2021 NCAA Championship Recap
Final Results (Some athletes seem to be missing)
The meet that Stanford had their eye on all year finally came, and they took the pressure in stride. Curran Phillips started the night off for the Cardinal with a huge 14.733, which landed him a third place finish on the event. His vault was the perfect setup for the rest of the run which was anchored by Zach Martin. Martin stuck a beautiful kaz full and a half which scored a 14.900 and gave him a 2nd place finish behind OU’s Gage Dyer. The Cardinal ended vault with a 73.432, a mark untouched by any other team. On parallel bars, Ian Gunther and Blake Sun led the line-up with a pair of 13.833s, each earning themselves All-American status. After posting a 67.132, Stanford had over a three point lead heading into high bar.
Riley Loos led the Cardinal off to one of their most consistent high bar runs of the season. His 13.633 was a career high and landed him All-American status. Midway through the lineup, the audience was given a stellar show by Brody Malone’s high flying set which landed a 14.433. His routine was one of the most exciting of the competition, and plenty to defend his 2019 high bar title. With momentum on their side, the Cardinal headed to floor where they scored a 70.598, a significant improvement from their 66.350 performance at MPSF’s two weeks ago. By the end of the floor rotation, Oklahoma had crept their way back into the running and only trailed Stanford by about one point. This put some major pressure on the Cardinal as they headed into pommel horse, traditionally one of the toughest events to hit at NCAAs. Ian Gunther started off with a clutch performance, landing Stanford a 13.633 and a fifth place finish on the event. This energy carried throughout the rest of the run, but they dropped to second place and trailed the Sooners by three tenths heading into the final rotation.
At this point, I’m sure the Cardinal were replaying their 2019 rings run in their heads, and realizing that closing this three tenth deficit was going to be a lot easier than the four point one they closed in 2019 to win the team title. Rather than get complacent and leave any uncertainty on the table, the Cardinal put up the best ring performance the country saw all season. Matt Szot set up the lineup strong with a 13.666 and his teammates followed with three All-American sets from Malone, Loos, and Gunther. Stanford’s 70.093 performance left no questions as to who deserved to win the team title in the final event.
Brandon Briones had an impressive day, closing out the competition with two All-Americans and a third place finish in the all-around. A special shoutout must be given to Brody Malone for his 85.010 performance which landed him the status of back-to-back national champion. The last time the NCAA saw this feat was in 2013 and 2014 from Sam Mikulak. He also garnered All-American status on floor, rings, and high bar. His impressive performance is one that Team USA will be looking at as Malone works towards making the group that will head to Tokyo in August.
On Saturday night, the Cardinal’s display of teamwork, grit, and determination is what ultimately helped them walk out of the Maturi pavilion with the NCAA team title, 15 All-Americans and the all-around champion.
Mark Williams and the Sooners did not have huge expectations for themselves leading up to this season but Oklahoma sprinted out of the gates in route to an undefeated regular season. This OU team is not one of the most talented that Mark Williams has put together, but this year’s squad goes to show that Williams is a genius when it comes to creating rosters that can vie for championships.
On day one, the Sooners took their first loss of the season to Nebraska, in what was by most accounts the sloppiest performance by OU gymnastics in years. Day two was a completely different story. Other than one or two brief struggles, the Sooners put together a 411.591 performance to place second behind the extremely talented Stanford Cardinal.
The highlight for OU from this year’s NCAA championships was undoubtedly Gage Dyer. Dyer came into this championship with an injury but didn’t let it phase him. He put up 15+ scores on floor and vault to take home the NCAA crown on both events, something OU has become accustomed to. Dyer joins a list of OU greats who have accomplished the same feat, including Jake Dalton, Steven Legendre, and Yul Moldauer.
This NCAA Championships wraps up what was a year of surprising success for Oklahoma. The 2021 Sooners were undefeated in the regular season, placed runner-up at NCAA’s, received 9 All-American citations, and won two individual NCAA titles. Overall, a massively successful year for a team that was not expected to achieve such heights.
Michigan started the meet on pommel horse, an event where they have been dominant all year and carried a number one ranking in the country. A pair of mistakes plagued them early, resulting in a 65.566 score on the event. While not disastrous, the Wolverines hoped to gain a significant margin over Stanford and OU here. A pair of 14.033s from Cameron Bock and James Read on rings led the way to a 69.298 to get Michigan back on track. It was smooth sailing from there until troubles came on high bar. Another dominant event for this team that unravelled, scoring a 65.265 and solidifying a third place finish in the country.
There is no doubt that Kurt Golder and his team had NCAA champion aspirations, but this finish should still be celebrated as Michigan completed their strongest season since the Sam Mikulak era. Even on an off day, Paul Juda took sixth in the all-around (81.498) signaling more great things to come in his next two years. Michigan finished the meet with 13 All-Americans across every event except vault. While it was not the performance this team had hoped for, the Wolverines capped off an incredible year and laid the foundation for continued success.
Nebraska shocked the nation in their day one performance by beating OU and landing the third highest score heading into team finals. However, on day two of competition, the Cornhuskers didn’t perform to that of their day one performance. They finished the competition with a 406.624 and a fourth place finish.
To start the competition, the Huskers had a strong showing on parallel bars. Dylan Young and Evan Kriley led the way with a pair of 13.700s which contributed to the team’s 67.266 performance. On high bar, Evan Hymanson and Sam Phillips’ 13.500s were less than a tenth shy of All-American status. The Huskers then headed to the floor exercise and put up a line-up of very consistent scores that was led by Jake Bonnay’s 14.300.
