Wolverines Seeking to Defend 2013, '14 NCAA Titles
4/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
April 6, 2015
• Live Results: Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Session 4
• Coach Golder on WTKA 
THIS WEEK
Thu-Sat., April 9-11 -- at NCAA Championships (Norman, Okla.), 7 p.m. CDT
Tickets | Team Coverage | Championship Home Page | TV/Stream: Fox College Sports/NCAA.com
Coming off a third-place finish at the 2015 Big Ten Championships that was highlighted by a parallel bars title from Nick Hunter, the University of Michigan men's gymnastics team (15-5) looks to secure its third straight national championship this Thursday through Saturday (April 9-11) at Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The Wolverines begin competition on Thursday (April 9) at 7 p.m. CDT in qualifying session two on parallel bars.
Sessions one and two of qualifying will be streamed via NCAA.com, while session three on Friday that features team and all-around finals will be broadcast live via Fox Sports Southwest/Fox College Sports. Saturday's individual event finals (session four) will be streamed by NCAA.com.
THE NCAA TITLE REIGN
2014
• At the 2014 NCAAs, U-M became the first program to win back-to-back national championships in 44 years.
• The 2014 title was the fourth for U-M under head coach Kurt Golder (1999, 2010, 2013, 2014).
• U-M hosted the 2014 event and welcomed 9,559 fans, which was the highest four-session total since 1992 when Stanford welcomed 13,007 fans to the championship.
• Syque Caesar earned a pair of All-America citations to give him five on his career, as he took third on parallel bars as well as fifth on high bar. He entered the championship with three, as he earned citations on p-bars, high bar and floor in 2013. Caesar, a sixth-year graduate student, won three NCAA championships in his career, becoming the first U-M athlete in 53 years to accomplish the feat.
• Sam Mikulak earned four All-America citations (all-around, floor, vault, parallel bars) and two NCAA titles, giving him the third-most All-America citations in NCAA history and tying for the most NCAA titles by any male gymnast ever. He shares the prestige with Jim Hartung and Joe Giallombardo. His win on parallel bars was the 34th NCAA title in team history.
2013
• Sam Mikulak compiled six NCAA All-America citations and a trio of NCAA titles (All-around, high bar, parallel bars).
• U-M earned a total of 13 team All-America citations to tie the most in program history.
RETURNING NCAA EVENT FINALISTS
2014: Stacey Ervin (FX 15.100, 5th), Tristian Perez-Rivera (VT 14.900, 7th place)
2013: Dylan James (PH 14.580, 6th), Adrian de los Angeles (FX 13.950, 9th; PB 14.325, 8th), Stacey Ervin (VT 13.775, 10th)
2012: Stacey Ervin (FX 15.450, 3rd; VT 15.150, 4th)
• Michigan returns seven individuals, totaling 17 routines that competed at the 2012 NCAA Team Finals in Norman.
• At Big Tens, U-M secured a team score of 434.750 but it was not enough in the team's quest for three straight Big Ten Team titles on Friday, March 27, at Penn State's Rec Hall, as the host Nittany Lions took home the team title with a 436.700 to Michigan's 434.750. U-M finished third behind PSU and Illinois (436.100) and qualified 11 routines from six gymnasts for the individual finals. Senior Stacey Ervin earned first team All-Big Ten honors for his fifth-place finish in the all-around competition (85.40), and also scored an NCAA-best 16.15 on floor. During individual event finals, senior Nick Hunter won Michigan's fourth Big Ten parallel bars title in five years (Syque Caesar, 2011-13) and Sam Mikulak (2012), tying for the top spot with a 15.375, while senior Stacey Ervin (15.175) and sophomore Anthony Stefanelli (15.125) took second and third on floor, respectively, and earned All-Big Ten second team honors.
• U-M ranks in the top five in the country on four events, highlighted by No. 2 rankings on vault (74.325), pommel horse (72.263) and floor exercise (74.888) and No. 4 on parallel bars (72.688).
