A Look Back! 2023 Winter Cup – Moldauer On a Mission, Claims 3rd Winter Cup Title

Moldauer On Mission, Claims 3rd Winter Cup Title

Let’s Gooooo!

2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer took the 2023 All-Around Winter Cup title in Louisville on Friday hitting six for six including an incredible 15.121 on parallel bars. Moldauer, who won the title in 2017 and 2019 was clearly on a mission here. Not only were National Team spots up for grabs, but Moldauer, who was named an alternate for the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, told us he wants everyone to know he’s not going away. Last year was tough, but in a way, he said, he needed to have the experience to get that much stronger.  That much better. As one of Team USA’s veterans, Moldauer was left to cheer on his team from the sidelines at Worlds. The feeling of not being named to the team to compete was something he told us he never wanted to experience again. “The guys there absolutely deserved to be on the team, but being in that position was hard. I want to be out there with the guys contributing.”

Moldauer’s 85.342 topped the Winter Cup field in a competition that saw five lead changes and grew in excitement and energy as the meet went on. By the final rotation, it was clearly Game On and Moldauer came through.

A true class act as always, he was quick to praise his teammates citing their shared goals and ultimate desire to get Team USA back to the Olympic medal podium. When asked if he saw himself as a leader and role model, he told us, “I don’t know if I’m viewed as a leader for the guys, but we have such good friendships. What we’re building here is real family. We’re trusting one another. We’re in this together.”

The 2017 World floor exercise bronze medalist was joined on the podium by standouts Fred Richard and Asher Hong, who are both balancing international competition as full time student-athletes in the midst their freshman seasons – Richard at Michigan and Hong at Stanford.  Hong’s Stanford teammate Ian Lasic-Ellis had a solid, consistent day and took fourth with an 81.905. His best set came on parallel bars where he scored a 14.500. Finishing fifth was 2020 Olympian Shane Wiskus, who was also looking to make a strong statement after missing out on the World team (he was the non-traveling alternate). Wiskus looked strong overall despite a fall off high bar and is definitely still in the conversation as well. He looked incredibly confident and 2023 could very well be his time.

Notably, the bonus point scoring system developed by the USAG Men’s program to incentivize higher-difficulty skills was again in effect in Louisville. Per USA Gymnastics, Hong had a total of 1.048 bonus points, including .705 on vault; Richard had .702 in total bonus and Moldauer .572. Overall, the highest scored on Day 1 was logged by Curran Phillips, who scored an enormous 15.977 (with bonus) on his specialty, parallel bars.

2021 World gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik took the top spot on pommel horse with a 15.092 (0.442 bonus), with 2020 Olympic alternate Alex Diab leading the way on rings with a 14.698 (0.448 bonus) and Ohio State’s Kameron Nelson (triple back on floor!) topping vault with an average score of 14.802 (0.202 bonus).

The Senior men will compete again Sunday, when scores from both days of competition will be combined to determine apparatus champions. And if today was any indication, they truly are just getting started.

Named to the 2023 Senior National Team: Brody Malone (automatic berth), Yul Moldauer, Fred Richard, Asher Hong, Ian Lasic-Ellis and Shane Wiskus

Day 1 Results – Click Here!

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics 

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