MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS DOES BATTLE vs. MINNESOTA GymACT IN THE 2024 MIGS PROGRAM INVITATIONAL

March 2, 2024

The entire MMG program was randomly split into two teams during the 2024 Men’s Intercollegiate Gymnastics Support Program Invite on March 2, 2024. Bob Wuornos, MIGSP Executive Director, partnered with the Friends of Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics to revive the MIGSP Invitational that had laid dormant for several years after Covid. “It was great to be able to get the MIGSP meet back online,” said head coach Mike Burns. “Bob’s program has been operational for over 20 years, and it was great to see this meet happening again.”

The GymACT Session on Saturday night also saw the Level 8, 9, & 10 junior gymnasts compete alongside the GymACT guys, so it was another high energy competition, giving the local kids a taste of what it’s like to compete as part of a college session. When the dust settled, the Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics Team edged the Minnesota GymACT team by a small margin: 305.90 – 305.10. A very close meet indeed!! It’s a testament to the level of talent in the gym that we can field two teams, both of which can break the 300 point barrier.

The All-Around standings had a few new faces in it as freshmen Joey Pennell, Aaron Novick, Paul Acker, and Christian Abran all competed six events alongside team captain Kellen Ryan. All Around Results looked like this:

1. Kellen Ryan 78.60

2. Joey Pennell 75.90

3. Aaron Novick 74.90

4. Paul Acker 73.60

5. Christian Abran 73.00

The event winners were as follows:

FX: Charlie Larson, 13.90; PH: Tie between Aaron Novick & Joey Pennell, 12.80; SR: Dylan LeClair, 13.80; V: Ben Letvin, 14.70; PB: David Grossman, 13.60; HB: David Grossman, 13.4.

The team continues to operate at a high level and one of the main things that fuels that level is the positive energy that these guys are able to generate at every competition they’ve been in so far this season. There is a genuine and strong bond between these guys, and they know how to celebrate their own successes as well as the successes of their teammates. It’s a very selfless connection they all share and it’s serving the entire team quite well.

MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS ON THE ROAD AGAIN TO TAKE ON

SEVERAL GymACT TEAMS AT THE 2024 NIU INVITATIONAL

We are hitting the road again later today to drive to Wheaton, Illinois to compete on Saturday, March 9th at the 2024 Northern Illinois University Invitational. We’ll be fielding two full teams again as we do battle with Iowa, Kansas City United, New York Alliance, and Northern Illinois. It should be a great preview of the upcoming Eastern Conference Championships to be held in Cleveland on April 27th.

The NIU Invite will get underway and 6:40 pm on March 9th. Live streaming of the competition will take place on the team’s Instagram page (minnesotagymnastics).

11 MMG GYMNASTS QUALIFY TO THE 2024 GymACT ALL-STAR MEET IN ALBUQUERQUE, NM

The 2024 GymACT All Star meet will take place on Friday, April 12th in conjunction with the NAIGC National Championships being held at the Albuquerque, Convention Center. This is the second year GymACT has partnered with NAIGC to showcase the East vs. West All Star Meet. The top 5 gymnasts on each event in each conference have been selected based on the average of 3 separate video submissions that were judged by an independent judging panel.

MMG members who have qualified are as follows:

Floor Exercise:

1. Joey Pennell

2. Henry Counts

3. Charlie Larson

4. Kellen Ryan

5. Jack Gagamov

MINNESOTA CONTINUES TO OCCUPY THE NUMBER 1 SPOT IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

Follow all your favorite athletes on the Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics team in the National Rankings on Road to Nationals:

https://roadtonationals.com/results/standingsGA/

Minnesota maintains its spot as the #1 GymACT Team in the nation as the season

progresses and we have established the fact that we are the team to beat this year!

Donations continue to help keep this program operating on a high level and we couldn’t do it without your help. If you’d like to keep the program on this path, please consider a tax-deductible donation to the Friends of Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics at this site:

https://www.friendsofmnmensgym.org/donate-to-the-fmmg

MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE ALREADY DONATED AND THOSE WHO SEE THE VALUE IN WHAT THIS PROGRAM OFFERS.