The 2026 GymACT Eastern Conference Championships were hosted at West Palm Beach, Florida, and the Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics Team was victorious again, making it a string of five straight Conference Titles! Minnesota was challenged by a much-improved Eastern Conference field of teams; however, we did come away with a lot of hardware to start off our 2026 postseason!

Ben Letvin put on a great show of consistency, hitting 6 for 6 in the All Around and taking the Gold medal for his efforts. This is Ben’s first Eastern Conference All Around Title with a score of 76.90, but he added podium-worthy performances on Floor Exercise (13.10), Still Rings (13.05 – his highest score on rings all season), and Vault (13.85).

Joseph Pennell also competed in the All Around and had another 6 for 6 performance, finishing in 4th place with a score of 72.65!

Anthony Nicholas and Jack Gagamov were our two other event champions on Floor Exercise and High Bar, respectively. Anthony topped the podium with a splendid routine on Floor that displayed a tucked double front, a back double pike, a very nice back layout with 2 ½ twists connected to a front layout, and he finished it off with a stuck double twisting back layout. His score of 13.15 just edged out teammate Ben Letvin for the Gold!

Jack put on a clinic on high bar with a smorgasbord of high value skills that included a ½ Takemoto, Kolman, Kovacs, and a straddle Tkatchev for his release moves and lawn-dart landing on his double twisting double layout. His score of 13.45 put him in first place, but his teammates Warren Strootman and Paul Acker got the brooms out and provided a clean sweep on high bar for the Golden Gophers. Warren posted a season high score of 13.05 and Paul also posted his season-high score with a 13.00.

Here’s our total medal count from our podium finishes:

       FX – Anthony Nicholas, 1st (13.15), Ben Letvin 2nd (13.10)

       PH – Christian Abran, 3rd (12.25)

       SR – Ben Letvin, 3rd (13.05)

       V – Ben Letvin, 2nd (13.85)

       PB – Anthony Nicholas, 2nd (tie - 13.10)

       HB – Jack Gagamov, 1st (13.45), Warren Strootman, 2nd (13.05), Paul Acker, 3rd (13.00)

       All Around – Ben Letvin, 1st (76.90)

A total of 10 podium finishes is a great sign for Minnesota, especially as the National Championships are rapidly approaching on May 9th!

EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPS

The Final Team Results looked like this:

1.     Minnesota                   305.90

2.     Temple                        295.00

3.     Indy-Hio                     294.30

4.     New York Alliance     283.55

5.     Northern Illinois       278.85

6.     NC Airmen                 272.65

7.     Florida Storm             266.30

8.     Georgia United          257.75

“This was a very satisfying win,’ said head coach Mike Burns. “To claim our 5th straight Conference Title is such a testament to this team’s resiliency. In spite of two of our top athletes out of the lineup, we were still deep enough to bring home the team title.”

We had 7 sticks at Eastern Conference Championships, which now puts the Gophers at a grand total of 94 Stuck Dismounts for the season!! With one final meet on the horizon, the Gophers are in a good spot to break the 100 Stuck Dismounts barrier again this year!!

Congratulations on another Eastern Conference Team Title for Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics!

MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS WILL FINISH THEIR SEASON AT THE GymACT NATIONALS IN OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

We’ll now set our sights on the National Championship in Oklahoma City, OK. The meet will be held at the Oklahoma City Convention Center in Oklahoma City, OK: https://okcconventioncenter.com/

The GymACT Nationals will be held in conjunction with the USA Gymnastics Junior Development National Championships: https://usagym.org/events/2026-mens-development-program-national-championships/

The GymACT National Championships will be held on Saturday night, May 9, with the competition getting underway at 6:50 pm CT. The entire meet will be live streamed by GymACT and can be viewed on the GymACT YouTube channel. Here is a link to the Live Stream:

GymACT YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GymACT

Minnesota will be on their quest to regain their National Team Title that they lost in 2025, but the road will be full of challengers, specifically the Sun Devils of Arizona State. It should be another epic battle in the plains of Oklahoma City!