Season Preview: 2018 Men's Gymnastics
12/21/2017 11:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
» U-M's headline returner is two-time defending NCAA vault champion, junior Anthony McCallum. McCallum, also the owner of a Big Ten vault championship (2016), has a chance to enter elite company and become only the third three-time NCAA vault champion and the first in the modern era. The last to accomplish the feat was New Mexico's Chad Fox (1986-88), while Chicago's Earl Shanken (1940-42) was the first.
» Michigan welcomes in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according to StickItMedia. The group is highlighted by the top junior gymnast in the country in Cameron Bock, the top Canadian gymnast in Anthony Tawfik and the state of Michigan's top recruit in Jacob Moore.
» The Wolverines will host the 2018 Big Ten Championships inside Crisler Center, an event that will be contested April 6-7.
The University of Michigan men's gymnastics team, under the guidance of 22nd-year head coach Kurt Golder, looks to return to Big Ten and national prominence with a promising mix of young and veteran talent. The Wolverines will also look to maintain its perfect record in Crisler Center, as the team hosts the 2018 Big Ten Championships inside the venue on April 6-7.
Wolverine Bites
• Junior Anthony McCallum, a two-time defending NCAA vault champion, enters his third season in Ann Arbor with a chance to enter elite company and become only the the third three-time NCAA vault champion. The last to accomplish the feat were New Mexico's Chad Fox (1986-88) and Chicago's Earl Shanken (1940-42). In the U-M record book, McCallum looks to join Edsel Buchanan (1949-52, trampoline) as the only other Wolverine to win a trio of NCAA titles on one event. Currently, he is grouped with Sam Mikulak (2011-14), who owns a pair of titles on high bar and parallel bars.
• According to Golder, the team has "had a much better fall season this year than the past several years, with several gymnasts in the bottom third of the roster pushing to make the lineup."
• Michigan welcomes in the NCAA's top recruiting class, highlighted by Cameron Bock (Tustin, California/SCATS), Anthony Tawfik (Mississauga, Ontario/Meadowvale's Futures), Jacob Moore (West Bloomfield, Michigan/Twistars) and Nick Guy (Indianapolis, Indiana/DeVeau's Gymnastics). Bock, the 2016 Junior Olympics parallel bar champion and 2015 Junior Olympics all-around champion, will be looked upon to contribute in the all-around as a freshman. Tawfik, who is next in line as a great U-M Canadian gymnast, won the 2016 Elite Canada Junior All-Around title while Moore took fourth in the all-around at the 2016 P&G Championships. Additionally, he placed second on floor exercise and took third on pommel horse at the 2016 Junior Olympics championships.
Squad Breakdown
• The senior class will be led by 2016 All-American (all-around, high bar) Dmitri Belanovski, as well as 2014 All-American and sixth-year senior Tristian Perez-Rivera, who has essentially missed each of the last two seasons due to injury. Veterans Marty Strech and Alec Krystek, both redshirt juniors, have massive potential and are primed for breakout campaigns.
• The junior class owned the highest scores on every event last season as sophomores. Emyre Cole had the top mark on floor (14.90), while McCallum (15.10, vault), Uche Eke and Cole (14.20, parallel bars), Eke (14.15, pommel horse), Ryan Dunning (14.50, still rings), and Justin Hopgood (14.40, high bar) all return.
• A trio of Wolverines return after missing significant time due to injury a season ago in Perez-Rivera, Belanovski and sophomore Justin Murphy. Perez-Rivera, a team captain, has improved immensely on still rings during his time away from competition, increasing his strength, as well as cleanliness of the apparatus. Belanovski competed as a shell of himself the latter part of the 2017 season due to various ailments, while Murphy, who took part in a handful of meets at the beginning of the season, figures to reclaim his lineup spot on horse and vault.
• U-M returns 26 of its top-30 scores from last season (87 percent) after graduating three seniors from a year ago. In individual events, the squad returns its full event lineup from 2017 on pommel horse and still rings.
• Vault and floor figure once again to be a strength after ranking No. 5 on vault and No. 6 on floor as a team at the finish of the 2017 campaign. U-M returns the aforementioned McCallum, as well as Cole (15.10), who placed third at NCAA's on the table to give U-M the best 1-2 punch on the table in the country. On floor, Cole owned the top U-M mark of the season (14.90), while McCallum (14.45) and sophomore Parker Chiapuzio (14.15) also return.
• The Wolverines also feature two of the better event specialists in the Big Ten in Dunning (still rings) and sophomore Mack Lasker (pommel horse). Dunning, an NCAA finalist in the event, has vastly improved his dismount, while Lasker has steadily improved in the offseason.
• Freshman James Read (Skyline High School) is the first Ann Arbor native on the team since fellow Ann Arborite Harley Danner (1973-76).
2018 Schedule
• U-M will host the defending NCAA champion Oklahoma Sooners on Jan. 23 and the defending Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes on Feb. 3.
• The regular season closes out on March 31, as the UIC Flames come to town for Senior Day. The meet, currently slated for 2 p.m., will be held in Crisler Center.
• Crisler Center will also be the site of the 2018 Big Ten Championships held Fri-Sat, April 6-7. The last time U-M competed inside Crisler Center, the squad took home the 2014 NCAA team championship. U-M last hosted Big Ten's in 2009, a contest that was also held inside then-Crisler Arena, and tied for first.
• Following Big Ten's, the NCAA Championships will be held on April 20-21 at UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Ticket Information
• Admission for all home meets inside Cliff Keen Arena is free of charge.
• For Group Experiences, call (734) 647-1268 or email mailto:gobluegroupsales@umich.edu.
• Visit the men's gymnastics ticket information page for more information and to purchase tickets for the 2018 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships. Other purchase options include phone -- (734) 764-0247 or toll-free (866)296-MTIX -- or in person at the Michigan Athletics Ticket Office.
• All-session passes are $10, while individual-session passes are $7 for the general public and $4 for student individual-session passes. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for a discounted single-session rate of $4 per ticket.
Players Mentioned
