University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Championships
Gophers Collect Three Medals at B1G Finals
4/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The University of Minnesota earned gold, silver and bronze during the individual event finals at the 2017 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships on Saturday night at the State Farm Center. The effort was led by junior captain Alex Wittenberg, who was named the Big Ten Champion on floor exercise.
Wittenberg earned gold with a score of 14.550, and became the program's seventh floor conference champion. Clay Strother took home top honors on floor most recently in 2003. Ellis Mannon was the Gophers' most recent Big Ten Champion, having won back-to-back pommel horse titles in 2014 and 2015.
"Alex winning the Big Ten title on floor was just an awesome accolade for someone who is a great leader for this team," head coach Mike Burns said. "He leads by example. What he did tonight was outstanding, and to see the look on his face when he won was worth the price of admission."
Sophomore Justin Karstadt tied for the silver medal on pommel horse with Illinois' Matthew Foster. Karstadt scored a season-best score of 14.600. Karstadt also represented Minnesota on parallel bars, where he took seventh place (13.550).
"Justin did an outstanding pommel horse routine, best of the year," Burns said. "It was a nice moment for him to claim a medal at this meet."
Yaroslav Pochinka collected bronze on vault with a 14.750, leading the three Golden Gophers in the finals. Senior Zach Liebler made the podium with a fourth place mark (14.625), and Vitali Kan finished eighth (14.125) in his first championship final.
"Vault had a very high level of competition tonight and for Yaro to be in the mix for a medal was quite an honor," Burns said. "There was a lot of maroon out there with three competitors. Having Zach make the podium was a really special moment as a senior, and was much deserved."
Mitchell Soukup made his first event final on rings, and scored a 13.525 for ninth place. The senior was Minnesota's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.
The Gophers had three finalists on high bar. Jalon Stephens paced the team with a fifth place score of 14.075. Tristan Duran tied for sixth with a 13.725. Joel Gagnon took home ninth with a 13.525.
Wittenberg and Karstadt were named to the All-Big Ten First Team, while Pochinka earned a nod to the All-Big Ten Second Team.
Burns was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second time during his tenure. He previously earned the honor in 2007.
"This award was a total surprise," Burns said. "It was quite unexpected and humbling for the other coaches to nominate me. I was touched."
The Golden Gophers will travel to the 2017 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships from April 21-22 in West Point, N.Y. The team will strive for an appearance at the Super Six for the second-straight year.
Players Mentioned
