With the new year begins a new season for Men’s College Gymnastics, which has played a huge part in producing many of past and potential future  Team USA “greats.” After a year of surprises, all eyes are on how these teams are preparing for the rule changes that will take place later in the season.

This past weekend kicked off the start for some of the top programs. Here is a brief look at the first week of competition:

#1 Illinois vs. #15 UIC:

Reigning NCAA champion Fighting Illini opened their season right down the road at UIC, with a very convincing 425.450-385.750 victory. This team, who lost one of their stars in CJ Maestas, had many of their guys step up their game, especially freshman Joey Peters who lead the all-around (84.65) and parallel bars.

Five other Orange and Blue gymnasts captured event titles along the way to their team victory: Senior Yoshi Mori (PH), Junior Alex Varga (FX), Freshman Fred Hartville (VT), Sopohomore Mike Wilner (SR) and Junior Jordan Valdez (HB).

You can find complete results at:

http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-gym/recaps/011213aaa.html

#3 Oklahoma vs. #9 Nebraska vs. #11 Air Force vs. Arizona State Club (Rocky Mountain Open)

For the 14th year in a row, the Sooners Men’s gymnastics team captured the title at the Rocky Mountain Open, as well as ever individual event and all-around title. After having to make a few changes following an injury to Dylan Akers, the Sooners delievered an overall impressive performance of 423.50.

Lead by all-around and floor champion, Alec Robin, the Sooners closest competitor was Nebraska (418.90), followed by Air Force (405.50) and Arizona State (392.30). This marks not only the 14th team win, but the 14th all-around champion from OU at this competition.

You can find complete results at:

http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-gym/recaps/011313aab.html

#4 Penn State vs. #13 Army:

With this year’s NCAA Championships being held at Penn State, many have anticipating how prepared the Nitty Lions would be. They demonstarted they are more then prepared with a huge 447.75-403.70 victory of Army.

Taking five individual titles, the Nitty Lions did not have any gymnast compete in the all-around, but Freshman Trevor Howard lead the way with the rings and vault titles. The remaing three wins were by: Matt Chelberg (FX), Nestor Rodriguez (PB) and Matthew Felleman (HB).

You can find a complete look at results at:

http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-gym/recaps/011313aaa.html

#5 Stanford vs. #6 Cal

In-state rivals, Stanford and Cal began their season with a Cardinal 425.00-411.50 victory over the Bears. Not only did Stanford record the highest team score on five-of-six events, six different Cardinal gymnasts earned individual first place finishes, as well as a 1-2 finish in the all-around from gymnasts Eddie Penev and Sean Senters.

The University of Cal Berkley Bears were lead by Jeffrey langenstein’s first place floor routine, which he tied with Penev, and all-around performers Kyle Zemier and Kevin Wolting. Berkley used this meet to truly test out their Freshman, with Zemier and Wolting, as well as using 5 Freshman on Pommel Horse.

You can find a complete look at results at:

http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-gym/recaps/011313aaa.html

#15 William and Mary: State Open

The William and Mary Tribe Men’s team opened their season with the State Open, an individual championship with no team scoring. The Tribe were lead by Junior Landon Funiciellow with three individual titles (floor, rings and p-bars).

With decent showings across the board, William and Mary had two other wins with keaton Ackerman (PH) and Michael Deitz (V).

You can find a complete look at results at:

http://www.tribeathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=80813&DB_OEM_ID=25100&ATCLID=205955760

My opinions on first week:

Even though not every team competed this weekend, it is clear Penn State is ready for a battle. They posted the highest score by more than twenty points, and seem the most prepared for the rule changes (In the past it was 6-up/4-count towards overall score, now 6-up/5-count). They looked like they were already in post-season, which could be a positive and a negative.

However, every team showed they can improve, especially before the 5-up/5-count rule takes affect in March. It will be interesting to see how teams will try to figure out their line-ups, as well as giving their Freshman and new routines a chance. Most will need to give as much experience to gain as much confidence and consistancy.

I will take a closer look once every team has competed, as one team I see as a huge threat, Michigan, has yet to compete.

Top 5 Teams after Week 1:

1. Penn State

2. Illinois

3. Stanford

4. Oklahoma

5. Nebraska

 Article: Brian Taylor

Photo: Joey Peters from NCAA.com

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