Post on 20-Oct-2020
As usual it is a bit of a guessing game to try
to predict how each team will fare in their
upcoming season
With this in mind this reporter boldly sug-
gests that the University of Oklahoma will
lead the pack throughout the entire season.
NOTE: The gymnasts named below, for the
most part, finished in the top 8 at either their
conference meet or at Nationals in 2014.
1. University of Oklahoma: In spite of los-
ing some quality gymnasts OU returns ten
gymnasts that placed in the top 8 in either
their conference championships or at the 2014
NCAA Nationals. This represents quality and
experience.
Returning: Jacoby Rubin-6th PB, 4th HB-
MPSF; Alec Robin 1st FX, 1st V-NCAA-6th
FX, 6th V MPSF; Colin Van Wicklen-6th
FX, 5th V-NCAA, 2nd FX, 2nd V-MPSF;
Michael Reid-2nd PH-NCAA, 4th PH-MPSF;
Kanji Oyama-9th FX-NCAA, 3rd R, 1st V,
3rd R-MPSF; Michael Squires-1st R-NCAA,
1st R-MPSF; Danny Berardini-4th PB, 8th
HB-NCAA, 5th R, 6th PB, 7th HB-MPSF;
William Clement-4th PB, 8th HB-NCAA,
2nd HB-MPSF; Sergey Resnick-5th PH, 2nd
PB-MPSF; Alan Bower-8th PH-MPSF.
Loses: Presten Ellsworth-4th FX, 4th V-
MPSF, Raymond White-1st FX, 5th PH, 7th
V-MPSF.
Frosh: Hunter Justus (TX).
2. University of Illinois: Although Illinois
does lose some important scoring they also
return quite a bit of serious talent that promis-
es huge scores.
Returning: Jordan Valdez-5th PB, 1st HB-
NCAA, 2nd PB, 2nd HB-Big Ten; C.J.
Maestas-4th AA, 3rd FX, 2nd R-NCAA,
7th FX, 2nd R-Big Ten; Chandler Eggleston
-2nd FX, 2nd V-NCAA, 1st FX-Big Ten;
Mike Wilner– 6th R-NCAA; Logan Bradley-
6th PH-NCAA.
Losses: Chad Mason-8th PH-NCAA, 3rd PH-
Big Ten; plus Cameron Rogers, Cole Smith
and Alex Varga.
Frosh: Bob Baker (IL), Tyson Bull
(Australia), Harry McLellan (NJ), Dennis
Minton (OH), Eric Uster (OH).
3. University of Michigan: This is a tough
one to call because in spite of losing about
half of their scoring they return a host of
proven talent.
Returning: Adrain de los Angeles (injured
2014, but if healthy he is a force)-2013-2nd
Pre-Season
Coaches Poll: 1. Oklahoma
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State 4. Stanford
5. Illinois
6. Penn St. 7. Minnesota
8. California
9. Iowa 10. Nebraska
11. Air Force 12. Army
13. William/Mary’
14. Navy 15. Arizona State
16. Ill-Chicago
17. Springfield 18. Temple
19. Brockport
20. Washington
COLLEGE GYMNASTICS ASSOCIATION
N C A A M E N’ S G Y M N A S T I C S
PREVIEW 2015 By Jerry Wright 11-15-2014
2015 NISSEN-EMERY FAVORITES
(to close to call)
Ellis Mannon: Minnesota: Big
Ten and NCAA Pommel Horse
Champion.
Alec Robin:
Oklahoma: NCAA Floor
Exercise and Vault Champion.
Jordan Valdez: Illinois: NCAA
High Bar Champion. 2nd place
on Parallel Bars in both NCAA
and Big Ten.
OSU
UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN — Defending Champions
ROBIN
MAESTAS
ANGELES
AA, 8th PB-NCAA, 2nd AA, 5th V-Big
Ten; Tristian Rivera-7th V-NCAA, 2nd FX,
7th V-Big Ten; Nick Hunter-6th PH, 6th PB-
Big Ten; Colin Mahar-8th R-Big Ten; Paul
Rizkalla-2nd V-Big Ten; Konner Ackerman-
6th V-Big Ten; Stacey Ervin-5th FX-NCAA.
