigliani and Andrew Brower followed with a 13.55 and 13.30. The Buckeyes had an impressive rings performance which was led by Donovan Hewitt’s 14.10 and Max Andryushchenko’s 13.90.
Ohio State had a few hiccups on vault, landing them a 70.15 team score. Jesse Tyndall took charge on the last two events, scoring a 14.10 on parallel bars (2nd place) and a 14.15 on high bar which landed him the event title. Something to take away from this meet is the Buckeyes are a strong team. If they can eliminate their 1-2 mishaps on every event, they will see a drastic improvement in their team score. They will have the opportunity to improve on their 4th and 5th routines this weekend when they face off against Iowa.
Iowa @ Michigan
Iowa 398.6500 @ Michigan 402.6500
In a battle of the undefeated teams in the Big Ten, Iowa (398.65) gave Michigan (402.65) a run for their money but came up short. Michigan was without sophomore phenom, Paul Juda, and instead were led solely by senior standout, Cameron Bock, who came away with three event titles.
Michigan started off with up and down performances on floor (67.90), highlighted by Nick Guy (14.45), Jacob Moore (14.35), and Adam Wooten (14.10). Pommel horse was also a mixed bag of performances, but Cameron Bock saved the day with a massive (14.55) to take the event title. Michigan’s rings (66.10) have been better in the past but yet again, Bock led the way with a (14.40) to keep his team above the 66 mark on the event. The vault team from Michigan was solid (70.45) but not quite what the Wolverines will need to challenge the top teams once championship season arrives. Casey Cummings (14.35) carried Michigan on the event.
Bock and freshman, Evgeny Siminiuc, showed spectacular routines on parallel bars scoring 14.40 and 14.20 respectively to lead Michigan to a 66.60 team score. To close out the win for Michigan Jacob Moore (13.60) and Anthony Tawfik (13.40) put up solid performances on high bar (66.00). This was far from Michigan’s best performance this season. Nebraska is gaining strength and momentum and if Michigan wishes to take home the Big Ten title this year, let alone the NCAA title, they will need Paul Juda and Cameron Bock to both be at their absolute best.
This Iowa team is one of J.D. Reive’s strongest we’ve seen in a long time. They keep upsetting teams or coming close enough to scare the top teams in the Big Ten. Bennett Huang had a very strong day and took home the all-around title (82.65), along with the floor title (14.5). Huang also put up a big routine on pommel horse (14.25) to carry the Hawkeyes on that event. Peyton Hobson showed a solid set on rings (13.70) to lead the rotation. Stewart Brown (14.65), Bennett Huang (14.60), and Carter Tope (14.40) hit clean vaults to sweep the podium.
Consistent performances on parallel bars (65.40) and high bar (64.05) kept the Hawkeyes in the game, but were not enough to pull ahead in the last two rotations. Evan Davis also had a very strong day. breaking 80 in the all-around and putting up solid performances across the board. The Hawkeyes are a clear underdog in the hunt for the Big Ten title, but certainly should not be ruled out.
Stanford @ Cal
Stanford 412.5000 @ California 386.1000
In their second meet of week eight, Stanford kept on rolling as they took down Cal at home in their first in-person meet of the season. Their 412.50 was a more than eight point improvement over their previous high, as the Cardinal rapidly strengthen their lineup and return to top form. With Riley Loos on the sidelines and Brody Malone, Ian Gunther, and Brandon Briones only competing on select events, it is safe to say that this team is still far from their ceiling.
Freshman, Colt Walker, got his first chance at the all-around on Sunday. Walker was markedly solid, tallying an 80.65 in the to take first place. Brody Malone is up to three events and he won all of them in this showing (PH - 14.50, SR - 14.10, PB - 14.45). Blake Wilson took the floor title with a 14.60 and Briones took vault with a 14.80. Curran Phillips has shown significant improvement this year and added a high bar title for his team (13.35). This outing put any debate regarding who is the favorite to win NCAAs to rest.
Cal added their sixth straight score in the 380s in the loss to Stanford. They have been very consistent in 2021 but have yet to jump above the 390 mark. Caleb Rickard was the highlight for the Golden Bears. The junior nabbed a second place finish on vault (14.65) and another runner up finish on high bar (13.15), both of which are impressive against a loaded Cardinal roster.
Northern Illinois vs. UIC (Virtual)
Northern Illinois 331.5000, UIC 348.7000 (Virtual)
UIC returned to competition for the first time since January to take down Northern Illinois. The Flames tallied a 328.70, a 20+ point improvement over their debut. Nick Smiley, Sam Montague, and Colin Schwartz all turned in big performances. Schwartz took the p bars title with a 12.10 while Nick Smiley and teammate Kelvin Stevens tied for first on rings (12.30).
David Dortmund continues to be excellent for NIU. He earned another slew of first place finishes on Sunday (FX - 12.90, PH - 12.80, VT - 14.10, AA - 73.50). Ethan Meister was also able to take an event title with his 11.70 performance on high bar.
Contributions from Bailey Perez, Max Soifer, and Ben Cooperman.