In the frozen tundra of West Des Moines, Iowa, the Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics GymACT Team had an impressive performance as they started the 2024 season with a victory over Iowa and Kansas City United. Minnesota posted a team score of 308.60 to outdistance Iowa (285.70) and KCU (279.10) by over 20 points to post a team-record team score.

‘These guys came to play tonight,’ said head coach Mike Burns. ‘In over 40 years of coaching, this has to be the most impressive first-meet performance of any team I’ve ever coached; super pleased with the way these guys performed tonight.’

Minnesota was led by freshman Ben Letvin who posted a 76.00 in the All Around to be crowned the All-Around champion. ‘It was great to see Ben put on such a great show tonight in the all around,’ said Burns. ‘He’s going to be a real threat in every meet he competes in this season.’

This is a very young team and to see how well the newcomers attacked their first meet was extremely satisfying. All six individual event titles went to Minnesota, with five of the six going to freshmen.

'It’s a great sign when the new guys on the block can be counted on the way they were counted on tonight,’ said Burns. 

Minnesota started the meet on Pommel Horse and freshman Jack Gagamov put on a clinic posting a huge score on a beautifully hit routine. His 14.3 propels him to the top of the GymACT National Rankings by over a full point above the next highest ranked pommel horse man.

We moved to Still Rings next where freshman Joey Pennell posted a meet winning score of 13.0 that puts him squarely in the national rankings at 7th place.

Our third event was Vault and freshman Kai Louie-Badua stuck a beautiful Kasamatsu with a full twist for a score of 14.2. Not only did that clear the Minnesota bench but it gave Minnesota another individual event title as well as a number 1 ranked guy at the top of the national rankings on this event!

Off to Parallel Bars we went and the freshman brigade continued to shine as Luke Pedersen posted a 13.4 on a great routine that was capped off with a stuck double back dismount.  You guessed it - Luke sits at the top of the national leaderboard with teammate Christian Abran sitting in a very close second place in the national rankings with a score of 13.2.

High Bar is always an exciting event that requires high precision and Minnesota was firing on all cylinders in the precision department with sophomore Owen Frank posting a 12.7 score to win the meet and place himself in the national rankings at 5th place.

The last event for Minnesota was Floor Exercise and freshman Henry Counts put on a show to remember. Sticking almost every pass, Henry posted a score of 14.0 that won the meet and put him in first place in the national rankings.

This was a meet to remember and it was a great way to make a strong statement at the start of the season. The team score of 308.6 puts Minnesota solidly in second place in the national rankings, less than a point behind defending national champions Arizona State.

Not only was this a solid performance from a team that has rapidly congealed into a juggernaut of high energy, but it seems to be a great stepping stone to what should prove to be a very exciting season.

Minnesota will see action next at the KC Co-Ed Invitational in Kansas City on Saturday, January 27th. Due to the size of the team and the level of talent, Minnesota will have two separate teams on the floor at the KC Co-Ed Meet!

While the team competed in Iowa, three members of the team performed at the Windy City Invitational in an effort to qualify to the 2024 Winter Cup. Kellen Ryan, Charlie Larson, and freshman David Grossman competed alongside top NCAA programs (Michigan, Illinois, and Simpson College) and other top GymACT teams (Washington and Northern Illinois) and performed admirably.