Losses: Sam Mikulak-Nissen-Emery winner,
1st AA, 4th FX, 8th V, 1st PB-NCAA, 1st
AA, 3rd FX, 4th V, 3rd PB-Big Ten; Alex
Bubnov-4th R-Big Ten; Syque Caesar-3rd
PB, 5th HB-NCAA, 7th V, 3rd PB, 6th HB-
Big Ten; Matt Freeman, Jordan Gaarenstroom
-7th R-Big Ten.
Frosh: Dimitri Belanovski (WI), Alec Krystek
(MI), Marty Strech (CA), Brennen Thomas
(MI).
4. Ohio State: OSU may have been a bit
disappointed in their showing at Nationals in
2014 so will be out to improve on that and
they just might have the muscle to do it.
Returning: Sean Melton-3rd AA, 6th V, 6th
PB, 3rd HB-NCAA, 2nd AA, 4th PH, 1st
PB, 1st HB-Big Ten; Jake Martin-5th AA,
2nd HB-NCAA, 3rd AA, 8th FX, 1st V, 3rd
HB-Big Ten; Jeff Treleaven-4th V-NCAA,
6th FX-Big Ten; Alex Johnson-6th HB-
NCAA, 5th HB-Big Ten, Evan Eigner-senior
transfer from Temple-3rd-R-ECAC.
Losses: Misha Koudinov, Michael Newburger
-9th-PH-NCAA, 8th PH-Big Ten.
Frosh: Evan Bluemel (OH), Seth Delbridge
(IN), Samuel DeWitt (MD), Josh Hurwitz
(OH), Meyer Williams (TX), Alexander Wil-
son (TX).
5. Stanford University: This is another tough
call because in spite of losing some quality
scoring they return some very serious talent.
Returning: Akash Modi-2nd AA, 3rd PH,
2nd PB-NCAA, 1st AA, 5th FX , 3rd HB,
6th R, 4th V, 1st PB-MPSF; Michael Levy-
7th FX-NCAA, 2nd FX-MPSF; Dennis Za-
remski-5th R-NCAA, 2nd R-MPSF; Brian
Knott-8th PB-NCAA, 7th PH, 2nd PB, 8th
HB-MPSF.
Loses: Paul Hichwa-1st HB-MPSF; Sean
Senters-8th FX, 3rd V-NCAA, 2nd V-MPSF;
Cale Robinson-6th PB-MPSF.
Frosh: Jacob Barrus (TX), Drew Burton (CO),
Robert Neff (WI), Ryan Sheppard (TX).
6. Penn State: The Nittany Lions are in what
probably is best described as a rebuilding
mode. They lost a large senior class two years
ago, but this past season only lost a minimal
amount. They return some strong individuals,
but will have to rely on freshmen to mature
quickly for depth.
Returning: Trevor Howard-9th AA, 9th R,
6th PB-NCAA, 5th AA, 1st R, 5th V, 7th
PB-Big Ten; Craig Hernandez-5th PH-
NCAA, 2nd PH-Big Ten; Alexis Torres-8th R
-NCAA, 7th AA-Big Ten; Nestor Rodriguez-
8th PB-Big Ten.
Losses: Preston Gall, Wasef Burbar-8th HB-
Big Ten; Adrain Evans-Nissen-Emery final-
ist, Ingvar Jochumsson.
Frosh: Very large class: Patrick Casey (OR),
Colin Coates (PA), Ben Cooperman (MA),
Joe Fernandes (PA), Quest Hayden (GA),
Thad Lawson (VA), Quinn Malm (CO), Noah
Roberson (NY), Joshua Smith (LA), Greg
Tamargo (PA).
7. University of Minnesota: The Gophers
fairly consistently finish just barely out of the
Super Six and this year, unfortunately, it
looks like 2015 will be a repeat of that situa-
tion. Having graduated about 1/3rd of their
team UM will have to depend heavily on their
large freshmen class for depth.
Returning: Steve Jaciuk-9th HB-NCAA, 5th
PB, 7th HB-Big Ten; Ellis Mannon-1st PH-
NCAA, 6th AA, 1st PH-Big Ten; Jack
Metcalf-5th R-Big Ten.
Losses: Zack Chase-9th V-NCAA, 3rd V-Big
Ten, Matt Frey-9th PB-NCAA. Also lost:
Steffen Beck, Adam Kern, Justin Morinishi,
John Scallon and Sam Wright.
