The Michigan men’s gymnastics team rolled into Springfield, Mass. for this weekend’s tri-meet against Springfield and Army looking for a big win. The Wolverines left with one, but also with some very clear areas for improvement.
Sweeping the podium on the high bar and floor and placing top three on every event, Michigan (4-1) comfortably won the meet with 318.050 points. Army (0-1) placed second with 307.050 and Springfield took third with 299.550. Despite errors from the Wolverines, Michigan coach Yuan Xiao was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I’m happy about where we’re at,” Xiao said. “Of course, not a perfect meet … We are building up every week and seeing the scoring getting better, our consistency getting better, our start value getting bigger.”
In early season meets, the Wolverines typically do not compete their strongest lineup. That was evident in this meet, where graduate Paul Juda stayed in Ann Arbor and junior Frederick Richard competed in only three events. Instead, Michigan gave its other gymnasts time to shine. Freshmen like Solen Chiodi and Carson Eshleman got valuable meet experience. Meanwhile, more seasoned gymnasts competed on events they don’t typically compete on, such as junior Robert Noll, who competed on rings for the first time in his NCAA career. The meet allowed the team to make mistakes before conference competition begins.
To the Wolverines’ credit, their meet went relatively smoothly even with the roster and event changes. Beginning its meet on the still rings, Michigan performed well given the new code of points, with Eshleman breaking the 14-point barrier with a stellar 9.200 execution score. Michigan led after the first rotation and never looked back — rolling straight from a strong rings rotation into a dominant floor routine. Sophomore transfer Charlie Larson broke the 14-point barrier with his routine to claim first as sophomore Jake Islam and graduate Syam Buradagunta tied for second, rounding out the podium.
The Wolverines’ success continued on the high bar where they again swept the podium. Richard came in first with a stellar 13.580, and Noll and Eshleman both earned stick bonuses on their way to second and third, respectively. It was a clear sign that Michigan’s dominance is not diminished on this event as it retained its three best high bar performers in Juda, Richard and Noll, along with the newly-added Eshleman.
It was only on vault where the team struggled, with two gymnasts sitting their vaults in the middle of the rotation. In a four-up, four-count scenario, no scores can be dropped. Michigan badly needed a stick on its final run. Richard provided, sticking his vault and earning a 9.500 execution score on his way to winning the event with a 14.000. With the new scoring system, scores are expected to be lower this year, and the vault provides an opportunity for teams to accrue valuable points. Xiao chalked the falls up to a difference in equipment with Springfield using a TAC vault table, and anticipates that the team will be much better on vault as the season progresses.
“We had some events that are super good events, like vault,” Xiao said. “We had two falls on the vault. The vault should be a really good event for us, and unfortunately, today in this new arena, new vault table, they haven’t used that vault table. The TAC is a little bit different from our gym table to get used to.”
The Wolverines didn’t let their struggles on the event derail their final event, though. The team came together to reset before the parallel bars.
“We huddled up, and the captains gave us a little, ‘We have to look past our mistakes. We give our energy to whoever’s going. It’s not about you, it’s about the team, so you can’t let that get in your head. There’s more to do. It’s not over until it’s over,’ ” Eshleman said.
Michigans sealed the deal on the parallel bars to emerge victorious over Army and Springfield. And in the victory, the Wolverines’ young talent proved they can hold their own without star help.
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