Michigan
Big Ten Team/All-Around Finals
Wolverines Secure Third Straight Big Ten Championship
3/31/2023 11:27:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
» Michigan won the Big Ten team championship with a score of 412.400 -- its highest team score of the year.
» The team title is the third straight and 20th in program history, while Fred Richard won the all-around competition scoring a nation-leading 85.900.
» U-M trailed by 5.55 points heading into the fourth rotation, but blew away the competition with a 73.35 on vault to take a .150 lead and never looked back.
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Covelli Center)
Event: Big Ten Championships (Team/All-Around Finals)
Score: 1st Place of 5 teams (412.400)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 1 -- at Big Ten Individual Event Finals (Columbus, Ohio), 8 p.m., Big Ten Network
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team collected its third straight and 20th overall Big Ten postseason championship in program history, tallying a season-best 412.400 on Friday (March 31) on day one of the Big Ten Championships at Ohio State's Covelli Center.
Freshman Fred Richard scored a nation-leading 85.900 to win the 18th all-around title in program history, and second-straight for a Wolverine, as teammate Paul Juda took the honor last season. Richard tied for first on floor exercise (14.50), tied for seventh on pommel horse (13.55), placed ninth on still rings (13.80), tied for sixth on vault (14.65) while winning on parallel bars (14.85) and high bar (14.60).
The Wolverines began in Olympic order, starting the meet on floor exercise with a 69.500 on the event. Michigan sat in second place behind Illinois by 3.10 points heading into the second rotation.
U-M struggled in earning a 63.250 on pommel horse, with senior Markus Shears leading the effort with a 13.75 in the second rotation. U-M trailed leader Illinois by 6.8 points and sat in fourth with a running total of 132.750.
Following a 68.30 on still rings that was keyed by junior Javier Alfonso's' 14.85, the Wolverines turned in a dominant performance on vault, scoring a season-best 73.50. Led by sophomore David Wolma's 15.00, all-five U-M performers on the rotation set career bests -- senior Casey Cummings (14.70), junior Chris Read (14.45), Landen Blixt (14.55), Wolma and Richard (14.65). The rotation also literally vaulted U-M into first place, holding a 274.400 running score and held a .150 lead over Illinois.
Michigan headed into the fifth rotation, parallel bars, with a slight lead, but left with a 2.15-point advantage thanks in part to a 14.85 from Richard and 14.45 from Siminiuc.
U-M wrapped up the championship with a 68.50 on high bar, led by a season-high 14.00 from senior Crew Bold, coupled with a 14.20 from senior Adam Wooten and Richard's 14.60.
Overall, U-M had the top performer on the night on four of six events, in addition to Richard's all-around win. Michigan hit 83.3 percent as a team, going 25-of-30, and stuck a season-best 13 routines.
The Wolverines qualified 19 routines for individual finals, with nine gymnasts in total earning spots by placing in the top 10 of an event on Friday. The individual-event finals will be contested on Saturday (April 1) at 8 p.m. inside Covelli Center, and the meet will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
Players Mentioned