Frosh: Luke Aldrich (MA), Ryan Bergman
(MN), Tristan Duran (NJ), Joel Gagnon
(Canada), Jack Kramer (NC), Yarolsav
Pochinka (TX), Mitchell Soukup-RS (TX),
Jalon Stephens (LA), Alex Wittenberg (NY).
8. University of California: The Bears will
very shortly start to realize the benefits of
having Brett McClure as their coach. It may
not be this year, but soon. The loss of
Donothan Bailey will take away many of their
top scores.
Returning: Kyle Zemeir-7th AA-NCAA,
2nd AA, 6th FX, 2nd PB-MPSF; Takahiro
Kawada-2nd PH-MPSF; Jonathan Liu-5th PB
-MPSF; Kevin Wolting-7th HB-MPSF.
Losses: Donothan Bailey-6th AA, 7th PH-
NCAA, 8th FX, 1st PH-MPSF; Jeff Langen-
stein-7th V-MPSF.
Frosh: Yordan Aleksandrov, Gagik Ghariby-
an, Nathaniel Ramil, Michael Rauchwerger,
Jacob Silvestri; all from California.
9. University of Iowa: After finishing a sur-
prising 5th in 2013 the Hawkeyes slipped a
bit in 2014 so will be looking to rebound in
2015. This may prove to be quite challeng-
ing, but they do return some scoring punch.
Returning: Matt Loochtan-7th R-NCAA;
Mitchell Landau-7th HB-NCAA; Jack
Boyle– 8th AA-Big Ten, Doug Sullivan-5th
PH-Big Ten.
MELTON
MODI
HOWARD
MANNON
ZEMEIR
WANG
Losses: Matt McGrath-4th FX, 5th R-Big Ten.
Frosh: Dylan Ellsworth (UT), Jon-Luc Garcia
(NM), Austin Hodges (IL), Elijah Parsells
(CA), Anthony Van Aacken (WI).
10. University of Nebraska: The Huskers
showed some improvement last season and it
looks like this might continue, but they really
have their work cut out for them in order for
them to finish higher. Significant graduation
losses.
Returning: Grant Perdue, Robbie Kocks-3rd
R-Big Ten.
Losses: Wyatt Aycock-8th AA-NCAA; C.J.
Schaaf and Eric Schryver.
Frosh: Joshua Everitt (AZ), Kyle King (TX),
Daniel Leal (Cali, Columbia), Alex Magsam
(AZ), Andrew Zymball (NE).
11. Air Force Academy: having won the US-
AG Collegiate Nationals
five years in a row AF looks
to be as strong as ever in
‘15, possibly even better.
Leading the Falcons will be
Tim Wang.
Returning: Tim Wang-4th
PH-NCAA, 3rd AA, 2nd
PH-USAG, 4th AA, 2nd
PH-MPSF; Denis Aurelius-
1st FX, 6th R-USAG; Gared
Chapman-3rd R-USAG,
7th R-MPSF; Josh Ramos-
1st PB, 8th HB-USAG; Jon
Spiro-3rd R-MPSF; Chase
Cannon-6th HB-MPSF.
Losses: Patrick Duffy, Tyler
Huebner-7th R-MPSF, Nick
Owen-1st PH-USAG; Ben
Zaiser-6th V-USAG and
Mac Ritchie.
Frosh: Fletcher Braunton (WA), Dimitri
Floryance, (NM), Jonathon Fornoff (IL), Mi-
chael Graft (IL), Wongsai Heur (WI) and
Arinn Wade (NJ).
12. U. S. Military Academy: Army coaches
have been building the past few years and may
have finally put it all together. Look for a
strong shot at winning the ECAC and a trip to
the big show.
Returning: Jesse Glenn-1st AA, 5th FX, 5th
PH, 3rd PB, 2nd HB-USAG, 1st AA, 3rd
PH, 6th R, 2nd V, 4th PB, 1st HB-ECAC;
Sam Kunitz-5th V, 6th HB-ECAC; Jacob Da-
vies-8th PB-ECAC, Alex Ganz-6th PB-
USAG; Joe Pritts-8th FX-ECAC.
