MINNESOTA MENS GYMNASTICS TAKE HOME THE GymACT NATIONAL TITLE

May 11, 2024

In a fiercely fought battle between Minnesota and defending champion Arizona State, the Men from Minnesota prevailed and were able to hoist the Championship Trophy at the 2024 GymACT Nationals!

The drama was thick as Minnesota was down by 2.85 going into the last event. The lead had changed hands several times throughout the competition, creating a comeback scenario for Minnesota. 

In this meet, there were two flights of six teams with Minnesota competing in Flight and Arizona State competing in Flight B. What that means is Minnesota finished their last event first, posted their final team score, and then had to wait until Arizona came out in the Flight B group and then finished their last event. 

Minnesota finished on the Vault and put on another clinic in how to execute really difficult vaults. Posting a 57.65 on Vault, it catapulted Minnesota to an amazing team score of 321.50, half a point higher than their school record team score of 321.0 they posted two weeks earlier in the Eastern Conference Championships. 

At that point, all we could do was wait in the warmup gym and watch Arizona State finish up on High Bar.

The math was done, and we knew ASU needed a 54.80 to tie us for the lead. A 54.85 would give them their 28th National Team Title. If there’s one thing Arizona State knows how to do, they know how to win National Championships! They’re very good at it. 

When the chalk dust settled over by the high bar, ASU posted a team score of 51.80, giving the Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics team its first ever National Team Title in program history - a program that has continued uninterrupted for 121 years. The drought is finally over!!!! These young men would not be denied the prize they trained for all year long.

“Back in the fall these guys posted several team goals, the first and most important of which was to win the National Title,” said head coach Mike Burns. “And by golly, they never lost sight of that goal through the long weeks and months of training for this very night on the competition floor. I’ve never seen a team as driven and dedicated to a goal as this team. It was a sight to see.” 

Minnesota got the meet started on Parallel Bars, the exact same competition rotation as they had two weeks earlier at the Eastern Conference Championship meet. We figured we’d just go and repeat what we did at the Conference Meet and see how things fell into place. The competition was tougher on the National stage, with Arizona State posing the biggest threat and Washington having a team that could also threaten our quest for the team title.

Even though ASU was the defending champ, the target had been placed firmly on our backs and everyone was out to topple the number-one team in the country, especially after posting the first 320+ team score of the season at the Conference Meet.

Freshman Anthony Nicholas had the dubious honor of getting the entire meet underway for us as the lead-off man on Parallel Bars. The first guy up is such a key player on every event, but more so on the first event of the entire meet. Anthony stepped up and powered through his routine like a seasoned veteran, not a freshman in his first National Championship meet. His Tippelt sequence right into the Diamidov and Stutz that eventually led to his tucked double back dismount was performed with confidence and poise. His final score of 12.70 was exactly what Team Minnesota needed to launch a historic performance of epic proportions. Little did we know after Anthony landed that he would be the first of 35 hit routines . Yes, that’s right – Minnesota posted a 35 for 35 hit percentage in the biggest meet of the season!

After Anthony got things rolling, Owen Frank (13.25), Kellen Ryan (12.70). David Grossman (13.15), and Christian Abran (12.80) put the finishing touches on a solid 5 for 5 performance for the team. We did have a sixth man go on P-Bars to get a score for his All-Around. Ben Letvin did a beautiful set, punctuated with a stuck double back for a score of 13.15. Owen’s 13.25 would hold up through the entire meet and this would give him his first GymACT All-American citation. The team Score on PB was 51.90.

  • Anthony Nicholas

    12.70

  • Owen Frank

    13.25

  • Kellen Ryan

    12.70

  • David Grossman

    13.15

  • Christian Abran

    12.80

  • Ben Letvin

    13.15

After each competition rotation, the team would head back to the warmup gym to warmup the next event. In this case, we got back and started to warmup High Bar. While we warmed up in the back gym, Flight B teams came out to compete on their first events. When that Flight was done and we came out to do our next event we looked up at the scoreboard to find ourselves sitting in 4th place as a team, Behind Temple, Washington, and ASU. Needless to say that was a bit disconcerting but we realized we were right where we needed to be.

