2025 Men’s NCAA Preview Part 1

2025 Men’s NCAA Preview Part 1

by the Team at Inside Gymnastics

We talked to the head coaches of the NCAA’s top six teams to get the Inside scoop as the 2025 season gets underway with a new Code of Points in place and a freshly updated, four-up, four-count meet format. (Look for much more on that change here on InsideGym.com in the coming days!)

ESPN is returning to coverage of the NCAA Championships at the perfect time, just as men’s gymnastics is having a moment, thanks to Penn State alum Stephen Nedoroscik’s viral Paris performance and Dancing with the Stars success. Can collegiate gymnastics capitalize on Team USA’s Olympic bronze popularity, particularly with three members of that squad—Asher Hong (Stanford), Paul Juda (Michigan), and Frederick Richard (Michigan)—set to compete in college this year?

Today, we take a look at the teams currently ranked 4th, 5th and 6th – Nebraska, Illinois, and Ohio State! Stay tuned to InsideGym.com tomorrow for 1,2, and 3!

NEBRASKA

Rank in 2024: 4th

2025 Pre-Season Rank: 4th

First Meet: January 18 at Air Force, Rocky Mountain Open (Full Schedule: https://huskers.com/sports/mens-gymnastics/schedule)

Inside Gym Outlook: Led by a slew of strong recruits, Nebraska’s fortunes have been on a steady rise the past few seasons and, given very strong signing classes, should continue that trajectory this season and beyond. The only other NCAA team to ever win five-in-a-row, Nebraska is itching to keep progressing up the podium and came within half a point of third in 2024. They’re also perhaps the most experienced squad in the field, with eight seniors on their 2025 roster.

Head Coach Chuck Chmelke’s Take…

Key Athletes: “Truthfully, our entire senior class. We have the most seniors, if not ever, at least since I’ve been the head coach. We’re going to be relying on them. They’ve been through the gauntlet many times and know what it’s all about. If I had to pick a single person, of course it would be Taylor Christopulos, back for a fifth year and I feel very lucky that we get this extra season with him. But, overall, the whole senior class is going to be critically important to where we finish at the end of the year.”

Secret Weapon: “Chase Mondi, who is a sophomore out of Kansas City. He competed two events for us last year, but he’s had a wonderful summer, and he’s doing some pretty good gymnastics right now. Our whole sophomore class, just having a year under their belt, are doing outstanding. They’ve paid their dues, done everything right, and I think you’re going to see that in competition.

“At Nebraska we’re very big on hierarchy—giving opportunity to those who earned it. Building up with hard work and experience. I really like to reward those guys who’ve been out there, showed us what they can do, and put in the work.”

2024 Reflection: “We were very happy with how we performed at NCAAs. We started off with two misses, but the guys dug in, and we just got on a roll after that, which is what you want to see. We had a great mix of younger and more experienced guys competing, and they all handled it well. We had 10 All-Americans, which is close to a record.

“Now, we’re just trying to continue that trajectory. It took a lot of work to get into this position, where we’re regularly finishing top four, top five, and we’ve enjoyed the satisfaction of that. We had two guys who were this close to individual National Championships, finishing second after tiebreakers, so that’s one of the things pushing us, to put ourselves in position to win those individual titles, as well as keep moving up as a team.”

2025 Goals: “Keep our head in the zone, and that momentum going. The first goal is always to get into the top six, into team finals, and then from there, to bring home a trophy. Now that we’ve had that fourth place a couple times, of course the goal is to get higher. But I know that, as I say that, the teams that were fifth and sixth are trying to beat you, and seventh and eighth are just trying to make into finals. 

“I can talk about getting this place, or that result, but our real goal—what we talk about every day in the gym—is performance. Hitting routines, and sticking dismounts—because that’s what we can control. The judges, what the other teams do—that’s out of our hands. What we can control is how Nebraska performs. So, the goal is always to have our guys in the best position to hit routines, and hit them well, when it matters most.”

Process of Improvement: “It’s revaluating every year and trying to figure out what went wrong and learning from that. We have changed some of our strategies because of that, but it’s also just a process. As our guys work hard, our results improve, which leads to recruits seeing Nebraska differently.

