ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With its eyes on a Star Meet showdown versus Army in two weeks, the Navy men's gymnastics team put together its most complete outing of the young season as it cruised to the title at the 2026 Navy Open. Taking on a six-team field that was mixed between NCAA and GymAct club programs, the Mids posted a season-high score of 309.3 to finish atop the podium at the Halsey Field House Gymnastics Facility.

The complete standings on Saturday consisted of Springfield College in second place at 302.8, William & Mary in third at 291.35, Temple (club) in fourth at 279.3 and the North Carolina Airmen (club) in fifth with a score of 257.55. The Massachusetts Militia club did not field complete lineups in the team event and netted 55.75 points.

As a team, Navy scored 52.05 points on the floor exercise, 51.85 on the pommel horse, 50.85 on the rings, 54.9 on the vault, 48.6 on the parallel bars and 51.05 on the high bar.

Individually, Matthew Petros (Sr., Broadview Heights, Ohio) paced the Mids' effort with first-place results on the vault and high bar on Saturday. Daniel Gurevich (Jr., Frisco, Texas) picked up a third individual victory for Navy as he tied for first place following his floor exercise routine. In total, Navy gymnasts finished in the top three seven times in the competition.

"We are starting to hit our full stride as we begin our final preparations for Army," remarked head coach Kip Simons. "I'm proud of our intentions and volume of work day in and day out.

"This group of young men are starting to realize their full potential. They came to play today in front of a packed Halsey Field House."

Gurevich led off the meet with a victory on the Navy's first event of the day, the floor exercise. The junior finished with a score of 13.55 points courtesy of an 8.65-point execution score of his routine that had a starting difficulty level of 4.9. William & Mary's Luke Tully tied him for top billing as he also posted a 13.55 this afternoon. Fellow junior Benjamin Thurlow Lam (San Francisco) joined Gurevich in the top three as he netted the Mids 13.2 points, good enough for third place.

On the ensuing apparatus, the pommel horse, Navy flexed its muscle and posted three of the top-four scores. Though unable to keep pace with Springfield's Devon Felsenstein and his victorious 13.95 mark, Navy made up for it with a trio of scores between 13.2 and 13.05. Brian Solomon (Jr., Lynnfield, Mass.) and Kody Tokunaga (Fr., Palatine, Ill.) turned in matching 13.2 scores to finish runner-up just ahead of fourth place Jonah Soltz' (So., Tacoma, Wash.) 13.05 total.

Buoyed by this fast start, the Mids withstood a strong turn on the rings by Springfield that saw the Pride shave 1.45 points off its deficit. Navy's 50.85 combined score on the rings was led by Solomon, who ranked third overall with a 12.95 score. Aaron Stein (Sr., Houston, Texas) provided back-up for Solomon as he was just 0.2 points behind in sixth place with a score of 12.75.

Navy got back to business in its next event, the vault. Petros was the undisputed class of the field on the vault as he performed his 4.8-point level routine with 9.45-point accuracy and an additional 0.1 point as a stick bonus for a grand total of 14.35. He bested Springfield's Evan Reichert by 0.45 points. Stein and Thurlow Lam picked up two more top-five results for the Mids as Stein placed fourth at 13.6, while Thurlow Lam posted a 13.55 score to rank fifth.

Competing for the first time in 2026 after suffering an injury during Navy's preseason, team captain Danilo Viciana (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) led the way for the Mids on the parallel bars as he recorded a score of 12.6 to stand fifth overall. Fellow senior Colby Prince (Lithia, Fla.) was just 0.05 points back with a score of 12.55 that placed him in a tie for seventh.

Securely in first place, Navy closed out its competition with a pair of top-four results on the high bar. Petros netted his second event win of the afternoon with an 8.75 execution score of his 4.7-level routine with a 0.1-point stick bonus. He out-paced his high school teammate, William & Mary's Ricky Pizem by 0.35 points on Saturday, 13.55 to 13.2. Soltz was the second-highest scoring Mid on the high bar as he came in fourth with a 12.8 score. In his collegiate debut, Sean Armstrong (Fr., Coppell, Texas) helped Navy with a 12.2 effort.

Navy will now turn its entire attention towards a showdown with Army at the 2026 Star Meet. The Mids will host the annual service academy dual in Halsey Field House on Saturday, February 7. First touch is set for 2 p.m.