On to our second event, we went - the High Bar. Justin Lancisi was our leadoff man and he again took care of business and kept the trend of hitting routines alive and well. Like he’s done so many times before in clutch situations, Justin nailed his set and put the exclamation point on it with a stuck dismount! His score of 12.85 was a solid start and the next two gymnasts kept the hit streak alive. Owen Frank (12.20) and Kellen Ryan (12.45) put up solid sets to keep us moving in the right direction. Next up came Ben Letvin and he performed the best set of the season that included a beautiful layout Tkatchev, followed up by a piked Tkatchev directly connected to a straddle Tkatchev. If that wasn’t enough, Ben also stuck his double layout dismount to post a huge 13.30 score!!! Jack Gagamov was next and put on a dazzling performance that included a Kohlman and Kovacs, and a straddle Tkatchev! Like Ben, Jack got on the stuck dismount bandwagon and garnered a stick bonus that would help the team score move even higher. Jack’s score of 13.25 was just behind Ben and at the end of the day, Both Jack and Ben were named GymACT All–Americans by virtue of their top 6 placement at the end of the competition. We did have one more competitor going for his All Around scoring only. David Grossman continues to shine on high bar and he posted another solid routine for a score of 12.85. Team score on High Bar was a 51.85.

  • Justin Lancisi

    12.85

  • Owen Frank

    12.20

  • Kellen Ryan

    12.45

  • Ben Letvin

    13.30

  • Jack Gagamov

    13.25

  • David Grossman

    12.85

Off to the warmup gym we went to prepare for our third event – Floor Exercise. As we marched back out to compete on Floor, we looked up at the scoreboard and Washington had claimed the lead with a 105.50 and we were tied for 2 nd with Temple with identical scores of 103.75. Ariona State was in 4 th with a score of 102.90.

Minnesota got started on Floor Exercise with freshman Joey Pennell who delivered another stellar set that included both a front double pike and front double tuck for his two opening passes. And like he’s done so many times before this season, he finished things off with a stuck dismount. When his score came up on the scoreboard (13.50) we had a good feeling about where we were heading during the meet! Next up saw Henry Counts take to the floor with his magnificent twisting ability, starting his routine with a back layout with 3 ½ twists! Like Joey, he performed an amazing routine and was able to get the second stick of the night on this event. The score for Henry was a solid 13.20. Next up was team captain Kellen Ryan who was able to put together his best set of the season and continued the trend with the third stuck dismount of the event and a score of 13.40! Next up for Minnesota was tumbling phenom Charlie Larson, fresh off his Conference title at Easterns, he delivered another Championship Performance with gravity-defying tumbling skills that had the whole arena stopping to watch. His final score of 13.90 put him atop the awards podium, bringing the first individual event title to Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics since Yaroslav Owens-Pochinka won the Still Rings title back in 2022. Our final competitor on Floor for the team score was David Grossman who also put on a great display of high-level tumbling, bringing the house down in resounding fashion. A final score of 13.10 gave Minnesota a huge team score of 54.00 to move us into second place with a team score of 157.75. Our last competitor on Floor Exercise was Ben Letvin, who was performing for a score to add to his All-around score. His score would not be counted to the team score, just his All Around, and did a beautiful routine for a score of 13.20.

  • Joey Pennell

    13.50

  • Henry Counts

    13.20

  • Kellen Ryan

    13.40

  • Charlie Larson

    13.90

  • David Grossman

    13.10

  • Ben Letvin

    13.20

Arizona State crushed it in the next Flight on Still Rings with a team score of 55.10 to take the lead with a score of 158.05, a mere 0.3 points ahead of us. Temple posted a 47.85 on High Bar and dropped to 4th place with a score of 151.60. Washington posted a score of 49.60 on Parallel Bars and dropped to 3rd with a score of 155.10. The top 2 teams, Arizona State and Minnesota were pulling away from the pack and it was shaping up to be an epic battle between two juggernaut programs. Arizona State, the team that’s won multiple National Titles since becoming a club program in 1993, and the upstart Minnesota team that had been ranked first all year long on their quest for their first ever National Title.