Losses: Ian Howard-5th FX-ECAC, Kip Web-
ber-2nd V-USAG, 7th V-ECAC.
Frosh: Seth Cannon (OK), Liam Fulton
(Germany), Nathan Goff (CA), Andre
Hufnagel (WA), Nicholas Mcafee (WA) Ryan
Wilson (OR), Cameron Wright (TX).
13. College of William and Mary: May see
a slight drop in production after their excellent
2014 season, primarily due to very serious
graduations. Quite a bit of talent returning,
however. Great PH team returning.
Returning: Keaton Ackerman-5th AA-USAG;
Aria Sabbagh-8th AA-USAG, Neal Courter-
2nd FX, 1st V, 4th HB-USAG; Jason Wang-
3rd PH-USAG;
Michael Deitz-
2 n d H B -
ECAC, 3rd HB
-USAG; J. J.
Jindra-4th AA,
4th PB, 8th HB
-ECAC; Peter
Ten Eyck-2nd
PH-ECAC.
Losses: very
s u b s t a n t i a l -
Landon Funici-
ello-4th R-
NCAA, 1st R,
5th PB-USAG;
Daniel Potemski-2nd AA, 8th PH, 7th R, 4th
V-USAG, 2nd AA. 5th FX, 8th R, 6th V, 3rd
PB-ECAC. Sam Patterson-2nd PB-ECAC
Frosh: Griffin Antle (NH), Mitchell Campbell
(TX), Jake Feldmann (CA), Jake Honsberger
(TN), Jeremiah McReynolds (CA), Ryan
Metzger (VA).
14. U.S. Naval Academy: Navy suffered the
huge loss of Chris Junghans, but they return a
boat-load of proven talent—-could surprise!
Returning: Joshua Steves-4th R, 5th V-USAG;
Jonny Tang-4th AA-USAG, 4th FX, 4th HB
-ECAC; Eric
Morrison-5th PH-
ECAC; Thomas
Goodell-6th HB-
USAG, 3rd R-
ECAC; Eric Vis-
cardi-7th FX-
USAG, 3rd V-
ECAC; Mitchell
Larios-8th V, 7th
PB-USAG, 3rd V
-ECAC; Andrew
Potts-4th PH US-
AG, 7th PH, 5th
HB-ECAC.
Losses: Chris
Junghans-6th AA,
5th R-USAG, 3rd
AA, 8th PH, 7th PB-ECAC.
Frosh: A.J. Beal (MD), Noah Belman (OH),
Vadim Ivanov (NV), Andy Jones (MA).
15. University of Illinois-Chicago: UIC has
struggled a bit since winning the ECAC in
2011 and it looks like they might still be down
a bit in 2015.
Returning: Jason Gaides-5th AA, 5th FX,
2nd R, 7th HB-ECAC; Brett Valin-4thV-
ECAC.
Losses: Lukasz Adamczyk-4th PH-ECAC;
Joseph Hodges.
Frosh: Chandler Bowden (NE), Ryan Smith
(GA).
16. Springfield College: Although a Div. III
program in a Div. 1 field, Springfield always
LANDAU
GLENN
KOCKS
WANG
COURTER
TANG
GAIDES
competes with Pride and sometimes comes
out ahead. With good returning talent, this
looks like it may be a good year for them.
Returning: Jon Zirna-7th AA, 6th FX-
USAG, 7th AA, 6th PH-ECAC; Tucker
McClure-4th FX, 7th V-USAG; Pat Ryther-
7th PH-USAG; Sam Docherty-8th PB-USAG;
Andy Grabowski-7th HB-USAG, Desmond
Carr– 8th V-ECAC.
Losses: Pat Hanley-7th R-ECAC, James Hen-
nin, Ryan Ponce-3rd R-NCAA, 2nd R-USAG,
5th R, 6th PB-ECAC.
Frosh: Alex Campagnon (R.I.), Joshua Dieker
(FX), Mike Girmaldi (NJ), Chris Graff (NY),
Philip Ordonez (FL), Dan Taranto (MA).
NISSEN-EMERY AWARD
This may well be the most wide open N-E
selection voting ever. At least a half-dozen
candidates will be in the running. This bold
forecaster is forced to quibble a bit. The
strongest candidates appear to be Valdez of
Illinois, Mannon of Minnesota and Robin of
Oklahoma. The toughest part may be the deci-
sion some schools will have to make to nar-
row their list down to one nominee.
