ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The men's gymnastics teams from Navy and Army will go head-to-head in a battle for the 2025 Star on Saturday afternoon at West Point. Separated by less than a point in the standings for season scoring average, the matchup at the Gross Gymnastics Center between the Mids (1-0) and Black Knights (1-2) has all the makings of an all-time showdown. First touch at West Point is set for 1 p.m. with the action broadcast live on the Virtius platform.
Navy comes into Saturday's competition with the tenth-best scoring average in the NCAA (306.333), while Army is ranked eighth with a respective average of 307.317. The two teams competed alongside each other as part of the 2025 West Point Open on January 10; Navy's third-place result of 309.50 was 1.2 points clear of Army's 308.30. Ohio State and Penn State went one-two at the multi-team event.
Saturday's gymnastics meet is one of four Star competitions as part of a busy day for the 2024-25 Star Series presented by USAA; rifle (9 AM) and men's and women's track & field (11 AM) will also be in action.
Most Recent Army-Navy Star Meet: February 3, 2024 in Annapolis
With the bright lights shining with the 2024 Star on the line, the Navy men's gymnastics team started out fast and never looked back as it cruised to a 12.6-point victory over Army, 390.4-377.5 on Saturday afternoon. The Mids (2-0, 2-0 ECAC) bolted out to a 4.6-point edge following strong efforts on the floor exercise and pommel horse before adding points to their lead over the Black Knights (1-3, 1-1 ECAC) on the rings and vault. A 1.15-point swing on the parallel bars in favor of Army pulled the visitors closer before Navy concluded the meet and Star win at Halsey Field House with a dominant 7.3-point difference on the final event of the competition, the high bar.
Individually,
Matthew Petros led a quartet of Midshipmen that placed first overall in events on Saturday as he paced the field for his efforts on the vault and parallel bars.
Syam Buradagunta,
Riley Rose and
Caleb Hickey finished first on the floor exercise, rings and high bar, respectively.
As a team, Navy scored 64.25 points on the floor exercise, 63.7 on pommel horse, 64.5 on the rings, 70.9 on the vault, 63.15 on the parallel bars and 63.9 on the high bar.
Last Five Star Competitions between Army & Navy
(all five competitions scored with five counting gymnasts per event ... 2025 NCAA scoring changed to four-count)
Feb. 3, 2024 (H): Navy 390.40 - Army 377.50
Feb. 4, 2023 (A): Navy 394.05 - Army 393.15
Feb. 5, 2022 (H): Navy 397.25 - Army 379.55
Feb. 1, 2020 (H): Navy 404.40 - Army 380.90
Feb. 2, 2019 (A): Navy 401.10 - Army 400.55
Comparing the Squads
(2025 averages; Single-Meet Highs and Individual Leaders; 4-up, 4-count scoring system) ...
|
Navy (Avg.) |
High Score |
Individual Leader |
Army (Avg.) |
High Score |
Individual Leader |
| A-A |
306.333 |
309.50 |
Solomon, 76.90 |
307.317 |
308.30 |
Lester, 73.85 |
| FX |
52.30 |
52.85 |
Drake, 13.45 |
51.63 |
53.10 |
Aguilar, 13.03 |
| PH |
48.40 |
52.05 |
Alexander, 12.60 |
52.68 |
53.40 |
Pabellon, 14.04 |
| R |
49.12 |
49.95 |
Drake, 13.20 |
50.50 |
51.05 |
Heary, 12.83 |
| V |
54.20 |
54.75 |
Drake, 13.85 |
52.63 |
53.50 |
Lester, 13.86 |
| PB |
51.07 |
51.50 |
Drake, 13.05 |
50.18 |
51.20 |
Heary, 12.83 |
| HB |
51.25 |
51.55 |
Drake, 13.22 |
49.68 |
51.60 |
Phelps, 12.99 |
Last Time Out: Navy at Simpson - January 24
Taking on Simpson College in its first head-to-head competition of the season, the Navy gymnastics team was victorious by a final score of 306.35 to 297.75 on Friday night. Leading by just 1.4 points through four rotations, the Mids (1-0) came through down the stretch with a 7.2-point advantage over the Storm (0-3) with strong final turns on the parallel bars and high bar at Cowles Fieldhouse.
Danilo Viciana,
Jonah Soltz and
Isaiah Drake led Navy's individual performers on Friday with first-place finishes. Viciana dominated the floor exercise competition, while Soltz was nearly as successful with his pommel horse effort. Drake tied for top billing on the high bar.
As a team, Navy scored 52.25 points on the floor exercise, 48.25 on the pommel horse, 49.95 on the rings, 53.2 on the vault, 51.5 on the parallel bars and 51.2 on the high bar.
