Season Preview: 2024 Michigan Men's Gymnastics
12/22/2023 10:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The University of Michigan men's gymnastics team, under the guidance of third-year head coach Yuan Xiao, looks to defend its Big Ten titles and double down on its glory from a season ago with a mix of young and old contributors returning to the fold. In his 19th overall season with the Wolverines, Xiao is the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year and received 2023 Collegiate Gymnastics Association Midwest Coach of the Year honors alongside assistant coaches Jordan Gaarenstroom and Juha Tanskanen.
Wolverine Bites
• The Wolverines enter the season ranked No. 2 in the CGA Coaches Poll. Stanford tops the poll, and U-M is followed by No. 3 Illinois, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Nebraska to round out the top five.
• U-M was selected first in the annual Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll released Wednesday (Dec. 20). Michigan is coming off winning both the Big Ten regular-season and postseason championships. The Wolverines are followed in the poll by Illinois, Nebraska, Penn State and Ohio State. Graduate student Paul Juda and sophomore Fred Richard were named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch.
• U-M is seeking its fourth straight Big Ten regular-season and postseason titles, owning a 16-2 record in conference meets over the last three seasons and a 23-5 mark since the inception of a Big Ten regular season title 2019. The last team to achieve four straight Big Ten postseason championships was Illinois (2009-12). Michigan has captured four outright Big Ten postseason championships once in program history, during Wolverine legend Newt Loken's 1961-66 conference championship run.
• The makeup of the squad features eight freshmen, five sophomores, four juniors, five seniors and three graduate students. Members of the team hail from 14 states and provinces, led by four each from Michigan and Illinois and three from California and Texas. Arizona, Canada, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia are also represented.
• U-M's captains are senior Javier Alfonso and Juda. The honor is the first for both.
• The program will be led by Juda, a six-time All-American and the 2022 NCAA All-Around champion. Despite sitting out the prior season due to injury, Juda received the prestigious CGA Nissen-Emery Award in 2023, becoming the third-ever Wolverine to take home the honor.
• Also returning is standout sophomore Fred Richard, the reigning NCAA all-around, high bar and parallel bars champion was a two-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week and three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week recipient last season. He was unanimously selected as the 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and received first team All-Big Ten honors. Richard also received All-America honors on floor exercise (second, 14.800) and still rings (fifth, 14.466).
• Juda and Richard hold a spot on the United States Senior National Team. Richard earned a spot after placing fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships, while Juda earned a spot due to an injury petition. They will remain on the squad through the 2023 Winter Cup. Landen Blixt is a member of the U.S. Developmental team.
• With Juda back in competition shape, Michigan becomes the first team since Oklahoma in 2007 to have two NCAA all-around champions on its roster.
• Based on last season's NCAA team lineup, the Wolverines return 24 of 30 routines (80 percent). That figure includes four of five (80 percent) on floor, three of-five (60 percent) on pommel horse, four of five (80 percent) on rings, all five on vault, four of five (80 percent) on parallel bars, and four of five (80 percent) on high bar.
• Additional returning 2023 All-Americans include Alfonso (eighth, still rings), sophomore Blixt (sixth, floor exercise) and junior David Wolma (third, vault).
• U-M's incoming class, ranked as one of the best in the country, boasts eight newcomers. The group consists of Kevin Chow (Des Moines, Iowa), Jake Islam (Suffield, Conn.), Alex Istock (Burlingame, Calif.), Ty Jordan (Morrison, Colo), Akshay Puri (Chicago, Ill.), Kyle Walchuk(Seabrook, Texas), Pierce Wolfgang (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), and Will Young (Albuquerque, N.M.).
Walchuk figures to enter the pommel horse lineup from the jump and has a distinguished junior career with a 2022 national championship on the event coupled with a second-place finish in 2021 and a fourth-place finish in 2019.
• Michigan opened the season with its annual Maize and Blue Intrasquad meet on Dec. 9, won by the Blue team 246.600-245.400. Juda took a trio of top-five finishes, while Wolfgang won the all-around with a 78.900.
2024 Schedule
• The regular season commences on Jan. 6 when U-M welcomes Greenville and Simpson to Cliff Keen Arena. The following weekend, U-M travels to Chicago to compete in the Windy City Invitational on Jan. 13. The Wolverines then host Army-West Point on Saturday, Jan. 20 before opening conference competition.
U-M will trek to Illinois (Feb. 3) then host Nebraska on Feb. 10. A tri-meet will be hosted on Feb. 17 against Springfield College and Arizona State before an off week. Perennial power Oklahoma visits Ann Arbor on March 2, followed by a trip to Ohio State (March 9). The regular season concludes March 16 as the Wolverines play host to Penn State.
The Big Ten Championships will be contested April 5-6, hosted by Illinois. NCAAs will be held April 19-20 in Columbus, Ohio.
2023 Returning Individual Top Scores
• Floor Exercise: Fred Richard, 14.800
• Pommel Horse: Fred Richard, 14.100
• Still Rings: Javier Alfonso, 15.000
• Vault: David Wolma, 15.000
• Parallel Bars: Fred Richard, 15.033
• High Bar: Fred Richard, 14.750
Ticket Information
• Admission for all home events is free of charge.
• Meet promotions will be announced at a later date.
Players Mentioned
