Last year in Columbus, the Michigan men’s gymnastics team was down by 4.10 points and in second-to-last place. Entering the vault rotation, the Wolverines knew they had only three more events to make up the gap and continue their run of Big Ten titles. All five of their vaulters achieved scores over 14.45, which sparked their comeback win to claim the conference championship for the third year in a row.
And history repeats itself.
On Friday night in Champaign, No. 4 Michigan (16-2 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) clinched its fourth consecutive Big Ten title, the 21st in program history, with a score of 418.10. Sophomore Fred Richard also secured his second Big Ten all-around title with a score of 83.90. And the way it happened was déja vù for the Wolverines, with a stellar vault rotation once again propelling them to victory.
“I think we feel we are the best team in the Big Ten and also the best team in the nation,” Michigan coach Yuan Xiao said. “And then (to contend at nationals) and the Big Ten — that’s our job. We’re gonna finish that. So I’m really happy.”
The night didn’t begin well for the Wolverines, though. Their floor routines, which had steadily improved throughout the latter half of the season, struggled once again with multiple stumbles and falls. Michigan was largely saved by falls from other teams and a stellar performance from graduate student Paul Juda, who placed first on the event with a 14.75. The Wolverines were only 1.60 points behind No. 3 Nebraska (6-2, 3-1), which led the meet after the first event with 70.55 points.
Things did not improve from there as they struggled to put together the same performances that earned them a program record score three weeks ago. Their pommel horse routines, which have been inconsistent all season, had an average night — their score of 66.35 was almost exactly their season average of 66.38. Juda tied for fourth with a score of 14.05, but sophomore Landen Blixt was the only other Michigan gymnast to place in the top 10, as he tied for seventh with a 13.80. And though the Wolverines’ performance improved on still rings with Richard claiming second, it was not enough to gain ground on their competition, and Michigan ended the third rotation down more than five points with 205.15 points to No. 5 Illinois’ (16-3, 3-1) 210.60.
History has a funny way of repeating itself, and the Wolverines suddenly found themselves right back in 2023. They needed their vault rotation to save them, just as it had the year before.
And save them it did. A solid vault from junior Lais Najjar started Michigan off before an event-winning 15.05 from Juda and a career-high and second-place score of 15.00 from Blixt propelled the Wolverines into first place. They jumped to a 3.30 point lead, bringing the running score to 278.45 points as they earned their highest vault score of the season with 73.30.
“It was electric,” Richard said. “ … You feel the momentum build back up (with) each stick. We weren’t trying to just make the vault, we were going for sticks. We were going for perfection. For the rest of the meet, that’s what we went for. And it’s what made us really pop off.”
Michigan never relinquished that momentum. The Wolverines’ lead continued on the parallel bars, where Richard, graduate student Crew Bold and senior Evgeny Siminiuc claimed second, third and fourth, respectively. It culminated on high bar with Siminiuc and Bold tying for first place.
And despite Richard counting a fall on the high bar, he still claimed the all-around title by more than eight tenths of a point. But Richard knows he can still do better.
“Definitely wasn’t my best performance,” Richard said. “Had some shaky areas. (I’m) still getting closer and closer to the shape I want to get to, and each meet I add a little bit more. My strength wasn’t where I expected it to be, but I still handled everything I could. The things I did do, I did very well, and I think that’s what kept me on top at the end of the day.”
On Saturday, Michigan returned for the individual events competition. With a score of 14.50, Blixt earned co-champion on floor with the Cornhuskers’ Taylor Christopulos. Junior Rithik Puri and senior Chris Read earned second and third place, respectively, on still rings, while Juda tied for second on vault and Siminiuc took second on high bar and parallel bars. Meanwhile, Bold became the new Big Ten parallel bars champion with a 14.55, and he earned third place on high bar.
While the individual results were most notable, the additional practice was beneficial even for those who didn’t medal.
“Today, we tell the guys (to) treat it like a second day competing at nationals,” Xiao said. “Another practice day in preparation for nationals. And some guys, you earn the event, you just do it again, and make sure that you do the best … to prepare yourself (for) the nationals.”
Michigan ended its regular season on the highest note in program history by setting its program record score. And while their Big Ten championship performance wasn’t as impressive, the Wolverines still defeated the third-ranked team in the country and other top-10 teams.
And for the fourth consecutive year, history repeated itself as Michigan once again hoisted the Big Ten trophy.
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