Week 4 Recap
Stanford Open
Stanford has officially hit their stride, posting an NCAA high 410.25 to beat both Oklahoma and Cal on Saturday. The Cardinal dominated, featuring an event winner on every apparatus except pommel horse. Freshman, Ian Lasic-Ellis, split the rings title with his teammate, Thomas Lee (14.15). Another freshman, Mark Berlaga, continues to post big scores on rings, taking third behind his teammates with a 14.10. On p bars, Blake Sun posted the highest score in the country so far this year, posting a humongous 15.70.
Andrew Bitner unfortunately missed almost the entirety of 2021 after suffering an injury. He was back in full force this weekend, competing on two events and taking the event title on high bar with a 13.70. Rounding out the event winners for the Cardinal were Blake Wilson on floor (14.50) and Zach Martin on vault (14.80). Also worth mentioning, Bryan Perla is back after opting out of the 2021 season. Perla took second on floor and sixth on vault with a pair of 14.40s.
Not only was this the most dominant performance so far this year, Stanford showed that they could very well be a juggernaut. They were the 2021 NCAA Champions, have now gained back key opt outs from a season ago, and are bolstered by an impressive freshman class making an immediate impact. All of this and Brody Malone, Olympian and World Medalist, has yet to touch the competition floor.
Oklahoma put up a 405.45, their third straight score above the 400 mark, to place second behind Stanford. The lone event title on the day for the Sooners was won by Zach Nunez, scoring a 14.10 on an impressive pommel horse set. The freshman duo of Fuzzy Benas and Raydel Gamboa continues to carry the bulk of the workload for Mark Williams’ team. And they have been doing a great job at it to say the least. Benas competed on five events, averaging a 14.10, highlighted by second place finishes on vault (14.70) and p bars (14.75). Gamboa competed in the all-around, tallying an 81.00.
This was a very impressive performance by the Sooners, even without Senior National Team Member, Vitaliy Guimaraes. As the senior works back into the all-around, OU could be capable of scoring in the low 410s. This may not be enough to catch Stanford when they are in peak form, but could put Oklahoma in a class of their own above the Big Ten teams.
Rounding out the top three teams was Cal, posting a formidable 393.00, an improvement on their debut by over ten points. Kyle Abe was able to take third on floor with a 14.15 in a very deep field. Caleb Rickard was another highlight for the Golden Bears, taking fourth on vault (14.55) and second on high bar (13.45).
Illinois @ Penn State
In another highly anticipated Big Ten matchup this weekend, Illinois barely edged out Penn State in Nittany Lion territory. Initially, a clerical error had Penn State narrowly squeaking by the Fighting Illini but upon a review of the scores, Illinois took the team title with a 397.25 to Penn State’s 396.55.
Penn State took an early lead on floor after a less than stellar rotation by the Illini. Both teams had solid pommel horse rotations in which Michael Jaroh and Chase Clingman both put up 13.60s to edge out David Pochinka’s 13.55. The Nittany Lions ruled the first half of this meet with help from their rings squad who beat out the Illinois rings team 65.40 to 64.55 and Jaroh (14.05) took home yet another event title. Both teams had huge vault rotations with Penn State scoring 71.65 and Illinois putting up 71.8. The event title went to Evan Manivong with a 14.85.
The momentum shifted a little bit on parallel bars where the Illini pulled back into contention with a solid performance out of Michael Fletcher (13.60). However, Fletcher’s routine was not good enough for the event title – that went to Penn State phenom, Michael Jaroh (13.80) who claimed his third title of the day. The Illini were able to complete their comeback win with a solid high bar rotation highlighted by a career high out of Sebastian Ingersoll (13.55) and an event title out of Hamish Carter (13.80).
Both teams showed significant improvement this past week and will look to push further ahead as the season progresses. Both can be looked at to contend with the likes of Ohio State and Nebraska for that second spot in the Big Ten standings.
William & Mary @ Navy
The Midshipmen were able to capture a strong victory against W&M, with their 390.25 topping the Tribe’s 354.60. Adding to their team victory, Navy was able to capture the event title on every apparatus except floor. Freshman, Isaiah Drake, led the way, winning pommel horse (13.70) and parallel bars (13.40). Senior, Josh Williams, put up a huge 14.35 on rings, which tied the highest score posted in the NCAA thus far. Furthermore, Connor Van Loo won vault with a 14.50 and Cash Buske took the high bar title with a 13.10.
As a team, Navy was able to show huge improvements on pommel horse, scoring nearly eight points higher than their previous week's score. However, struggles on high bar (60.00) held the Midshipmen back from breaking into the mid 390s. Although it is still early in the season, Navy will need to start showcasing stronger lineups on floor and high bar if they want a shot at breaking into the top six for the NCAA team finals.
W&M struggled this past weeked, scoring nearly thirteen points lower than their performance at the Navy Open. A series of mishaps on pommel horse and parallel bars strongly contributed to their problems. However, Will Harrington was able to help the Tribe secure the individual floor title with his 13.05. Christian Marsh was also able to post a 73.05 in his all-around performance. William & Mary has a lot to work with, but multiple scores in the 9s, 10s and low 11s are inhibiting their growth. As the season progresses, they will be needing to eliminate these low scores if they want to see drastic improvements to their team score.
Nebraska @ Michigan
Tensions were high going into this competition, with many debating who was the best team in the B1G. However, this was settled with Michigan’s dominating performance, beating out Nebraska by nearly nine points. The Wolverine’s 409.10 earned them the second highest score of the NCAA season so far.
Michigan won three event titles, with Javier Alfonso capturing the rings title (14.35) and Evgeny Siminiuc clinching on parallel bars (14.30) and high bar (14.40). Jacob Moore and Paul Juda also put in strong contributions for the Wolverines, both placing top three on three events. David Willett was the lone competitor in the all-around and closed out the competition with a 78.55.
