ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's gymnastics program will begin is 2021 campaign this Saturday when it participates in a virtual meet against Ohio State. The matchup between the Mids and the Buckeyes (0-1) features a pair of CGA's preseason top-10 teams as Navy was picked ninth, while Ohio State stood fifth. One of the fastest rising programs in the NCAA ranks under the guidance of sixth-year head coach
Kip Simons, the talented Midshipmen squad has earned annual bids to the NCAA Championship in each of Simons' first four years and were well on their way last season as they had the nation's fifth highest qualifying average when the COVID-19 pandemic caused an abrupt conclusion to their campaign in mid-March. This season will have a different look for Navy as the Mids will be opening a few weeks later than normal and with more reliance on virtual meets. This Saturday is the first of five competitions that Navy will compete in via a virtual setting. First touch between the Mids and Buckeyes is set for 12 p.m.
What is a Virtual Meet?
A contest between multiple teams that will be competing from their respective gyms/arenas with judges receiving a live stream of the action and reporting scores back in real-time. The procedures and pacing of the competition should be similar to an in-person meet. Fans will also be able to view the competition on the Virtius platform that will showcase both teams' respective routines, as well as a live scoring component.
Follow Live at Virtius ... https://virti.us/session?s=eg2wDJN-YB ... (viewers will have to create a free login account)
Attendance Policy for Saturday
The general public will not be allowed to attend Saturday's competition due to COVID-19 restrictions at the United States Naval Academy.
2021 Roster
The 2021 version of Navy Men's Gymnastics is deep and talented with 23 members on the roster ready to see action. Amongst those 23 gymnasts, Simons and his staff will lean on a strong and deep 13-man upperclass with five seniors and eight more juniors. The sophomore class consists of three gymnasts, while seven freshman join the ranks this season.
Who's Back
The senior class is made up of a variety of multi-dimensional gymnasts with
Max Gerber serving as the team captain. Gerber is joined by
Jake Carlson,
Travis Keller,
Ryan McVay and
David Toussaint. Throughout their first three seasons of competition all five gymnasts have garnered postseason accolades whether it be on the conference or national-level ...
Carlson -- three-time All-ECAC: pommel horse - 2019, 2020; rings - 2020
Garber -- three-time All-ECAC: parallel bars - 2019, 2020; high bar - 2020
Keller -- 2020 All-ECAC vault
McVay -- eight-time All-ECAC; 2019 USAG Collegiate Varsity Division All-Around Champion; 2019 NCAA Championship qualifier on high bar
Toussaint --- five-time All-ECAC; 2018 and 2019 ECAC Pommel Horse Champion; 2019 USAG Collegiate PH Champion; two-time NCAA Championship qualifier (2018-PH, 2019-FX)
The juniors are eight deep with 2020 CGA All-Americans
Cash Buske and
Josh Williams leading the corps. The entire class consists of
Nehemiah Baker,
Alexander Brown,
Dan Clark,
Brendan Fritz,
Henry Greene and
Dhiren Lutchman. For ranking top-eight in the nation at the time of last season's cancellation Buske and Williams earned All-American honors; Buske on the high bar (6th overall) and Williams on the rings (6th overall) ...
Brown -- 2020 Navy Men's Gymnastics Most Improved Award Winner
Buske -- two-time All-ECAC on the high bar: 2019 and 2020
Clark -- two-time All-ECAC on the pommel horse: 2019 and 2020; 2019 NCAA Championship qualifier
Lutchman -- 2019 All-ECAC parallel bars
Williams -- three-time All-ECAC: rings - 2020; floor exercise - 2020; 2019 ECAC Vault Champion; 2020 Navy Men's Gymnastics MVP
Additionally, Baker has seen regular action for the Mids on the rings and vault, while Greene has provided depth to Navy's pommel horse and rings units.
Navy's sophomore class received a brief indoctrination to collegiate gymnastics in 2020 with action in up to seven competitions.
Giovanni Gambatese and
Connor Van Loo made immediate impacts as the duo collected six combined ECAC Rookie of the Week honors last season. Van Loo's consistent success resulted in the Michigan native earning ECAC Rookie of the Year honors, as well as one of the eight spots on the CGA All-American team for the vault. He competed for Navy on the floor exercise, vault and high bar, while Gambatese showed off his talents on the rings, parallel bars and high bar. Gambatese was honored as All-ECAC on the high bar. The third member of Navy's sophomore class is
Alexander Kramer, who did not see action in varsity competitions last season, but is slated this year to work early on as a member of the Mids' floor and vault lineups.
Who's New
Kip Simons and his assistant coaches
Craig Holt and
Colin Payne recruited a gifted seven member freshmen class that should pay immediate dividends for the Mids in 2021 in a variety of event lineups. The class ranges from Massachusetts with
Syam Buradagunta, to the southeast with North Carolina native
Caleb Hickey and to the west with a pair of Texans,
Ronan McQuillan and
John Wendeborn. The class is rounded out with a trio of local talents as
Erik Engelke hails from Henrico, Virginia, while
Ian Dinmore and
Matthew Rosendahl are both from Maryland, Odenton and Upperco, respectively.
National/State Championship Highlights ...
Buradagunta - Third Place in All-Around at 2019 JO's; second on the FX, third on PH, sixth on VT
Dinmore - Second Place on the Pommel Horse at 2019 JO's
Engelke - 2019 All-Around Champion at JO's; second on PB and HB; sixth on R
Hickey - 2020 North Carolina All-Around Champion; third in A-A at both the 2018 and 2019 N.C. State Championships
McQuillan - 2016 Pommel Horse Champion at JO's
Rosendahl - Second Place in All-Around at 2019 Maryland State Championship
Wendeborn - 10th Place in All-Around at 2019 JO's; third on HB
2021 Season at a Glance
Navy kicks off its 2021 season on Saturday with a virtual competition versus Ohio State. Two weeks later, the program will have its first in-person meet of the season with the All-Academy Championship on Feb. 13 in West Point, N.Y. The three-team service academy showdown between Air Force, Army and Navy. Navy's second of four regular season virtual meets is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 17 versus Stanford, followed by Feb. 27 against Penn State and March 20 versus Springfield College. The other in-person competitions include road meets at William & Mary on Feb. 21 and at Army for the Star on March 6, and a home tilt against William & Mary on March 13. This year's postseason lineup consists of the USAG Collegiate Championships on March 26-27, the ECAC Championship on April 3 and the NCAA Championships on April 16-17. The University of Minnesota will host the two-day national championship meet in Minneapolis.