“That’s always the push. As we improved, better athletes start looking at us more. Then, we get one of those better recruits, then two, then three. There’s not really a secret to it, just hard work. Putting in the hours, both in the gym, and in recruiting. Everybody—the athletes, me, my assistants—working towards the same goal, and it really goes back to those kids who, ten years ago, took a chance on us when we weren’t at the level we are now. Those kids are the superheroes. They may have finished eighth, but they worked their butts off to get there, and that helped us recruit the next group, which does a little bit better, and helps us recruit the next. That’s how you continue to improve. Those guys who took a chance on Nebraska and gave it their all—I love them to death for it and always will. They’re directly responsible for the team we are today.”

ILLINOIS

Rank in 2024: 5th

2025 Pre-Season Rank: 5th

First Meet: January 18 in Chicago, Windy City Open (Full Schedule: https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-gymnastics/schedule/2025)

Inside Gym Outlook: The Illini experienced a turbulent off season when media reports about Illinois potentially cutting sports surfaced in July. Thankfully, men’s gymnastics is safe in Champaign, and with a slew of top-ranked freshmen and 2024 team captain Connor McCool joining the staff as an assistant, the boys of Illinois are ready to celebrate their stability by showing out.

Head Coach Daniel Riberio’s Take…

Key Athletes: “We have a young team with five fantastic freshmen, any one of which would end up being a huge star. We also have a sophomore class that has made some tremendous improvement. Preston Ngai should be key. He had a solid year last year, but he came into college as a 16-year-old. Now, he’s just turned 18 and he’s finally developing and improving really quickly. 

“And then I think Sam Phillips, a transfer from Nebraska. He’s our big veteran in a sea of young talent. He’s our all-around leader at the moment, though we have so many talented all-arounders, it’s hard to decide. Hasan Aydogdu, Ian Sandoval, Garrett Schooley, Vahe Petrosyan … Just incredible talent. We’re a very deep all-around team.”

Secret Weapon: “Jax Washburn. He’s following a similar pattern to Tate Costa, through his work ethic. I’d never seen anyone as committed as Tate, and Jax is a little clone of him. He’s gotten so much better. He can have a real chance to break through.”

2024 Reflection: “In the first few years I’ve been head coach, I could not ask for one more thing from my first two teams. They gave me, themselves, and this program everything they had. Regular Season Big 10 co-champs, won 4 of 6 Big 10 titles, which was the most in who knows how many years. We got a National Champion, with Tate Costa on high bar.

“Would have been nice to finish a little bit better, as our last event wasn’t our best, but none of that taints the successes we had. I’m very proud of what that team produced and what this team is continuing this year, with even more raw talent and greater potential.” 

2025 Goals: “Our goal is to win NCAA Championships every year. Our goal is to strategize the highest scoring routines we can possibly do to take down the title. Execution and consistency are the goals. If we hit more and are cleaner, we’re going to have a chance to win every single time. That’s our strategy. That’s how we try to achieve the goal of a national title.”

Illinois’ Future: “The last seven months have been extremely stressful, to say the least. Every Athletic Director operates differently and mine is extremely transparent and came out publicly to address the serious financial burdens we’ll be faced with in this new environment, and said that dropping sports wasn’t off the table, which understandably worried everyone, including myself.

“I’m very happy to say that, recently, we had a meeting and were told that men’s gymnastics is safe at Illinois. We won’t be getting cut, and our scholarships are also safe. We will be maintained at the same level. That was great news and, honestly, it has me feeling very confident. My AD expressed to me that he’s very excited about our future. He told me we had his full support, and he did it with a huge smile on his face.

“The adversity this team has gone through has brought us together in a way that’s hard to explain. We talk very openly in the gym, and it was very difficult, but it did bring the team much closer together. 

“I can’t tell you what effect it will have, because that is a story that’s going to continue to unfold. What I’ve told the team, based on my own experiences as an athlete, is that you don’t have time for a bye year. You only get four years to do this, so we need to handle the adversity and stress we’ve been dealt and get it done. That’s what it takes. Either way we’re going to grow from this, and that’s my favorite part of the job.

