Michigan
Illinois
Wolverines to Face No. 7 Illinois in Big Ten Opener
2/5/2026 4:12:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team (5-1) will hit the road to face No. 7 Illinois (0-4-1) for its conference opener at noon CT on Saturday (Feb. 7) at Huff Hall. The meet will be streamed live on B1G+.
Notes
• Michigan fell 321.850-320.650 to No. 1 Oklahoma in a thriller on Jan. 24 at Cliff Keen Arena, its first home loss since 2019. After a shaky floor rotation, U-M pulled ahead by just 0.100 points with a pair of scores above 14.000 on pommel horse. OU retook the lead after the third rotation and remained ahead until big leadoff high bar routines gave Michigan the edge. Carson Eshleman posted a 13.800 to put the Maize and Blue in front by 0.900 points with one routine left, but a pair of falls from Fred Richard were enough for the Sooners to retake the lead and seal the win.
• Aaronson Mansberger posted his second straight score above 14.000 on pommel horse (14.600) while Akshay Puri posted a season-high 14.000, with both winning their third straight event titles. Charlie Larson took his first title of the season with a 14.300 on vault to tie his career high. Eshleman, Richard and Pierce Wolfgang all made their season debuts, while Adam Lakomy made his collegiate debut.
• Mansberger was named CGA Specialist of the Week for the second week in a row, while Larson was named B1G Gymnast of the Week.
• The Wolverines posted a season-high score against the Sooners to improve to No. 4 in the Road To Nationals rankings. Michigan remains second in the country on the pommel horse (54.150), just 0.217 points behind nation-leading Oklahoma (54.367). U-M fell to No. 6 on both floor exercise and vault, but improved on still rings (No. 3), parallel bars (No. 8) and high bar (No. 6).
• Solen Chiodi sits 10th nationally on floor and fifth in the conference with an average of 13.617. Mansberger leads the NCAA on pommel horse (14.283 average), posting back-to-back scores above 14.000, including a nation-leading 14.900 at the Ohio State Open, while Richard sits in third after scoring a 14.100 in his season debut. Richard also comes in at No. 10 on the parallel bars (13.550). Puri is eighth in the NCAA on the still rings with an average of 13.600 and Eshleman is fifth in the nation and second in the conference on the high bar (13.800).
• Illinois has yet to post a win this season, finishing fourth of four at the Ohio State Open before tying Penn State at the Sam Mikulak Men's Gymnastics Invitational and dropping its Big Ten opener to the Nittany Lions the following weekend. In their last meet, the Fighting Illini fell 316.800-311.000 at Penn State despite winning three event titles. Nathan Whitaker took the floor title with a score of 13.600, Garrett Schooley won the vault title with a score of 14.350, and Sam Kaplan tied for first on parallel bars with a score of 13.650.
• Illinois remains at No. 7 in the overall rankings with an average score of 311.917. It is fourth on pommel horse (52.700), still rings (52.433), and parallel bars (52.663), and ninth on high bar (49.833). Whitaker is third (13.950) in the NCAA on floor exercise, posting a nation-leading 14.550 at the Sam Mikulak Men's Gymnastics Invitational. Brandon Dang and Preston Ngai are top 10 in the country on pommel horse, with Dang sitting in second (14.183) and Ngai sitting in 10th (13.700). Dang is just 0.100 points behind Mansberger. Hasan Aydogdu is fourth in the nation and second in the conference on still rings (13.867), Schooley is fifth in the NCAA on vault (14.217), and Vahe Petrosyan is ninth on parallel bars (13.600).
• The Maize and Blue will return home on Feb. 14 at noon to host Springfield and Arizona State at Cliff Keen at noon. The meet will also be streamed live on B1G+.
Players Mentioned
