CGA x Inside Gymnastics NCAA MEN’S GYMNASTICS: Meet the Springfield Class of 2026 NLI Signings!

08 Jan CGA X Inside Gymnastics Men’s NCAA Class Of 2026 Recruiting Roundup! Next Up, Springfield!

Posted at 14:35h in 2026 Men’s NCAA News, 2026 NCAA Headquarters, 2026 NCAA Recruiting Roundup, News & Features by Christy Sandmaier 0 Comments

By Christy Sandmaier

Vice President & Co-Publisher

NCAA MEN’S GYMNASTICS: Recruiting Roundup!

Now that you’ve met many of the freshmen slated to compete during the 2025-26 Men’s NCAA Gymnastics season (see that series here on InsideGym.com), we’re excited to launch a look at the Class of 2026 – NLI Signings for each program!

In this new Inside Gymnastics series in partnership with the Men’s College Gymnastics Association (CGA), we asked each head coach about who’s graduating, who’s coming up, what they look for in their recruits, where each Class of 2026 NLI signee could potentially contribute to the lineup, and what makes their program unique. You’ll see what they had to say right here on InsideGym.com!

We’ll also add updates here and across our social media platforms as the season progresses, should anything change. Plus! Stay tuned right here for Men’s NCAA Coverage throughout the season, and be on the lookout for our upgraded Routine Of The Week segment and more @InsideGym once the season gets rolling.

Up next, Springfield! Springfield sent 11 student-athletes to the NCAA Championships in 2025, placed fourth at ECAC’s behind a gold medal from Kaleb Palacio (Barcliff, Texas) and saw the team earn six All-America accolades from the USAG and CGA.

Three student-athletes from the Springfield College men’s gymnastics team were recently named to the 2026 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Gymnasts to Watch list ahead of the season opener this Saturday January 10. Senior Owen Carney (Sterling, Mass.) and juniors Peyton Cramer (Grapevine, Texas) and Kaleb Palacio (Barcliff, Texas) represented Springfield as the ECAC selected three student-athletes from each member institution for the recognition including Army, Navy, Simpson, William & Mary and Greenville.

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See the 2026 Men’s NCAA Schedule Here!

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We asked Springfield Head Coach Matt Davis…

Who will we graduate in 2026:

We will be graduating 5 gymnasts this coming year: Will Wilson, Peyton Cramer, Owen Carney, Gus Suess, and Tyler Beekman.

Class of 2026 – NLI Signings

We do have 4 committed at the moment but expect 3 to 4 additional in the near future. NLI is not a thing in DIII so we can’t announce it until deposits have been paid. This class so far really helps us with depth on each event and cover events we will be graduating this upcoming season across all six. We try to keep a larger roster (this year we have 27 gymnasts) to help provide opportunity but also continue to develop gymnasts to make an impact for us and within the NCAA.

Diego Ciacci – Austin, TX

Ethan Grier – Esher, England

Kalel Portillo – Miami, FL

James Timmerman – Henrico, VA

Top traits we look for beyond gymnastics skills:

Recruiting is definitely not all about talent. You of course want high level athletes but our program is really about developing student-athletes in the classroom and in the gymnasium to build and succeed at their highest potential. The philosophy of Springfield College is to educate the whole person in Spirit, Mind and Body and that is something we mirror in what we look for in future student-athletes. Being someone that is coachable, a great teammate, and someone that is willing to go above and beyond expectations in and out of the gym is what we have really been emphasizing these last few years to grow our program.

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What makes Springfield stand out as a program:

Springfield College gymnastics is actually one of the oldest programs in the country with our first informal team beginning in 1904 so there is a huge amount of gymnastics tradition and history here. There has been an immense amount of time and dedication from previous and current gymnasts, coaches and administrators to make Springfield a continued success in NCAA men’s gymnastics. Alumni support and continued careers of graduated gymnasts in men’s and women’s club and collegiate positions and international gymnast success are examples of the influence our program has had in its history and continues to do so now. We are a program that always puts the work in to be competitive as a team and as individual gymnasts. Springfield College itself holds sport and wellness in high regard through its majors offered here as well as the history of being the birthplace of basketball. We also have an early influence on the creation of football and volleyball as well. Being a student-athlete at Springfield College continues to be held in high regard with our student-body being about 40% student-athletes. Having a long men’s and women’s gymnastics tradition of excellence is something that definitely continues to stand us apart from programs.