Potential Nissen-Emery Nominees
Air Force Skyler Awisus
Air Force Gared Chapman
California Jonathan Liu
Illinois Mike Wilner
Illinois Jordan Valdez
Iowa Mitchell Landau
Iowa Lance Alberhasky
Michigan Stacey Ervin
Minnesota Steve Jaciuk
Minnesota Ellis Mannon
Nebraska Robbie Kocks
Nebraska Grant Perdue
Ohio State Drew Moling
Ohio State Larry Mayer
Oklahoma Michael Reid
Oklahoma Alec Robin
Oklahoma Michael Squires
Penn State Craig Hernandez
Penn State Matthew Felleman
UIC Jason Gaides
Results of my predictions for 2013:
Picked Michigan 1st finished 1st
Picked Oklahoma 2nd finished 2nd
Picked Illinois 3rd finished 4th
Picked Stanford 4th finished 3rd
Picked Penn State 5th finished 6th
Picked Ohio State 6th finished 5th
Picked Minnesota 7th finished 7th
Picked California 8th finished 10th
Picked Iowa 9th finished 9th
Picked Nebraska 10th finished 8th
Picked Air Force 11th finished 11th
Picked William/Mary 12th finished 12th
Picked Temple 13th finished 16th
Picked Army 14th finished 13th
Picked UIC 15th finished 17th
Picked Navy 16th finished 14th
Picked Springfield 17th finished 15th
CLUB REPORTS:
Arizona State University:
With rumors that ASU
might be reinstated as a var-
sity sport this could be a
very high spirited team.
As surely as the sun rises
daily in the east ASU wins
the USAG Collegiate Club
division nationals.
Returning: Zack Mollett-3rd
FX, 6th PH, 2nd PB-USAG;
Ty Loughridge-3rd V-
USAG.
Losses: Lee Wilkerson-1st AA, 8th FX, 8th
R, 5th HB-USAG; Stewart MacDonald-2nd
AA-USAG; Stevie Gregg-4th AA-USAG.
Frosh: Daniel Bronnenberg, Austin Kane,
Nikita Latman, Sean Obley, Jon Voyles.
Temple University:
Temple Men’s Gymnastics enters a new era
this season, as the
team in no longer
varsity but now
competes as a club.
This change came
about after repre-
senting Temple in
varsity intercolle-
giate competition
for 88 years.
Tremendous ef-
forts are underway
to return the sport
to varsity status,
however.
Temple plans on
competing at the
USAG Collegiate Nationals and also at the
NAIGC Nationals in PA.
Returning: Mike Bittner, Blaise Cosenza and
Colton Howard, Grady Cooper, Pat Henley,
Jon Rydzefski, Wayne Conley, Aaron
Meland, Misha Kustin and Jacob Welsh-6th-
R-ECAC.
Losses: Evan Eigner (transfer to OSU) 3rd-R-
ECAC, John Leonard, Scott Hadaway,
Charles Baldi and Brandon Williams.
Frosh: Tim Jones (MI), Joe Luca (NJ), Jordan
Motter (PA) and Demetris Zambas (NJ).
Temple will have one home meet...vs. UIC
University of Washington: Report submitted by Coach Mark Russo:
Our team will be much better this year. We re-
cruited in Region 1 and are having success getting
good gymnasts
from California
coming up to
Washington. I
see us breaking
into the 400's
for team score
which will be
over a 20 point
increase from
last seasons
high score.
Returning: Jus-
t in Rowen,
Aaron Moss,
F r a n k l i n
Stutevoss, Alex
Maybruck, Max Soifer, Brandon Waller, Wyatt
Zmrzel.
We will be led by 5 good all arounders. Brandon
Waller -3rd AA-USAG; Justin Rowen-5th AA-
USAG; Aaron Moss-6th AA-USAG; Nick Kano
and Carl Meader. Nathan Tsuji and Max
Soifer both good on 5 events. Franklin Stutevoss
will compete on floor and vault. Wyatt Zmrzel
looks to help us pommels and pbars.
Losses: Greg Steward, Layton Oka and Peter
Moser-7th AA-USAG.
