Season Preview: 2020 Michigan Men's Gymnastics
12/19/2019 10:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
» U-M brings back its top scorers on four events from last season in Jacob Moore (floor exercise), Mack Lasker (pommel horse) and Cameron Bock (parallel bars, high bar).
» Based off last season's NCAA team lineup, the Wolverines return 17 of 30 routines (57 percent) and welcome back graduate student Uche Eke, who missed last season due to injury, as well as senior Thomas Paul, who missed the majority of the past two seasons due to injury.
» Nick Guy and David Willett were named Gymnasts to Watch by the Big Ten, while U-M was selected first in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll. Additionally, U-M was picked third in the preseason College Gymnastics Association poll.
The University of Michigan men's gymnastics team, under the guidance of 24th-year head coach Kurt Golder, will look to defend its 2019 Big Ten regular-season championship and will host the 2020 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships, Friday and Saturday, April 17-18 at Crisler Center. [ Event Info | Tickets ]
Bock
Wolverine Bites
• U-M was selected first in the annual Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll. The Wolverines are coming off earning a share of the 2019 Big Ten regular-season title. Michigan was followed by Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, 2019 postseason Big Ten champion Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa.
• According to Golder, the top level of the Big Ten Conference has expanded, and the league is deep heading into 2020. Michigan will rely more on freshmen than in years past, which sometimes makes a team less predictable early on in the campaign.
• The makeup of the squad features seven freshmen, two sophomores, seven juniors, six seniors and one graduate student. Members of the team hail from 13 states, led by six from Michigan; three from Illinois; two each from California, New York and Illinois; and one each from Canada, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
• U-M's captains are senior Mack Lasker and junior Cameron Bock.
• Lasker has been a mainstay on pommel horse through his four seasons as a Wolverine, having competed in each meet on the horse over the last three years. He had four of U-M's top six scores on horse a season ago. He also recorded an event title and had U-M's highest score of the season on horse with a 14.600 against Iowa.
• U-M brings back a pair of NCAA All-Americans in Jacob Moore (floor exercise) and Bock (all-around).
• Junior Nick Guy and freshman David Willett were named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch. Guy has been a mainstay on vault and floor exercise his first two seasons as a Wolverine. Last year, he won two event titles on the table, scoring a 14.500 at the Windy City Invitational, and scored a career-high 14.750 for a win against Oklahoma. He also scored a 14.700 before marking a 13.700 in finals to place 33rd at the NCAA Championships. Guy's high-water mark on floor exercise was a 14.166 that came at the NCAA qualifier.
• Bock figures to be one of the top all-arounders in the nation as a junior, entering the year as the reigning Big Ten champion. His high score of 84.700 is the second-highest returning all-around mark in the country. According to Golder, Bock is the most dedicated and driven gymnast on the team. He sets a great example and demonstrates consistently what a true teammate is. Over the summer, Bock earned a silver medal in the team competition at the 2019 Pan-Am Games. Individually, he garnered a bronze medal on parallel bars with a 13.700 during prelims and a 14.400 during finals.
• Moore will enter his junior season ranked No. 2 on floor exercise after scoring an NCAA-high 15.300 last season to go along with an average of 14.545. He was the only gymnast in the country to break the 15-point plateau during the regular season. He will transition more consistently to the all-around this season, but load management will be a factor early on.
• Graduate Student Uche Eke, who missed last season due to injury, represented his native country of Nigeria at the 2019 All-African Games in Rabat, Morocco. In the first step of his hopeful qualification for the 2020 Olympics, he took gold on pommel horse and bronze on parallel bars to earn the first international gymnastics medal for Nigeria in its history. He will use his international experience to add to his NCAA contribution, with a focus on high bar and pommel horse.
• U-M welcomes a freshman class that consists of seven gymnasts, highlighted by US Junior National Team member Paul Juda (Deerfield, Illinois), a consensus top-five recruit, who showed out at 2019 US Gymnastics Championships, placing third on high bar in the senior division. He also boasts a floor exercise title at the 2018 Winter Cup Challenge, and took second on still rings at the 2018 US Championships.
• Willett and Adam Wooten (Kingston Springs, Tennessee) headline the Michigan freshman class. Willett placed fifth on pommel horse and eighth on parallel bars at the 2018 Winter Cup Challenge (junior division) and placed second in the all-around at the 2017 US Qualifier. Wooten placed 10th in the all-around at the 2018 US Championships in the junior division, and placed fourth in the all-around at the 2019 Junior Olympic National Championships. Both are hailed as steady gymnasts who will make a contribution from the get-go.
• Former Wolverine Jordan Gaarenstroom (2011-14) was named assistant coach during the offseason. He was a two-time NCAA team champion with Michigan and was a lineup mainstay during his four seasons in Ann Arbor. Since graduation, the Laguna Hills, California, native has served as boys coach at SCATS Gymnastics in Huntington Beach, California. The gym has produced numerous Wolverine greats in Sam Mikulak (2011-14), Adrian de los Angeles (2012-15) and current Wolverine standout Bock. His enthusiasm, youthfulness and worth ethic have been major assets to the program in general, according to Golder.
Willett
2020 Schedule
• Michigan will host the NCAA Championships at Crisler Center on Friday and Saturday, April 17-18. It is the first time the Wolverines have played host to the national championship meet since 2014. U-M has hosted the event two other times, in 1951 and 1971. The Maize and Blue has captured every NCAA Championship meet held at Crisler, winning titles in 1971 and 2014. The 1951 meet was held in the Intramural Sports Building.
• The 2020 home slate features four meets, beginning with a tri-meet versus Illinois-Chicago and Northern Illinois on Feb. 8. Northern Illinois, a club program, is coached by former U-M gymnast Josh Levine (1999). The tri-meet will be followed by a matchup against perennial NCAA power Oklahoma on Feb. 15. Minnesota (Feb. 29) and Nebraska (March 21) also will grace Cliff Keen Arena with a visit during the regular season.
• U-M will begin the season on the road with the annual Windy City Invitational (Jan. 18) in Chicago, with other road highlights including the Big Ten season opener at Ohio State (Feb. 1). The regular season boasts a tri-meet at Illinois against the Illini and Penn State on March 7, and will conclude with a road trip to Iowa (March 14).
• The 2020 Big Ten Championships will take place Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, and the meet will be hosted by Minnesota at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis.
Ticket Information
• Tickets are on sale now for the 2020 NCAA Championships (April 17-18) at Crisler Center [ Tickets | Event Info ]
• Admission is free for all home meets at Cliff Keen Arena.
• For group experiences, call (734) 647-1268 or email gobluegroupsales@umich.edu.
Players Mentioned
