WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Looking to build momentum going into the postseason, the No. 9 Navy men's gymnastics team did just that with a season-high score of 396.75 in its road victory over No. 14 William & Mary on Saturday. The Mids (4-2) took over the lead following the pommel horse turn and never looked back against the Tribe (1-8) in an ECAC league match-up at Kaplan Arena. Navy's effort was bolstered by a clean sweep of event titles on all six apparatus, including a team-high three wins by sophomore Matthew Petros (Broadview Heights, Ohio).

Petros was everywhere for Navy on Saturday afternoon as he raised his hand on four different events and came away with victories on the vault, parallel bars and high bar and a runner-up result on the pommel horse. He was joined on the top of the leaderboard by Brian Solomon (Fr., Lynnfield, Mass.), who earned his first collegiate victory with a first-place effort on the floor exercise before Ronan McQuillan (Sr., Katy, Texas) held his spot as the Mids' anchor on the pommel horse team with another win. The fourth victor from Navy on Saturday was Isaiah Drake (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.), who suited up for the first time since sustaining an injury in the lead-up to February's Army-Navy meet. Drake led all competitors on the rings.

As a team, Navy scored 64.95 points on the floor exercise, 65.7 on the pommel horse, 64.55 on the rings, 70.05 on the vault, 67.3 on the parallel bars and 64.2 on the high bar.

"Today was a solid road win against a conference rival," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "Finishing the day with a season-high score on the road is encouraging as we head into the postseason."

The meet began with William & Mary holding off Navy by 0.35 points on the floor exercise as the host Tribe collected three of the top-five individual finishes, though it was Solomon earning the event win with an 8.7 execution of his 5.1-level routine for an overall mark of 13.8. Solomon's fellow plebe Daniel Gurevich (Fr., Frisco, Texas) tied for third place with William & Mary's Will Harrington with matching 13.4 scores. Colby Prince (So., Lithia, Fla.) was Navy's third scorer on the event as he placed sixth overall with a 13.15 result.

A sweep of the top-four spots atop the pommel horse leaderboard gave the Mids a 3.4-point lead after the event and it was off to the races from there. McQuillan garnered the victory as he bested Petros by 0.25 points, 13.45 to 13.2. Gurevich continued his fast start with his second straight third-place effort as he posted a 13.15 on the horse. Erik Engelke (Sr., Henrico, Va.) rounded out the top-four with a score of 13.1 for his routine. Solomon nearly made it five Mids in a row as he placed sixth with a 12.8.

Drake made a triumphant comeback to collegiate action on Saturday as he edged William & Mary's Evan Wilkins for the event title on the rings by 0.05 points, 13.45 to 13.4. After a pair of Tribe gymnasts tied for third place, the trio of Vishal Mandava (Jr., Cypress, Texas), William Champagne (Jr., Douglas, Mass.) and Riley Rose (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev.) finished within 0.1 points of each other as Mandava went fifth at 13.0 before Champagne and Rose tied for sixth at 12.9.

Petros' lights-out second half of the meet began on the vault as he bested the field by 0.1 points with a 14.6 score courtesy of a 9.4 execution of his 5.2-level vault. Competing on the vault for just the second time in his collegiate career, Rose had the highest execution score on the apparatus with a 9.6 and a 0.1 bonus for a stick of his 4.4-level vault; he netted Navy 14.1 points. Matthew Rosendahl (Sr., Upperco, Md.) was the Mids' third counter with a 13.95 score that was good for sixth place.

Petros picked up his second win in as many events as he posted a 14.0 to finish first on the parallel bars. William & Mary continued keeping the pressure on Navy as Sam Lee and Aidan Cuy grabbed the next two positions before Mandava came in fourth with a 13.7. Champagne made it three Mids in the top-five as he finished with a 13.6 score to rank fifth.

Navy closed out the meet strong with a sweep of the top-three spots on the high bar as Petros reigned supreme with a 13.4 score to best Drake by 0.25 as the junior earned 13.15 points for his respective effort. Competing as the anchor for the Mids' high bar team, Caleb Hickey (Sr., Carthage, N.C.) gave Navy it's third 13.0+ score on the apparatus as he turned in a 13.05 on Saturday. Engelke tied for fifth with a 12.7 score.

"The guys are hungry and healthy for a strong run at the championship part of the season," said Simons in closing.
 
Navy will kick off postseason action next weekend with two days of competition at the 2024 USAG Collegiate Championship. Hosted by the United States Air Force Academy, the team championship will begin the event on Friday starting at 4 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local) before the individual finals will be held on Saturday with first touch at 3 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local).