Pommel horse is where the Huskers shined. They managed to garner three all-americans from Evan Kriley, Mitch Tyndall, and Charlie Giles. Additionally, they were able to post the highest team score, a 65.965, even after counting two falls. After horse, Nebraska was still in the running for a top three finish, but a poor rings performance was destructive for them. A 65.2980 was the second lowest team ring score of the meet and opened up a four to five point window for Stanford, Oklahoma and Michigan. However, the Huskers finished strong on vault led by Giles fourth place and Taylor Christopulos’ fifth place finish.
The Husker’s four place finish is one they will be looking to improve upon, but they proved that they will be one of the best teams in the B1G for years to come.
The 2021 NCAA Championships represented much more for Minnesota men’s gymnastics than nearly every other team. Minnesota, the host for this year’s championships, will not have another opportunity to compete in Big Ten or NCAA contests, and will no longer be sponsored by the university after this year. However, this turmoil did not interfere with the Gophers quest for athletic success.
Minnesota entered this season in a difficult position. Without Shane Wiskus for most of the year and the impending doom of imminent demise from having been cut by the university, led the Gophers to a dismal start to the season. In fact, even when their Nissen-Emery winning star did return, gymnastics pundits still predicted that Minnesota would not finish this season in the top six. Minnesota proved everyone wrong by producing two season high scores in a row on day one and day two to secure not just a top six finish, but a top five finish.
In addition to team success, Minnesota had significant individual successes. Shane Wiskus, of course, accounted for a lot of this as he brought home event titles on rings and parallel bars while receiving All-American citations on every event but vault, etching his name into the annals of Minnesota athletics history. Mike Moran and Donte McKinney also received All-American awards on vault and high bar respectively.
We will miss the presence of Minnesota on the NCAA stage, but the legacy and contributions that Minnesota has made to collegiate men’s gymnastics will not soon be forgotten.
Expectations were low for the Illini heading into championship season after injuries to key players left them depleted. The return of Hamish Carter was key in Illinois’ quest to punch a ticket to the team final, which they were able to do, securing a top six finish in the country. From there, Ian Skirkey was the highlight, taking the national title on pommel horse with a 14.166. Skirkey carries on the long tradition of Illini pommel horse success that kicked off over ten years ago with two NCAA titles from current Associate Head Coach, Daniel Ribeiro. Connor McCool also garnered All-American honors with a great performance on floor (14.733).
Iowa battled it out all of day one with Penn State and Minnesota to find that third spot that would push them into the team finals. Unfortunately, after a rough performance on vault and parallel bars in their last two rotations, the Hawkeyes fell short of team finals. However, they sent several routines to day two including all-around performances from Evan Davis and Bennett Huang. Davis and Huang both garnered all-american status with their impressive fifth and seventh place finishes.
Unfortunately, this is the last time we will see the Hawkeyes compete as an NCAA team. The 2021 group, led by Huang and Davis, will be remembered as one that went out fighting. The final Iowa team exceeded all expectations, proving that they were a program that could keep up with the best and deserve to continue competing with the nation’s top echelon.
This young but talented Penn State team underperformed what was expected of them. Most of the scoring power on the Nittany Lion squad comes from underclassmen and the inexperience showed throughout this year’s NCAA championships. Randy Jepson’s team failed to qualify for this year’s super six after having recruited the most talented freshman class in the NCAA. This year’s underperformance and added experience will no doubt fuel future Penn State teams in the years to come, but this year just wasn’t meant to be.
Although the Nittany Lions struggled to attain team success this year, they did have a couple of highlights in the pommel horse routine from Jack Baldwin, this year’s Elite 90 winner, and Parker Clayton’s rings routine. Clayton received All-American status while Baldwin, unfortunately, came up just short after losing a tie breaker.
Injuries to Max Andryushchenko and Justin Ah Chow heading into day one of championships made Ohio State’s chance to qualify into the team final a longshot. They were still able to put up a respectable prelim performance where Jesse Tyndall, as he has been all year, was the highlight. Tyndall was able to qualify to the second day of competition as an all-arounder where he made the most of the opportunity. His eighth place finish (80.965) earned him All-American honors.
Navy struggled in Friday’s competition only posting a 390.990, which made them fall short of making the team finals. However, Navy sent multiple individuals to day two of competition. David Toussaint’s 13.3660 performance on pommel horse left him just one tenth shy of All-American status. Giovanni Gambatese had the same experience on high bar where his 13.433 also fell one tenth short of All-American status. Ryan McVay had a strong day in the all-around where he finished in tenth place. The Midshipmen didn’t walk away with any hardware this year, but their future looks bright and hopefully a more normal training cycle will help them have a successful season in 2022.
Cal performed exactly to expectation at this year’s NCAA championship. A team without any seniors, and a slew of talented underclassmen presents a bright future for the Bears. Although the 392.050 that Cal put up day one was the season high score for Berkeley, it was not enough to secure a spot in the super six. Individually, Cal captain, Caleb Rickard, secured All-American status on vault for an exquisitely performed, stuck, Kazamatsu one and a half.
William & Mary’s season was a huge success even before they stepped onto the floor as a team on Friday. After receiving the news that their program was being discontinued, the Tribe rallied to complete their best season in years and qualify to NCAA Championships as a team. In the midst of this, they also received the news that their program would be reinstated. It wasn’t the performance they wanted as a team, but for the first time since 2013 a William & Mary gymnast secured All-American status; Andrew Lyubovsky on parallel bars. William & Mary will be back next year to build on a successful 2021 season.
Both Air Force and Army managed to qualify a talented group into prelims on Friday. Frankie Valentin of the Falcons continued his excellent season and punched a ticket as an individual into finals on Saturday. Valentin finished twelfth in the all-around with a 79.231.
Contributions from Bailey Perez, Max Soifer, and Ben Cooperman.