University of Minnesota Athletics
2016 Season Preview: The Opponents
1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team will begin the 2016 season this weekend at the Windy City Invitational in Chicago, Ill. After returning from Chicago, the Gophers will host Big Ten conference foe, Penn State, at the Sports Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 23 with action set to begin at 1:00 p.m.
Throughout the 2016 season, the Maroon and Gold will face Nebraska, Air Force, Illinois, Stanford, Iowa, the Canadian and Japanese National teams and Oklahoma.
PENN STATE
The reigning Big Ten Champions will prove to be tough competition with 15 returning Nittany Lions and five newcomers to the team. Penn State checks in at fourth in the CGA preseason poll after finishing third in last year's NCAA team finals.
Gymnasts to watch include senior Trevor Howard and junior Dominic DiFulvio. In 2013, Howard won the title of NCAA Floor Exercise Champion, the program's first title on floor since 1963. Last season, DiFulvio earned his career-best score on floor (15.400), leading to the event title vs. Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.
Minnesota and Penn State met in Lincoln, Neb. during last year's regular-season in a Quad meet. The Maroon and Gold came out with an upset victory with a final tally of 434.000 while the then No. 2 Nittany Lions placed second (432.100). The two teams will face off at the Sports Pavilion for the Gophers' first home meet of the regular-season on Saturday, Jan. 23.
NEBRASKA
Tabbed 10th in the CGA preseason poll, the Cornhuskers return 15 gymnasts and are looking to improve on a one win 2015 campaign. The team welcomes three new freshmen to the team - Heath Anderson, Jordan King and Anton Stephenson.
Nebraska will be led by senior Ethan Lottman, their lone returning All-American. Last season, Lottman finished fifth on pommel horse at the NCAA Championships Individual Event finals. The senior is the first All-American on an individual event since 2013.
Nebraska took second to the Maroon and Gold in the 2015 season first at the Sports Pavilion (2/7/15) as the Gophers tallied a 429.900 to Nebraska's 422.050 and UIC's 402.600. In the following weekend's match-up, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska met in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes walked away with the meet after notching a 435.400 followed by Minnesota (433.600) and Nebraska (420.250). The Huskers and Gophers will meet twice again this season, first on Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Sports Pavilion with action set to begin at 7:00 and then on the road in Lincoln on Sunday, March 20 at 2:00 p.m.
AIR FORCE
The Falcons continued their dominance at the USAG Championships, winning their sixth-straight title. Air Force is ranked 11th in the CGA preseason poll for the second straight year. The team's season ended during NCAA Qualifiers, but the team had three gymnasts advance to the individual qualifiers.
Air Force welcomes nine new team members to the team for the 2016 season: Casey Branin, Ryan Girouard, Alex Hess, Christian Kalustian, Eric Klein, Troy Mather, Jacob Stanley, Lukas Texeira and Jonah Uraub. Head Kip Simmons was quoted as saying that this group is the "largest, most talented class of athletes that I have ever brought into the Academy."
Three of the Falcons 11 returning gymnasts won USAG national titles - Denis Aurelius, Greg Chaput and Tim Wang.
In the lone meeting meeting last season, Air Force fell to Minnesota in Minnesota, 425.100-407.150. This season, the Gophers will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, Feb. 6 with meet time set for 2:00 p.m.
ILLINOIS
Illinois is ranked outside the top-five for the first time since 2008, coming into the preseason rankings as slotted sixth. The Illini barely missed day two of NCAAs, finishing fourth out of six in the preliminary round.
With NCAA high bar champion C.J. Maestas graduating, the Illini will lean heavily on their 15 returning gymnasts to provide results. Sophomore Bobby Baker is a gymnast to watch after earning two All-American honors last season in the all-around and on parallel bars. Baker was named the 2015 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, 2015 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year and earned six league Freshman of the Week laurels and two Big Ten Gymnast of the Week tabs.