Here’s where things got dicey!! Minnesota would come out to compete on Pommel Horse, a relatively lower-scoring event, while Arizona State would come out in the next rotation to compete on Vault – the absolute highest-scoring event. So, after Rotation 4 we were pretty sure ASU would grab a significant lead over us. All we could do at this point is stay on Pommel Horse and count nothing but hit sets. Noah Wills had the honor of getting the ball rolling and he took the weight of the team on his shoulders and carried them all through a great hit set that scored a 12.30. That was a most crucial set for us as it set the tone again for what would follow. Koa Taylor was next, and he had a score to settle after falling at the Eastern Championships. He would NOT be denied as he swung a beautiful set and kept the momentum rolling as he posted his HIGHEST score of the season (12.90) in the most important meet of the season!! Can you say CLUTCH?? Next up was Kellen Ryan who posted a solid score of 12.95 on a well- executed set. Kellen has been a hitting machine in his three years as our top All Around gymnast and he was having a night to remember at this, his third National Championship Meet. Jack Gagamov approached the horse as the reigning Conference Pommel Horse champion, and he showed what great pommel horse is supposed to look like! Showing a great variety of high-level skills, Jack knocked out a beautiful routine to post a 13.55 score. Last but not least was Ben Letvin who hit another set for Minnesota and posted a score of 11.85. Our team score for Pommel Horse of 51.70 turned out to be the highest team score on this event for the entire meet. Our final performer was David Grossman who competed for his All Around score only. He knocked out a solid set for a score of 11.85 that helped his all around score.

  • Noah Wills

    12.30

  • Koa Taylor

    12.90

  • Kellen Ryan

    12.95

  • Jack Gagamov

    13.55

  • Ben Letvin

    11.85

  • David Grossman

    11.85

After 4 events we sat with a team score of 209.45. Washington, Temple, and ASU came out after us to compete on their 4th event and as we thought, ASU catapulted to a BIG lead over us posting a 55.15 on Vault to be sitting with a 213.65. Washington was at a 203.25 and Temple was in 4th with a 202.25. So, we were down by 4.2 points after 4 events. So, things continued to be interesting. Knowing that we finished on Vault, we knew we still had some wiggle room but it might have started to turn into very little wiggle room.

When we came back out for Still Rings we had a pretty good feeling that we could score well, especially versus ASU’s Parallel Bars. We continued our hitting ways and got an awesome lead-off routine out of freshman Christian Abran that included an impressive front uprise to V-sit mount, a solid Yamawaki sequence, a well-executed giant to handstand and he capped it off with another in a long line of stuck dismounts. When the score was posted we were all thrilled that Christian had posted his season-high score of 13.65!! Following Christian was team co-captain Owen Frank who performed a near-flawless routine that included a perfectly level cross, impeccable swinging skills, and a cold-blooded stuck half-in-half out dismount that made the team bench erupt in celebration. When his score came up Owen had posted his highest score of the season with an amazing 13.90 which was good for 3rd place and a bronze medal on the awards stand! That was two season-highs back to back!! Next up for Minnesota was Kellen Ryan and he didn’t want to miss out on the party we were getting going on rings and he knocked out another amazing set for Minnesota with an awesome back-uprise cross that was perfectly level, the best handstands he’s done all season, and a huge double twisting double back dismount with a small step. Score for Kellen – 13.50!!! Next up was our Rochester, MN connection Dylan LeClair. He showed a set with great strength moves – Maltese and cross – and solid swing work and a stuck double back dismount. This was our 10th stick of the night, and the judges awarded him a score of 12.30. David Grossman knocked out a great set with a beautiful series of Yamawakis, a solid shoot to handstand, and a well-executed double twisting double back dismount with just a small step forward. The final score for David was a 13.35 and I believe this is the first time all year we counted all four scores above a 13.0. Needless to say, we ended up scoring our highest team score of the season on Still Rings with a score of 54.40.

  • Christian Abran

    13.65

  • Owen Frank

    13.90

  • Kellen Ryan

    13.50

  • Dylan LeClair

    12.30

  • David Grossman

    13.35

  • Ben Letvin

    12.65

ASU was on Parallel Bars next and they posted a great score of 53.05 – the highest team score of the night on Parallel Bars – and we came out to finish the meet on Vault. When we walked out of the back warm-up gym and looked at the scoreboard, we were sitting firmly in second place by a margin of 2.85 points behind Arizona State. While some might have been biting their fingernails, hoping we would have been in first place the entire night, we knew that our Vault vs. Arizona State’s High Bar was a battle they couldn’t win – unless we had all five vaulters fall down!!

