MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS OPENS THE SEASON WITH A STRONG PERFORMANCE
MINNESOTA GYMNASTICS SHINES AT THE EMERGE ACADEMY INVITATIONAL IN WEST DES MOINES
Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics kicked off the season at its first meet of the year, the Emerge Academy Invite, held in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, January 11, 2025. “What a great meet to start the season off,” said head coach Mike Burns. “We came into town with two teams and handled the competition from the Kansas City Twisters GymACT team, coached by Rich Quick.”
The team was split into the MINNESOTA GYMNASTICS team and the GOPHER GYMNASTICS team. The Minnesota lineup fielded a full squad, with five gymnasts competing in each event and four scores counting. Meanwhile, the Gopher lineup was short on a few events, unable to field four counting scores across all six events, resulting in a lower overall team score.
When the dust settled, Minnesota claimed top honors with a team score of 298.00, while the Gophers posted 248.10. Kansas City finished third with a team score of 192.30.
The All-Around was won by Sophomore David Grossman who posted an impressive 74.60 that also included individual event titles on Still Rings (12.80), Parallel Bars (13.8), and High Bar (13.20).
Fellow Sophomore Joey Pennell took second in the All-Around with a score of 70.50. Sophomore Aaron Novick and Freshman Leo Feuer also competed in the All-Around and finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, with scores of 68.90 and 68.50.
Junior Justin Lancisi took top honors on Vault with an impressive Kasamatsu with 1 ½ twists that scored a 14.00 for top honors at the meet.
With two teams competing, every gymnast had the opportunity to participate in the meet. “I think it’s really important that our program gives every gymnast who’s ready to compete a chance to showcase their abilities as the season gets underway,” said Coach Burns. “Honestly, who doesn’t want a chance to show the world what they’re capable of doing?”
The meet also featured some new faces. Freshmen Leo Feuer and Caleb Gurman, along with redshirt freshman Warren Strootman, made significant contributions to the team.
Caleb secured top-five finishes on Floor Exercise (12.60) and Still Rings (12.70).
Leo posted top-five finishes on Pommel Horse (11.60) and High Bar (11.70).
Warren delivered the team’s highest score on Floor Exercise (13.00), earning second place overall behind Kansas City’s Joshua Laudie, who scored a 13.30 and currently leads the National Rankings after Week 1.
If you’d like to follow the team’s progress this season in both team and individual National Rankings, visit Road To Nationals at:
https://roadtonationals.com/results/standingsGA/
Be sure to click on the ‘GymACT’ tab in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage. This is a great resource for tracking Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics and understanding where the team stands nationally. After Week 1, Minnesota is currently ranked #2 in the Nation, just behind rival Arizona State, which posted a team score of 298.50 compared to Minnesota’s 298.00. The battle for GymACT supremacy is already heating up!
Highlights from the Emerge Academy Invite – shoutout to Haden Paravecino!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DE7Q04AuKiC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
MINNESOTA HEADS TO THE WINDY CITY INVITATIONAL TO TAKE ON A HOST OF GymACT TEAMS
Minnesota will be challenged again this week as we take on several other GymACT Teams at the 54th Annual Windy City Invitational to be held at The Navy Pier in Chicago and on the banks of Lake Michigan. Other GymACT Teams include: Bay Area Bandits, Indy-Hio Hyenas, Northern Illinois University Huskies, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and a fledgling start-up program out of Wisconsin called the Wisconsin Flippers.
It should be a great indicator of where Minnesota stands in the Eastern Conference. ‘It’s always good to get a look at your conference rivals early in the season,’ head coach Mike Burns explained. ‘We have an added bonus of getting to see the Bay Area Bandits who are flying in from the San Francisco Bay area with a very solid team this season.’
The Minnesota action will be live-streamed on our Instagram Team Page. The meet will begin at 7:10 pm. We’ll have a full team competing, starting on High Bar, with a second ‘team’ of individuals doing exhibition routines.