Individually, Stacey Ervin leads all Wolverines with a No. 1 ranking on floor (15.775) and No. 8 on parallel bars (14.888) and is No. 10 on vault (14.988). Nick Hunter is No. 2 on parallel bars (15.319) and No. 8 on pommel horse (14.875), while Anthony Stefanelli is No. 5 on floor (15.231), Colin Mahar is No. 9 on still rings, and Nolan Novak is No. 7 on pommel horse (14.944).
Michigan is No. 4 in four-score average as a team (436.938), which ranks as No. 2 in the Big Ten behind No. 3 Penn State.
• Michigan has captured 20 individual-event titles as a team this season, led by Stacey Ervin with six, while Adrian de los Angeles (four) and Anthony Stefanelli have also won a trio of event titles. Nolan Novak, Nick Hunter and Paul Rizkalla Jr. have captured two, and freshman Dmitri Belanovski and Tristian Perez-Rivera have each captured a title as well.
• According to RoadToNationals.com, Stacey Ervin leads the team in all-event points at 512.75 and is followed by freshman Dmitri Belanovski with 423.35 points, while Adrian de los Angeles (412.05) and Tristian Perez-Rivera 398.55 take up the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively. Nick Hunter (379.15) as well as Paul Rizkalla (378.80) round out the top five.
• Senior Adrian de los Angeles was named a Nissen-Emery finalist and will look to make it back-to-back seasons for a U-M gymnast to take home the NCAA Men's Gymnastics version of the Heisman Trophy. De los Angeles, a former USA Senior National Team Member, two-time NCAA All-American and NCAA champion, was also the runner-up in the all-around competition at both Big Tens and NCAAs behind former teammate Sam Mikulak in 2013. Additionally, he finished second in the all-around at the 2013 Winter Cup Challenge.
• For his performance against UIC, senior Stacey Ervin earned both his second Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor and first CGA National Gymnast of the Week honor (March 23) after previously taking home the Big Ten accolade on Feb. 9. Ervin won the 14th floor exercise title of his career with a 15.85, which currently ranks No. 2 in the country, to go along with three individual event titles. In addition to floor exercise, he took first on vault (15.20), as well as all-around (88.55). The all-around win was the first of his career, and the first time he has competed in the all-around competition this season. He also took second in the meet on high bar (14.55), and third on parallel bars (14.95). The honor is his second of the season after previously winning on Feb. 9, and the fifth of Ervin's career, as the earned the accolade on March 10 of last season and Feb. 18 of the 2013 season. He was also named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on March 19, 2012.
• Four current Wolverines, as well as undergraduate assistant coach Sam Mikulak, took part in the 2015 Winter Cup Feb. 19-21. Senior Stacey Ervin led the way on floor with a two-day score of 30.55, which was good for a second place finish. Mikulak rebounded after a rough first day with the best all-around score of the final day of competition with a 87.85.
Ervin scored a 15.05 on floor, along with a 15.45 vault, and also turned in an 11th-place finish on parallel bars (28.50) on day two. Fellow senior Adrian de los Angeles earned a top 12 finish on pommel horse, as he took 12th with a two-day tally of 28.90. Freshman Dmitri Belanovski took 22nd in the all-around, with a total score of 163.200. His top single event score came on high bar (27.25), and he added a 28.00 on floor, which was good for 24th. Senior Nick Hunter took part in the first day of competition, but failed to qualify for the second day of action.
2015 CGA Coaches' Poll Top 10 (3/30/15)
First-place votes in parentheses
1. Oklahoma (13)
2. Stanford
3. Penn State
4. Illinois
5. Michigan
6. Minnesota
7. Cal
8. Iowa
9. Ohio State
10. Air Force
Ways to Follow U-M Gymnastics
For fans not able to attend meets this season, there are several ways to follow the Wolverines action this year. Your primary source for all things Michigan is MGoBlue.com, where recaps, features, schedules, and statistics can be found. Live results will be provided for all home meets, as well as select away meets. Additionally, follow @umichgym for live updates at meets, and 'like' Michigan men's gymnastics on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram @umichgym, where special content can be found throughout the season.
Communications Contact: Scott Kemps (734) 763-4423