Off to Vault we went and not a single one of them fell down. In fact, we had five guys knock out 5 super vaults and post a meet-high team score on of 57.65 that gave us a team score of 321.50!! A half a point higher than the high score we posted at the Eastern Conference Meet 2 weeks prior!! Kai Louie-Badua got the nod to lead us off on our final event. Kai sustained a serious foot injury back at the second meet of the season in Kansas City and he was just bound & and determined to bust into the lineup at Nationals and bust in he did!! Another freshman got the ball rolling on our last event with a beautiful Kasamatsu with a full twist that scored a 13.40. GREAT START KAI!!!! Next up was David Grossman who did the same vault as Kai and posted a 14.10. Kellen Ryan was next, having competed in the 3rd spot on every event of the night. He threw his signature Kasamatsu with 1 ½ twists and good golly Miss Molly – HE STUCK THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF IT!!!! His score turned out to be the highest score of the meet on Vault, earning his first National Title of his career, with a 14.80!! That was an amazing moment and we still had two great vaulters to go, including GymACT All-Star Champion Ben Letvin. But first, we had to see Charlie Larson perform a beautiful Yurchenko layout with 2 ½ twists to score a 14.10. The BIG scores just kept popping up and when Ben Letvin nearly stuck his Kas 1 ½ and the score came up as a 14.65, we knew we had accomplished something extremely special. As mentioned earlier, the team score of 57.65 moved our team score to a 321.50.

  • Kai Louie-Badua

    13.40

  • David Grossman

    14.10

  • Kellen Ryan

    14.80

  • Charlie Larson

    14.10

  • Ben Letvin

    14.65

Arizona State was in the back gym, warming up High Bar, knowing that we had a GREAT vaulting team and their 2.85 point lead could soon be gobbled up because of the power of Minnesota’s team. We all did the math and knew that ASU needed to post a 54.80 on High Bar to tie us. That meant their 4 counting scores needed to average 13.70 points each. All we could do was watch the meet play out over at High Bar and watch the scores come up after every ASU routine - 12.95, 12.65, 12.90, 12.40, 13.00. Team Score = 51.50.

When the last gymnast from ASU landed and we saw the score, we knew at that moment that the National Team Title was ours! WE DID IT!!! Our season-long goal came to fruition and the celebration began. This was indeed a moment to cherish and treasure, and never forget. These boys had come together and stayed committed all season long to a clear vision of what they wanted. And they had to knock the winningest team in GymACT history off the podium. That was no easy task. Arizona State has an amazing team and has proven to be an amazing program for over 30 years. Hats off to them for putting up an amazing fight throughout the meet. It wasn’t until the last routine of the night was performed that Minnesota took the lead and won the meet. Not once throughout the meet did Minnesota occupy the top spot on the leaderboard. It’s a testament to the resiliency of the entire squad to know that no matter where we were during the meet, we knew exactly where we would be at the end of the meet!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ENTIRE MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS TEAM. YOU ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

The awards ceremony got underway soon after the final routine was finished and Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics not only walked away with the team title, but we also had two individual National Champions, but we amassed 18 All-American citations in the process. All-American status is reserved for the Top 6 gymnasts on each event and in the All-Around.

Here’s a run-down of the awards:

ALL AROUND

 Kellen Ryan, 2nd

 Ben Letvin, 2nd

 David Grossman, 3rd

FLOOR EXERCISE

 Charlie Larson, 1st

 Joey Pennell, 2nd

 Kellen Ryan, 3rd

 Ben Letvin & Henry Counts, tied for 5th

POMMEL HORSE

 Jack Gagamov, 2nd

 Kellen Ryan, 5th

STILL RINGS

 Owen Frank, 3rd

VAULT

 Kellen Ryan, 1st

 Ben Letvin, 2nd

 Charlie Larson & David Grossman, tied for 4th

PARALLEL BARS

 Owen Frank, 6th

HIGH BAR

 Ben Letvin, 2nd

 Jack Gagamov, 3rd

An amazing night, a night to remember, for the 2024 Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics team!! Thanks go out to a great group of guys, an amazing group of parents, an amazing Board of Directors of the Friends of Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics, an stellar group of alumni and supporters of this great program. Thank you to all for all the time and effort and money and energy that was collectively spent to accomplish an amazing goal – to be crowned NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS FUNDRAISER IS UNDERWAY

When you win a national title, a national championship ring is a must!!! Something each guy can wear proudly the rest of their lives to show the world what they accomplished. This is the FIRST NATIONAL TITLE FOR MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS since the program was started in 1903 under Coach Dr. Louis J. Cooke. I have started a Facebook Birthday Fundraiser with a goal of $10k to cover the cost of rings for the entire team, staff, and the board of FMMG. Please take a moment if you’re on Facebook to check it out and donate if you can, every single dollar matters:

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1584586335444760/7626832604098057/

FRIENDS OF MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS CONTINUES TO NEED DONATIONS TO FUND THE MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS PROGRAM. If you’ve already made a donation to FMMG - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!