“I do feel like we’re one of the few schools that have actual assurances, direct from the top, that our program is safe. And I will say the format changes we made had a huge impact on that. These little things matter. I understand they’re not easy and not fun, and they have some downside, but I think they saved our program. I truly do.”

OHIO STATE

Rank in 2024: 6th

2025 Pre-Season Rank: 7th

First Meet: January 10 at Army, West Point Open (Full Schedule: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/mens-gymnastics/schedule)

Inside Gym Outlook: Flashes of greatness, like topping Michigan in a standout home performance last season, have lit up the Buckeye’s expectations, but being unable to show out on when it counts most has held them back. After a strong prelim performance that propelled them into the top six, OSU seemed to run out of gas in finals, finishing more than nine points down from the previous day. With consistency more important than ever, can Ohio State conquer their demons and be their best when it matters most?

Head Coach Rustam Sharipov’s Take…

Key Athletes: “I don’t really have a key guy. We have a team. One or two guys don’t make our team. The leadership of our captains—Kameron Nelson, Justin Ciccone and Tyler Rockwood—is our key. The meetings they’ve had, the goals they’ve set. The work plan that began in April, right after NCAA Championships.”

Secret Weapon: “I’m very happy with our freshman class. David Ramirez, from the second he stepped on campus you could see the kind of great leader he was going to be. He has a lot of raw talent, very coachable, and open to corrections. We’ve seen so much progress in a short time. He’s appreciative every day and really making the most of his opportunity.

“Jesse Pakele is a junior and I’ve seen him mature and improve, learning to believe in himself. His work ethic and dedication are so great, and he’s a detail guy, which I admire. I think it’s really helped his progress.”

2024 Reflection: “2024 was a good year for us. We hosted NCAAs and the goal was to make it to finals, which we did. Moving forward we need to set the bar higher. Making finals isn’t enough—we want more. We want to be pushing for the top three and I see that mentality in the gym every day. They are stepping up in terms of doing extra on their own, not because we’re asking it of them. They want to be better. In [NCAA] prelims, we hit 100% and then in finals, we struggled quite a bit more. They don’t want that to happen again, and we picked up right from there. It feels like we’re building something very special.”

2025 Goals: “We’ve been working a lot on upgrading for the new Code of Points. With eight skill routines we’ve been focusing on developing difficulty, raising our Start Values. The Olympic year was actually very good for us, in that, without Championships to prepare for in August, we had more time to train and work on new skills. I think the goal is always to execute as well as we can, without compromising difficulty. I think in the past we’ve maybe focused too much on execution, but we’ve put a real priority on difficulty for this year and I want to see how that is going pay off. 

“We did a lot of things differently in this offseason. We’ve done more intrasquads. More preparation and mental training. We also want to have fun, after all the stress and worry we had this summer about the future of men’s gymnastics. At the end of the day, the future of this program is on their shoulders, on their performance, on the way they represent the Ohio State. I think we’re in a good spot to do that well this season. I just want to see them do what they’ve been training, what I know they’re capable of doing.”

Ohio State’s Future: “When it comes down to money, the Olympic sports are always going to be the ones that get looked at, and I think that got a little misinterpreted in the media. We are very grateful that we still have a program with good financial support. At the end of the day, we’re grateful to still be a scholarship sport here at Ohio State. To have the full support of our athletic department, and to be assured that will continue. This is very good news, and we’re very excited, but this isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. 

“Our administration has committed to keeping all 36 sports, but the future of the whole NCAA is going to look different going forward. Men’s gymnastics will always need fan and alumni support, and I appreciate everything Buckeye Nation has done, and will continue to do for our program, but we need more. 

“To stay competitive, which we absolutely are going to do, we need to use all our resources, including donors. Whatever rules are enacted, we are here to fight within them—that’s my commitment. To do our best and make the most of everything we have, to give as many athletes as we can, as many opportunities as possible, because after something is lost, it’s too late. I think sometimes that’s what people don’t realize—that if you want to preserve something, the fight starts now, not when it’s gone. I’m going to keep trying my best to do everything I can, as a coach, to make Ohio State as efficient a program as we can be. And, if you love men’s NCAA gymnastics, or were a gymnast who got a lot from being in the NCAA, I encourage you to donate to your favorite program. It really does matter.”

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