NCAA MEN’S GYMNASTICS: Meet the Illinois and Penn State Freshmen

NCAA MEN’S GYMNASTICS: Meet the Freshmen

The 2026 men’s NCAA season will feature one of the most exciting incoming classes in recent memory, featuring three current U.S. senior National Team members (Jun Iwai, Sasha Bogonosiuk and Nathan Roman), along with two international junior champs (Sam Rakita, Canada and Ritam Malik, Australia). We’ve also got a slew of second-generation stars, with Iwai, Bogonosiuk and Adam Lakomy all boasting Olympian parents.

Everything is bigger in Texas, including how many of the state’s own are featured here (six). Four freshmen on our list were developed by coach Nori Iwai at the Kim Zmeskal-owned Texas Dreams, including all three service academies. Region 3’s 2025 Elite Team Cup championship squad is also well represented, with the NCAA saying howdy to three of its eight members in 2026.

As we inch closer to January and the start of the NCAA men’s gymnastics season, Inside Gymnastics will introduce you to 2026’s most anticipated newcomers!

Penn State

Ritam Malik (Class of 2029 Recruit Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Hometown: Sydney, Australia

Major: Finance

Junior Career Highlights: 2025 & 2023 Junior World Championship team member, Australian National Team member, 2024 Australian Junior National Champ

More About Me: “My background is Indian, and my dad (Rajesh) was a gymnast on the Indian National Team before moving to Australia. So, from India, where gym isn’t very big at all, to Australia, where it’s growing, and now the U.S., we’re kind of climbing the ladder in terms of gymnastics.

“I love watching and playing other sports, mostly cricket, which my brother plays, and I love watching rugby. My team are the Paramada Eels. Both sports there’s not too much of in the USA. I also love going to the beach; that’s something I’d do a lot at home. I have also been getting more into making video content for Instagram and TikTok since I’ve been here.”

Why Penn State? “Growing up in Australia, I didn’t really know much about the U.S. college system, but what you have here is special. When I came on my visit, I met all the guys, and they were really welcoming. I saw all the resources for athletes, and it was just an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. I’ve been watching videos of NCAA competition, and it’s got me really excited to start competing. We don’t have anything like this in Australia.”

Most Looking Forward To: “Well, first I’m going to Junior Worlds. In 2023, it was my first-ever international competition, and now I’ve been preparing for two years. Our main goal there is the team, and we really want to finish top 8, which I think Australia can do.

“What I’m looking forward to [in the NCAA] is just competing. It’s going to be a lot more pressure, because competing every week as a team is new for me, but I’m looking forward to that pressure. Getting to compete against some of the best guys in the world, every week, is something I couldn’t dream of in Australia. I’ve just seen a lot of videos of the guys being really hyped. I love that kind of energy and want to bring more of that home with me to Australia, too.”

First Impressions: “Well, you drive on the wrong side of the road here. And there’s a lot more homework than Australia gives, but I’m learning to manage both of those things now. All the guys here are just really motivated, and it makes me more motivated to work out with them every day. They’ve been so supportive, in and outside the gym.

“My expectation of American college was seeing it in movies, and this has really lived up to that movie-type experience. The amount of resources you have here, both sport and study-wise, are just incredible. Tutors, physios, chiros, the new facility, Greenberg, which is our recovery and dining area—it’s something we couldn’t even imagine in Australia.”

Inside Take: Malik has big shoes to fill after a bevy of senior stars, including U.S. National Team member Josh Karnes, graduated. The Aussie up-and-comer will be expected to step up quickly to help the Nittany Lions stay in the hunt. Look for him to make his mark on his best event, pommel horse.

Illinois

Alex Karadzhov (Class of 2028 Recruit Rating, deferred: ⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Hometown: St. Petersburg, Florida

Major: undeclared

Junior Career Highlights: 3^rd at 2024 Developmental National Champs (L10, 19), 6^th at 2024 Winter Cup (jr. division), 2023 USAs qualifier

More About Me: “I try not to make my whole life about gymnastics. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been working on expanding my social presence, and I’ve taken up guitar. It’s not great yet, but it’s coming along. I also like to draw, mostly sketching. I’ve played around with digital art, too, but sketching is the most accessible.

“My family is Bulgarian, and I speak it, but not fluently; enough to understand.”

Why Illinois? “I had kind of an unusual process, in that, at first, I didn’t think I was going to go NCAA. That I’d just stay at EVO and train, which is why I took a gap year. It wasn’t until last January that I really decided, and then everything happened very quickly. I didn’t even take a trip to Illinois; I did all my recruiting online. But I knew so many people on the team already that I felt like I had a very good sense of what the environment was, and that I’d like to be a part of it. I wanted to be somewhere that I could grow and mature as a person, outside of gymnastics, and I think I made a great choice here at Illinois.”

Most Looking Forward To: “All the new experiences. I want to see how I grow as a person, and an athlete. I feel I’ve spent the last 12 months, my entire career really, just building and building, and I think I’m finally at a point where I can really show up and perform well. I want to go out, put up some good scores, show these upgrades, and look Elite.”

First Impressions: “Because I’d never even been on campus before, I thought it would take a bit of adjustment to fit in, but it really didn’t. They brought me in and, pretty much my first day, I felt like I was absolutely a part of this team. It was great. I thought we had a really strong team at EVO, and we did, but this is just beyond that. It really is a much more bonding experience.

“I try not to go into things with expectations, because I think that can lead to disappointment, so I came in with an open mindset, just willing to take in whatever experiences would come and, so far, everything’s really exceeded what I thought it would be.”

Inside Take: One of just two freshmen on the ’26 Illini squad, Karadzhov will be looking to make lineups, particularly on his best events, high bar and horse, where his smooth swing will join an already stellar Illini pommels lineup.

Subscribe to Inside Gymnastics for 3 Years and receive a free gift!