As a team, Michigan shined on rings scoring a huge 70.00. Their impressive performance was enough to prove that they are one of the top teams in the NCAA, and they still haven’t even seen their Senior National Team star, Cameron Bock, on the competition floor yet. Once Bock finds himself back in the lineups, the Wolverines will be on the hunt to chase down number one ranked Stanford.
Nebraska closed out the competition with a 400.35, a few points shy of their score from the Rocky Mountain Open. The Huskers had a lot of highlight routines, including Jake Bonnay’s 14.45 on floor. After a few years of injuries, it is certain that Bonnay is excited to be back out on the competition floor for his final season with the Huskers. As the season progresses, we should see him make an impact on several other events as he works his way back into the lineup.
More standout routines could be found from Evan Kriley’s first place pommel horse routine (14.00) and Taylor Christopulos’s winning vault (14.65). Dylan LeClair was able to capture a second place finish on parallel bars with a 14.25. Unfortunately, Nebraska had to count several 11s on floor, pommel horse, and high bar which contributed to their struggling performance. It is evident that they have the talent to be a great team, but a lack of execution is currently holding them back from their true potential.
Emerald City Classic
Picking things back up after a week off, Arizona State secured another win with a 362.25 at the Emerald City Classic. A rough pommel horse rotation put ASU over 13 points behind their season debut, however. Hunter Brunett paced this team, capturing a first place finish on pommel horse (12.60) and winning the all-around (75.50).
Jordan Williams took home the top score in the meet on ASU’s best event, vault, tallying a 14.30. Williams was also able to take second place on high bar (12.50) behind his teammate, Jack Silvestar, who scored a 12.60. Rounding out the event winners for the Sun Devils were Jordan Bird and Jonas Ilao, each scoring a 13.05 on rings and p bars respectively.
KC United posted a 255.35 in their season debut. With only four roster members on their team, they were unable to fill lineups but had some impressive individual performances. Chance Brogan was able to capture the event title on floor with a 13.00. Asa Thompson (67.65) and Logan Berthelson (65.50) placed third and fourth in the all-around.
Iowa @ Minnesota
In an almost 17 point improvement over their season debut, Iowa made a statement to the rest of the GymACT, scoring a season high 382.65. James Friedman is emerging as the top all-arounder in the conference. Friedman dominated this competition, taking first on rings (13.65), p bars (13.25), high bar (12.95), and the all-around (78.35). Right behind him was his impressive teammate, Evan Davis (76.35). Davis was also able to garner first place honors on pommel horse with a 13.20.
Behind the Hawkeyes’ fantastic duo, Amari Sewell competed on five events, averaging a 13.03. Sewell won both floor and vault, tallying a 13.30 on the former and a 14.45 on the latter. This meet proved that Iowa is the team to beat in the GymACT. It’s taken them just two competitions to hit their stride and there is even more upside from here.
Minnesota fell to Iowa at home, but made significant improvements over their debut as a GymACT team. Their 356.40 was almost 20 points better than the number they posted just a competition ago. It was Kellen Ryan, once again, who led this team with a 74.80 third place finish in the all-around. His 14.45 on vault was good enough for a share of the title with the aforementioned Sewell. Ryan also tallied a 12.80 second place finish on p bars. Another highlight for the Gophers came from Yaroslav Owens-Pochinka who captured a share of second place on rings with a 13.55.
Temple and UIC @ NY Alliance
The GymACT has approved a slightly different scoring system than the NCAA in which four scores are used to tabulate the team total. The goal here seems to be to allow more teams to be competitive but also will explain why the team scores for the GymACT meets will look significantly lower than the scores for NCAA contests. In a tri-meet this weekend featuring Temple, UIC, and NYA, the Owls came away with the victory, scoring a 290.60 to UIC’s 283.20 and NYA’s 241.70.
The all-around was won easily by Zac Raymond from Temple with a 72.40. Temple’s Jacob Biller took home the floor title with a 13.40. The pommel horse title belonged to UIC’s Avery Walwyn (12.10). Rings is where NYA really struggled - only putting up two routines. William Hollis from UIC won the event with a solid 12.60. Garrett McDaniel took home the vault title with a 13.50. Parallel bars was another event in which Temple pulled away from the pack and Jacob Biller added yet another title to his collection with a 12.50. UIC’s Levi Boluyt came up big with a 12.80 to take home the high bar title.
Overall, this was a solid showing for all teams and the first time collegiate men’s gymnastics has made it to upstate New York in quite some time. Look for more action in the GymACT to unfold as the season continues.
Army @ Springfield
Capping off a busy weekend across the country, Army took down Springfield in Massachusetts, 384.85 to 378.90. With Mathew Davis getting a rest and competing on only three events, it was Joseph Buselmeier who stepped up for the Black Knights in the all-around. Buselmeier posted a 74.35, good enough for second place. Davis took home first place honors on two of the three events he did compete (FX - 13.70 and SR - 13.80). Rounding out the event winners for Army were Gabe Almeida on pommel horse (13.25) and Zachary Mitchell on p bars (13.30).
Dominic Ramalho took his usual place as the backbone of this Springfield team. The junior took first place on vault with a 14.30 to go along with the all around title (76.80). Kyle Lukaesko has carved out a nice niche as the leader of the Pride’s high bar rotation. On an event that is highly unforgiving, Lukaesko’s consistency cannot be taken lightly. He was able to take first place once again with a 13.15. Finally, Springfield is getting solid contributions from their freshmen. Noah Dhaliwal’s second place 13.75 rings routine was the highlight.
Contributions from Bailey Perez, Max Soifer, and Ben Cooperman.