Frosh: Nick Kano (CA), Nathan Tsuji (CA), Carl
Meader (CA), Chris Ramsey (MT)
CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS Jan. 10 Calif. vs. Stanford @ California
Jan. 17 Rocky Mt. Open @ Air Force
Jan.17 Windy City Inv. @ Ill-Chicago
Jan. 16/17 West Point Open @ Army
Jan. 24 U. Mich. vs. Penn St. @ Penn St.
Jan. 24 Ohio St. vs. Illinois @ Ohio St.
Jan. 24 Stan/Calif/Okla/Neb. @ Stanford
Jan. 24 Navy Open @ Navy
Jan. 30 Arizona St. vs. California @ Arizona St.
Jan. 31 Illinois vs. Minnesota @ Illinois
Jan. 31 Iowa vs. Oklahoma @ Iowa
Feb. 1 Army vs. Air Force @ Air Force
Feb. 1 W/Mary vs. Navy @ Navy
Feb. 7 All Acad. Championships @ Houston
Feb. 7 Minnesota Invitational @ Minnesota
Feb. 7 Stanford vs. Michigan @Michigan
Feb. 8 New England Invitational @ Springfield
Feb. 13 Arizona St. vs. Stanford @ Stanford
Feb. 14 Michigan vs. Oklahoma @ Oklahoma
Feb. 14 Army vs. Navy @ Army
Feb. 14 Iowa/Minn./Neb @ Iowa
Feb. 14 Illinois vs. Penn State @ Illinois
Feb. 16 Army vs. Springfield @ Springfield
Feb. 19/21 Winter Cup @ Las Vegas
Feb. 28 Ill-Chicago vs. Air Force @ Ill-Chi
Feb. 28 International Invitational @ Stanford
Mar. 6 Mich., Penn St., Mexico @ San Juan
ZIRNA ROWEN
MOLLETT
WELSH
Mar. 6 Illinois vs. Stanford @ Illinois
Mar. 7 Ohio St. Invitational @ Ohio St.
Mar. 8 Oklahoma vs. California @ California
Mar. 14 U. Mich. vs. Illinois @ Michigan
Mar. 14 Ohio State vs. Oklahoma @ Oklahoma
Mar. 14 Army vs. W/Mary @ Wm/Mary
Mar. 15 Minn., Penn St., Iowa @ Nebraska
Mar. 20/21 USAG Coll. Nationals @ Air Force
Mar. 27/28 Big Ten Championships @ Penn St.
Mar. 27/28 ECAC Championships @ Army
Mar. 28 MPSF Championships @ Air Force
April 9-12 NAIGC Nationals @Philadelphia
April 8 CGA Awards Banquet @ Oklahoma
April 9-11 NCAA Nationals @ Oklahoma
TOP INDIVIDUAL RETURNEES (based on 2014 Nationals results).
All Around
Akash Modi, Stan Sean Melton, OSU
C.J. Maestas, Ill
Jake Martin, OSU Kyle Zeimeir, Calif
Trevor Howard, Penn St
Floor Exercise Alec Robin, Okla.
Chandler Eggleston, Ill
C.J. Maestas, Ill Stacey Ervin, Mich.
Colin V. Wicklen, Okla.
Michael Levy, Stan. Pommel Horse
Ellis Mannon, Minn.
Michael Reid, Okla. Tim Wang, Air Force
Craig Hernandez, Penn St.
Logan Bradley, Ill
Rings Michel Squires, Okla.
C.J. Maestas, Ill
Dennis Zaremski, Stan. Mike Milner, Ill
Matt Loochtan, Iowa
Alexis Torres, Penn St. Vault
Alec Robin, Okla.
Chandler Eggleston, Ill Jeff Treleaven, OSU
Colin V. Wicklen, Okla.
Sean Melton, OSU Parallel Bars
Akash Modi, Stan.
Danny Berardini, Okla. Jordan Valdez, Ill
Sean Melton, OSU
Brian Knott, Stan. Horizontal Bar
Jorden Valdez, Ill
Jake Martin, OSU Sean Melton, OSU
William Clement, Okla.
Alex Johnson, OSU Mitchell Landau, Iowa
Photos of the Week
Adrain de los Angeles: University of Michigan Jordan Valdez: University of Illinois
Alec Robin: University of Oklahoma