Battle In Ann Arbor! A Look At The 2025 Men's NCAA Gymnastics Championships

12 Apr Battle In Ann Arbor! A Look At The 2025 Men’s NCAA Gymnastics Championships

Posted at 14:15h in 2025 NCAA Headquarters, News & Features by Christy Sandmaier 0 Comments

By Christy Sandmaier

Vice President & Co-Publisher

Will defending (and 10-time) Champion Stanford rally and continue their dynasty after a bit of an up and down season? Will No.1 -ranked and 12-time National Champion Oklahoma take back the title they relinquished to The Cardinal in 2019? Or will it be a home game for Olympic bronze medalists Frederick Richard and Paul Juda as they chase Michigan’s first Championship since 2014? There’s just nothing like live men’s gymnastics and it’s about to be GAME ON in Ann Arbor!

Here’s a look at what the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) had to say about upcoming awards and events + scroll for all of the Championship details!

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DETAILS

The 2025 National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships qualifier selections were announced Tuesday by the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Committee. The championships will begin with two pre-qualifying sessions conducted April 18 at the Crisler Center on the campus of the University of Michigan.

Three teams and the top three all-around competitors not on one of the qualifying teams, plus the top three individuals on each event not already qualified on a team or as an all-around competitor, will advance from each pre-qualifying session to the finals session. Finals competition will take place April 19, also at Michigan.

Stanford won its tenth national championship and fifth in a row in 2024 with a team score of 425.324 points at the championships hosted by The Ohio State University. Michigan took runner-up honors with 419.689 points, while Oklahoma placed third with 412.956 points.

Championship qualifiers will air on ESPN+ on April 18. Session I will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time and Session II will air at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The championship finals will air on ESPN 2 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on April 19. For more information regarding the National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships, log on to ncaa.com.

Olympic legend Bart Conner, 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Brody Malone and veteran ESPN gymnastics reporter Lauren Sisler will team up for coverage on on ESPN2 & ESPN+

The 2025 qualifying teams are listed below.

For the list of individuals competing, click here!

TEAM COMPETITION

Friday Championship Qualifier – Session 1 • 1 p.m. ESPN+

Teams Competing: Oklahoma, Nebraska, Penn State, Air Force, California, William & Mary

Friday Championship Qualifier – Session 2 • 7 p.m. ESPN+

Teams Competing: Michigan, Stanford, Illinois, Ohio State, Navy, Army

Saturday National Championship • 6:30 p.m. ESPN2

INSTITUTION	QUALIFYING SCORE
Oklahoma	327.700
Michigan	326.838
Stanford	326.813
Nebraska	324.538
Penn State	322.700
Illinois	321.100
Ohio State	320.663
Air Force	312.863
California	312.800
Navy	312.263
Army West Point	311.519
William & Mary	309.875

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Conference Championship Recap From the College Gymnastics Association!

The 2025 NCAA men’s gymnastics championships season was in full swing this past weekend as the conference championship contests were held for each of our three conferences.

The ECAC Championship featured an historic upset. Army (313.5) defeated Navy (309.55) and won its first ECAC championship since 2016, dethroning the Midshipmen who had won every ECAC title since 2018.

The stakes of this contest could not have been higher for Army since they were right on the bubble, sitting in 12th place, the last spot in the NCAA championships as a team. Army needed to perform well to maintain their position, and they put on a display of consistency that led to a decisive victory when it mattered most.

Springfield freshman, Kaleb Palacio (13.65) topped the charts on floor. Greenville’s Matthew Roth tied Navy’s Matthew Petros for the pommel horse title (13.55). Isaiah Drake (13.45) claimed the rings crown and the All-Around title (78.35).

Vault was secured by Ricky Mays (14.3) out of Greenville. Petros (13.6), in his second win of the day took home top honors on parallel bars, and William & Mary’s Ricky Pizem (13.15) came off of a season long injury to win high bar.

In Ann Arbor, the Big Ten Championships were the Michigan show. The Wolverines (330.75) won their 5th straight big ten team title, in which Paul Juda and Fred Richard placed first and second in the all-around. The pair of Olympians accounted for no less than half of Michigan’s routines and led their team to victory.

Penn State (323.85), Nebraska (322.85), and Illinois(320.95) all battled it out for 2nd place, and Ohio State (315.95) finished a distant 5th.

The Buckeye’s flipped the script on day two and came away with two Big Ten title winners. Jesse Pakele (14.075) won floor and Kameron Nelson (14.85) dominated vault with a national season high score on the event.

Illinois’ Brandon Dang (14.775) won his second straight Big Ten pommel horse title. The Nebraska rings squad showed why they are ranked #1 in the country on that event. The top four spots on the podium were occupied by a husker. Yianni Chronopoulos (13.95) led the charge, followed by Asher Cohen (13.925), Chris Hiser (13.85), and Taylor Chirstopulos (13.8) – who finished third in the All-Around the day before.

Penn State’s Josh Karnes (14.45) snuck past Michigan’s Evgeny Siminiuc to win parallel bars. To end the championship on a high note for Michigan, Siminiuc (14.1) swung out on high bar and claimed the final event title of the competition.

The MPSF championship held just as much excitement. In the ECAC Army upset Navy in dramatic fashion. In the Big Ten, Michigan put on a show at home. In the MPSF, the meet came down to the final routine, a rings set by Oklahoma’s Tas Hajdu which put the Sooners (329.25) three tenths ahead of the reigning MPSF champion Stanford Cardinal (328.95).

Taylor Burkhart (14.35) tumbled his way to victory on floor for Stanford. Air Force’s Patrick Hoopes (14.9) led the way on pommel horse over world pommel horse medalist, Khoi Young (14.45). Asher Hong (14.8) dominated rings, winning the title by seven and a half tenths.

Cal’s Jasper Smith-Gordon (14.25) beat out Burkhart (14.2) for the vault title. On parallel bars and high bar Oklahoma stalwarts Fuzzy Benas (14.1) and Emre Dodanli (14.3) won their events respectively.

This conference championship weekend was historic. Upsets, big wins, close meets, and thrilling gymnastics all around are a compelling preview for the NCAA championships to come April 18th and 19th at the Crisler Center at the University of Michigan.

Look for Nate’s NCAA Notes and Della’s Inside the MatchUp each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!

Nate Salsman, Della Fowler, Megan Roth and Christy Sandmaier provide NCAA coverage for Inside Gymnastics.

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine. University of Oklahoma and Air Force.