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Meet Preview: Minnesota Travels to No. 2 Michigan
3/13/2021 12:00:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
The Minnesota men's gymnastics team travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. this weekend to take on the No. 2 ranked Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, Mar. 14 at 12:00 p.m. CST.
The Maroon & Gold are coming off of their first win of the 2021 season, where the Gophers upset No. 5 ranked Penn State at Maturi Pavilion with a season-high score of 404.300 points to Penn State's 398.250.
"We are heading into a pretty hostile territory this weekend," head coach Mike Burns said. "Michigan is a deep and talented team but our guys have trained hard and are ready to go out and perform to their utmost potential. Our hit percentages and scores have been steadily rising through the season, and I feel very confident in my team this week."
The Gophers are coming off of a meet against the Nittany Lions in which the team captured four team and four individual event titles, including junior Ben Eyles capturing his first event title of the season on vault. Sophomore Crew Bold also is coming off of a great performance, where he earned stick bonuses on all three of his routines.
Sunday's meet against Michigan will be live streamed on BTN+ (subscription required) at the link provided above. Live stats will also be available through the Michigan website, with that link also being provided above. Fans can follow along with the Gophers by following the Minnesota men's gymnastics Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
Gophers in the Rankings
Minnesota currently sits as the No. 10 team in the nation in the Road to Nationals team rankings, which are based on team score averages. Team event rankings for the Maroon & Gold are as follows: tenth on floor exercise, eleventh on pommel horse, ninth on still rings, eighth on vault, fifth on parallel bars, and sixth on high bar.
Minnesota gymnasts finding themselves in the top 25 individual rankings this week are:
All-Around: Shane Wiskus (3rd), Mike Moran (11th)
Floor Exercise: Shane Wiskus (3rd)
Still Rings: Shane Wiskus (5th)
Vault: Mike Moran (17th)
Parallel Bars: Shane Wiskus (4th), Crew Bold (21st)
High Bar: Shane Wiskus (3rd), Crew Bold (6th), Donte McKinney (7th)
Scouting Michigan
The No. 2 ranked Wolverines, who hold an undefeated 4-0 record on the year, are led by two of the best gymnasts in the nation in Cameron Bock and Paul Juda, who both earned spots on the US Senior National Team two weeks ago at the 2021 Winter Cup. Juda and Bock currently rank as the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked all-around gymnasts in the nation respectively, with Juda's all-around score of 86.550 that he logged against UIC being the highest all-around score in the nation this year.
The Road Ahead
After this weekend's road matchup with Michigan, the Gophers will close out their season at home against Illinois on Monday, Mar. 22 at 4:00 p.m. CST. The meet will be televised on Big Ten Network, and marks the Maroon & Gold's final dual meet that the team will host in the Maturi Pavilion.