Last season, the Illini beat the Gophers in Champaign, Ill. 435.00-419.800.
STANFORD
Last season, Stanford finished second at the NCAA Team Finals qualifying for the program's ninth top-three finish in the past ten years. Head coach Thom Glielmi and the Cardinal find themselves slotted third in the CGA preseason poll looking to compete for their sixth national championship this season.
Returning to the Cardinal is NCAA All-Around Champion, junior Akash Modi and NCAA Parallel Bar Champion, redshirt senior Brian Knott. Eleven gymnasts return to the team including five All-Americans: Modi, Knott, Robert Neff, Taylor Seaton and Dennis Zaremski.
Stanford travels to the Sports Pavilion for the first time since 2009 to participate in a meet along with Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa and the Canadian and Japanese National teams on Saturday, Feb. 13. This meet is an opportunity for Gopher freshman Justin Karstadt and sophomore Joel Gagnon to compete against their fellow Canadian countrymen. Both have competed with the Canadian national team.
IOWA
The rival Hawkeyes enter 2016 ranked right behind the Gophers at ninth in the CGA preseason poll. Iowa ended last season in the NCAA team finals, finishing sixth.
The team only graduated three seniors last season and returning 16 gymnasts for the 2016 campaign. Returning gymnast to watch is All-American, junior Jack Boyle, who competed on high bar in the individual event finals at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
Last season, the Hawkeyes walked away with the team victory at home at the B1G Tri-Meet (435.400) (2/14/15). The Gophers followed second after earning 433.600 and Nebraska came in third with a final score of 420.250.
The Maroon and Gold will meet Iowa three times during the 2016 season. First, at the Sports Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 13 in a multi-team meet that will begin at 3:00 p.m. Next, Minnesota will travel to Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday, March 12. Action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. Finally, the Gophers and Hawkeyes will meet-up with the Huskers of Nebraska in Lincoln for a 2:00 p.m. meet on Sunday, March 20.
OKLAHOMA
Coming off their ninth NCAA championship, traveling to Oklahoma will prove to be a tough task for the Gophers. The Sooners finished last season undefeated and the reigning national champions come into this season ranked first in the country.
Though the team graduated both of the NCAA individual champions last season, the Sooners return seven All-Americans to help defend the team's title. Colin Van Wicklen is the gymnast to watch for the Sooners. Wicklen earned All-American honors on both floor and vault last season. The junior finished second on floor at the NCAA Event finals after tallying a 15.600 and took home seventh on vault after a score of 14.775. Wicklen contributed a career-high score of 15.900 on floor against the No. 2 Illini to help set the NCAA team scoring record.
Oklahoma will host the Maroon and Gold in Norman on Saturday, Feb. 27 with action set to begin at 5:00 p.m.
UIC
UIC comes into this season ranked 15th in the CGA preseason poll. The Flames had five gymnasts qualify for the NCAA finals in the 2015 season. With 14 returning gymnasts, UIC will be an experienced team to lead the team's five new freshmen - Keane Winstead, Wes Diveney, Steen Haugsted, Patrick Howard and Ethan Sansone - all classified as all-around competitors.
Redshirt senior Trent Jarrett qualified for the NCAA Individual qualifiers and was a competitor on the seventh season of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior." Jarrett qualified as an individual at the NCAA Championship with a score of 13.950 and earned an alternate spot on the parallel bars after notching a 13.550.
The Flames and the Gophers meet twice this season, first at the first regular-season meet of the year at the Windy City Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 17. Next, the Maroon and Gold will host UIC along with the UMN Club Team on Saturday, March 5. Action will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Sports Pavilion.
FOLLOW THE GOPHERS
Are you following the Gophers on the road or from home? Make sure to follow @GopherMGym on Twitter and use the team's hashtag #WhyNotUs. You can also check for updates on Facebook and Instagram by "liking" Minnesota Men's Gymnastics on Facebook or following the Gophers on Instagram.
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