MINNESOTA MEN’S GYMNASTICS STARTS THE SEASON WITH A BANG
The 2026 Season got underway with a resounding performance by Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics at the Windy City Invitational and the West Point Open.
The two meets had a great presence by Minnesota with Ben Letvin attempting to qualify to the Winter Cup at the West Point Open and the rest of the team making up two full teams at the Windy City Invitational.
WINDY CITY INVITATIONAL
The Windy City had some solid competition with Indy-Hio and Iowa being the two teams that had the most potential to give us a run for our money. Little did we know that our two teams had enough firepower to take home the top two spots in the team competition.
The final results looked like this:
1. Minnesota Team A 291.60
2. Minnesota Team B 282.70
3. Indy-Hio 281.30
4. Iowa 274.70
5. Northern Illinois 269.35
6. Florida Storm 262.30
The battle for second place between our B team and Indy-Hio was fierce and the Golden Gophers stayed strong to the end to come away with the double victory.
The results in All Around were just as impressive with two freshmen taking home the top 2 spots in the All-Around. KJ Richardson was crowned the 2026 All Around Champion while fellow Freshman Peter Davis-Ross took home the Vice-Champion award in the All Around.
Here’s how the All-Around Results looked:
1. KJ Richardson, Minnesota 73.00
2. Peter Davis-Ross, Minnesota 72.35
3. Jake Porrey, Iowa 70.00
4. Leo Feuer, Minnesota 69.20
5. Raif Schaffner, Iowa 67.95
6. Paul Acker, Minnesota 67.60
This was a stellar showing for the Minnesota Gophers, taking four out of the top six All-Around spots! Well done gents!!
In the Individual Event rankings, the Gophers took home additional hardware with Gold Medal performances by wonderkid Warren Strootman with Championship performances on two events – Pommel Horse (12.45) and High Bar (12.85). Senior captain Owen Frank was crowned champion on the Still Rings with a score of 12.80 while teammate KJ Richardson took home top honors on the Parallel Bars with a score of 12.85.
While these superstars were taking home the titles on four events, their teammates were also posting top 6 finishes on multiple events:
FLOOR EXERCISE: Paul Acker 3rd (12.60), Micah Winder 4th (12.55), & Alex Winslow 5th (12.35).
POMMEL HORSE: Paul Acker 3rd (12.60) & Luke Pedersen 6th (11.95)
STILL RINGS: KJ Richardson 2nd (12.70) & Caleb Gurman 6th (12.10)
VAULT: Micah Winder 4th (13.25) & Peter Davis-Ross 6th (12.95)
PARALLEL BARS: Peter Davis-Ross 2nd (12.70), Owen Frank and Anthony Nicholas tie for 3rd (12.55).
HIGH BAR: Paul Acker tie for 2nd (12.55), Leo Feuer 5th (12.35), & Luke Pedersen 6th (12.25)
As you can see, Minnesota was well represented at the 2026 Windy City Invitational! A huge thank you to all of our families, friends, and fans that came out to support us in Chicago!
BEN LETVIN COMPETES AT THE 2026 WEST POINT OPEN
While the Minnesota team descended on Chicago, a lone representative competed at the West Point Open. Ben Letvin was attempting to qualify to the 2026 USAG Winter Cup competition held annually in Lexington, KY. Assistant Coach Clay Strother joined Ben on the East Coast in a talented field that included former Minnesota GymACT team member Kellen Ryan who now competes for Penn State University.
Ben finished the meet with an All Around score of 73.35 and while he did not make the cut for Winter Cup, he solidified his spot as one of the top All Around gymnasts in GymACT this year.
GOPHERS NEXT MEET IS THE JOHN ROETHLISBERGER ICEBERG INVITATIONAL
Minnesota will be in action again this Saturday, January 31, at the 30th Annual John Roethlisberger Iceberg Invitational. John Roethlisberger will be on hand at Shakopee High School, located at 100 17th Ave W, Shakopee, MN 55379.
The competition will get underway at 6:30 pm and Minnesota will once again be fielding two full teams on the floor as they take on The University of Iowa GymACT Team alongside the fledgling team from Wisconsin.
All students (including college students) will get a special admissions fee of $10 to come and watch some top-notch gymnastics as the Gophers battle with the Iowa Hawkeyes. We hope to see you there!!
FOUNDATION GYMNASTICS CONTINUES TO INCREASE ENROLLMENT
Our Preschool and Rec Programs are slowly but surely seeing more and more kids in the local vicinity signing up for classes. It’s been slow but steady and all the kids who are currently enrolled are having a great time in class, and learning the basics of gymnastics from members of the team who are part of the coaching staff. Thanks to all who are making Foundation Gymnastics a destination for kids in St Paul. Information on our program can be found on the Foundation Gymnastics website: www.foundationgym.org
STICK THE DISMOUNT FUNDRAISER
The annual Stick the Dismount campaign was launched last month. This campaign has gone on for almost 20 years, bringing in thousands of dollars of fundraising for the Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics Program.
The way it works is participants can pledge a dollar amount per Stuck Dismount through the year. Last year we had a total of 103 stuck dismounts so that’s a number you can use to gauge your potential pledge. So, if you pledged $2 per stick and we stick 103 dismounts again, you’d be donating $206 at the end of the season.
Here’s a link to the STUCK DISMOUNT PLEDGE GOOGLE FORM:
You can cap your pledge or make a one-time donation on behalf of the Stick The Dismount campaign. This is a great way to follow the team throughout the season and provide support based on their level of success.
We had 15 Stuck Dismounts at the Maroon & Gold Meet so we’re on the move and we saw a nice number of sticks in that meet. Hopefully the team will continue to fight for those landings and continue to bring in funding for the program.
Donations to the program are always greatly appreciated and can be made through our website: www.minnesotagymnastics.org.
