Michigan
NCAA Finals
Maize and Blue Crowned NCAA Champions; Richard, Juda Take Individual Titles
4/19/2025 9:04:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Event: NCAA Championship Finals
Scores: #2 Michigan 332.224, #3 Stanford 332.061, #1 Oklahoma 327.891, #4 Nebraska 326.222, #5 Penn State 317.258, #6 Illinois: 316.293
Record: U-M (22-3)
Next U-M Event: Season completed
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team took home its seventh NCAA men's gymnastics title on Saturday night (April 19) at Crisler Center in a meet that came down to the Wolverines' final vault from Paul Juda. The victory secured U-M's first NCAA title since 2014.
Trailing the Sooners by 0.537 points (276.162-275.625) heading into the final rotation, the meet came down to the final routine. Juda delivered 13.966 as the anchor to secure the victory over Stanford by just 0.163 points.
Fred Richard (84.264) earned the individual all-around title while Juda took the parallel bars title with a season-high 14.200. Juda also finished second in the all-around (82.164), with Evgeny Siminiuc taking bronze on the parallel bars (14.066). Carson Eshleman and Richard tied for second on the high bar with a 13.766.
Seven Wolverines combined for 17 All-America citations, with Richard earning All-America honors on all six events and in the all-around.
Head coach Yuan Xiao and assistant coaches Jordan Gaarenstroom and Juha Tanskanen were named Coaches of the Year.
How it Happened
Parallel Bars
U-M opened the meet with two stuck dismounts on routines from Siminiuc and Juda. Behind Juda's season-high 14.200 and a 14.066 from Siminiuc, the Wolverines earned a 55.832 to take an early lead.
High Bar
Michigan put together another solid rotation, with all four Wolverines earning a 13.600 or better. Eshleman and Richard led the rotation, each earning a 13.766 for an event score of 54.798. Despite a strong rotation from Stanford on floor exercise, U-M maintained the lead with a 110.630-110.299 edge over the Cardinal.
Floor Exercise
Solen Chiodi set the tone for the rotation with a 13.766 as the leadoff. Richard, Juda and Larson all earned scores above 14.000, allowing the Wolverines to separate from the rest of the competition. Michigan banked 56.165 points in the third rotation for a team score of 166.798, leading second-place Oklahoma by 2.132 points at the halfway point.
Pommel Horse
A strong 13.900 from Richard led Michigan, allowing the Wolverines to overcome falls from Juda and Aaronson Mansberger. Zach Granados added a score of 13.466 for an event total of 53.232, and U-M maintained a lead of 220.069-219.395 over Oklahoma.
Still Rings
U-M put together an outstanding rotation, earning a 55.598 for their second-best event score of the season. Javier Alfonso hit a new season-high 13.822, with Richard (14.066) and Rithik Puri (13.966) each missing their season-high scores by only 0.034 points. Despite this performance, U-M dropped to second behind Stanford and trailed the Cardinal by 0.537 points (276.162-275.625) heading into the final rotation.
Vault
Michigan closed out the meet with its third-highest vault score of the season (56.599) to clinch the NCAA title. Richard hit a season-high 14.400 to match David Wolma's score and set up Juda for his final attempt.
All-Around
Juda and Richard sat atop the all-around standings through the first three rotations. Following a fall on the pommel horse, Juda fell to third behind Richard in first and Illinois' Preston Ngai in second. Juda reclaimed second place with his performance on the still rings, bringing his score to 69.198, right behind Richard's 69.864. Both Wolverines finished the meet strong on the vault, with Richard's season-high 14.400 clinching his win in the all-around.
Players Mentioned
