men’s NCAA Gymnastics meet snapshot Week 2
What Happened
Stanford is back on top, and Ohio State competed the second highest total team difficulty in the nation for the second week in a row. Michigan still a question mark while resting Olympians. William and Mary rising.
Other reports - Neutral Deductions, Gymnastics Now
Japanese blogger Sho Note is covering special NCAA routines in detail!! Use a translator and check them out! Week 1 and Week 2. I translated the detailed routine breakdowns by screenshotting and pasting them into an AI chatbot.
Rankings, results, and videos at RoadToNatoinals.
Stanford @ Cal 1/13/25 was covered in the Week 1 snapshot.
Please point out errors if you spot any.
Check out the charts below for a snapshot of last weekend’s meets. Home scores are in red. Stick bonus is included in the D score. Neutral deductions are included in the E score.
Neutral deductions for injury and non-performance related deductions are not included in the snapshots. These are meant to be a picture of the gymnastics that happened, not an official document.
Rocky Mountain Open (Stanford, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Air Force, Simpson, Arizona State, Rocky Mountain Pride
Stanford finishes week 2 ranked number 1 after defeating the University of Oklahoma 328.85 to 327.2. Stanford competed the highest total difficulty of the season (total D score of 122.4), 5.3 points ahead of Oklahoma’s 117.1. Oklahoma pushed Stanford the whole way, but Stanford overtook them by ending on still rings, while Oklahoma was on the pommel horse. Stanford has a tradition of starting on vault in big if they have a choice (plan to start out with a commanding lead and end on a stable event). Look for them to follow this pattern at the NCAA Championship if it is an option for them.
71 % of Stanford’s routines have a D score of 5.0 or above, compared to 46 % for Oklahoma and 42 % for Nebraska.
Emre Dodanli was back in action for Oklahoma, competing on floor, vault, and high bar.
Nebraska finished third (320.45), but they can potentially push everybody but maybe Stanford. They competed a total difficulty of 116.5, very close to that of Oklahoma. Nebraska competed the same difficulty as Stanford on FX, and outscored them by 0.8 with the aid of Chase Mondi’s 5.2 vault and 5.3/14 floor routine which included a triple twisting double tuck (Ri Jong Song).
This edition of the MPSF battle of the Pommel Stars was won by Patrick Hoopes of Air Force (5.9/14.95) over Oklahoma’s Ignacio Yockers (5.7/14.25).
Erich Upton qualified to Winter Cup with an AA score of 80.
Air Force will likely be giving California a battle for a podium spot at the MPSF Championships.
Other notable routines - Colt Walker(Stanford) - PB(5.6/14.35), Brigham Frentheway(Oklahoma) - FX(5/14),
Taylor Christopulos(Nebraska) - HB(5.3/14.1), Tas Hadju(Oklahoma) - SR(5/14.25), Chris Hiser(Nebraska) - SR(5/14.15)
GymACT teams Arizona State (285.75) and Rocky Mountain Mavericks (274.7) rounded out the field.
Official school media recaps - Air Force, Oklahoma, Nebraska Simpson, Stanford
Greenville @ Ohio State
Full results Greenville @ Ohio State
The team competing the second highest difficulty in the nation starts with the letter O…..as in Ohio State. They are aided by big difficulty from Kameron Nelson (#TripleBuck) with his 6.2 floor and 5.2 vault, Parker Thackston with a 5.8 pommel routine, and Caden Spencer with a 5.6 high bar including a Suarez (Stalder - Piatti stretched with 1/1 turn, named after his coach Casimiro Suarez).
Official school media recaps Greenville, Ohio State
Windy City Open (Michigan and Illinois)
Illinois defeated Michigan at Windy City Open 321.7 to 316.6 (which included a neutral deduction due to a substitution for Landon Blixt on floor). Michigan is still resting Olympians Frederick Richard and Paul Juda. Michigan scored well considering they were competing a considerably lower total difficulty than their opponent (107.7 to 115.7 for Illinois).
GymACT transfer Charlie Larsen now of Michigan made his NCAA floor debut here. Freshman Aaronson Mansberger made his debut with a 14.45 pommel horse routine.
Nebraska transfer Samuel Phillips qualified to Winter Cup with an AA score of 80.1. The Illini brought out a stacked pommel horse line up, with Big 10 pommel star Brandon Dang (5.6/4.7) and Preston Ngai (younger brother of Illini pommel great Brandon Ngai) with a 5.2/14.35.
Keep an eye on Illini freshman Nathan Whitaker - his floor routine is here.
Other notable routines - Amari Sewell(Illinois) - VT(4.9/14.45), Garrett Schooley(Illinois) -VT(5.2/14.45)
Logan McKeown(Michigan) - PB(5.2/14.35), Robert Noll Jr.(Michigan) - HB(4.7/14.05)
Official school media recaps - Illinois, Michigan
Video can be found on RoadToNationals
Army @ Penn State
Penn State is in the mix with a total difficulty of 115.3, a bit behind Nebraska and about even with Illinois. Army’s score is competitive with the others in the ECAC.
Kacper Garnczarek of Penn State opens his floor routine with a back 3 1/2 down the side.
Other notable routines - Matthew Underhill(Penn State) - SR(5.2/14.2), Maddox Pabellon(Army) - PH(4.7/14)
Official school media recaps - Penn State, Army
Video can be found on RoadToNationals
William and Mary, Springfield @ Navy
William and Mary is showing a big improvement over last year, winning the Navy Open for the first time since 2018. What sunk Navy here (sorry) was pommel horse.
GymACT teams Temple (278.3),Florida Storm (189.9) and a team called NC Airmen (177.6) rounded out the competition.
Notable routines - Brian Solomon(Navy) - FX(14.0)
Official school media recaps - Navy, William and Mary, Springfield
Video can be found on RoadToNationals
Score Stuff
80 + AA Club
Samuel Phillips (Illinois) - 80.1
Erich Upton(Air Force) - 80.0
Scores above 14.5 (click for video if available and not linked above)
Patrick Hoopes(Oklahoma) - PH(5.9/14.95)
Asher Hong(Stanford) - SR(5.6/14.85)
Taylor Burkhart(Stanford) - VT(5.1/14.75)
Brandon Dang(Illinois) - PH(5.6/14.7)
Packer Thackston(Ohio State) PH(5.8/14.65)
Kameron Nelson(Ohio State) VT(5.2/14.55)
D scores 5.5 and above
Kameron Nelson(Ohio State) - FX(6.2/13.75)
Patrick Hoopes (Air Force) - PH (5.9/14.95)
Parker Thackston(Ohio State) - PH(5.8/14.65)
Ignacio Yockers(Oklahoma) - PH (5.7/14.25)
Brandon Dang (Illinois) - PH(5.6/14.7)
Asher Hong(Stanford) - SR(5.6/14.85)
Colt Walker(Stanford) - PB(5.6/14.35)
Caden Spencer(Ohio State) - HB(5.6/14.1)
Taylor Burkhart(Stanford) - HB (5.6/13.2)
Brandon Nguyen(Stanford) - HB(5.6/13/1)