The preseason No. 5 Nebraska men's gymnastics team opens the 2020 season on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo., at 7 p.m. CT. Last season at the Rocky Mountain Open the Huskers claimed second as a team while also earning three event titles.
Scouting the Competition
The Huskers compete against No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 13 Air Force and Washington.
Coming off of a runner-up finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships, No. 2 Oklahoma returns nine gymnasts from the 2019 squad including All-American sophomore Vitality Guirmares and MPSF conference champion on floor exercise junior Gage Dyer.
No. 6 Minnesota placed fifth at the 2019 Big Ten Tournament and advanced eight gymnasts to the 2019 NCAA Finals. The Gophers are led by junior All-American Shane Wiskus. Wiskus returns after an impressive sophomore year when he earned the title on parallel bars, the runner-up finish in the all-around and an All-America honor on vault at the 2019 NCAA Championships. Wiskus is a six-time All-American through just two seasons at Minnesota and is the returning Co-Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
No. 13 Air Force will be led by first year coach Josh Loeser. The Falcons finished their 2019 season ranked No. 13 while being listed among the nation's top 10 on still rings (67.438, eighth). The Falcons return three NCAA Finals competitors including juniors Ethan Esval, Scott McMurray and Frankie Valentin. Esval earned a pair of top-20 finishes in the event finals as he tied for 11th on still rings and 20th on parallel bars. Valentin finished 33rd on vault and McMurray placed 43rd on pommel horse.
Washington started their season on Jan. 4 taking second behind Arizona State. The Huskies outscored Southern California United and Northern California to claim a second-place finish. Freshman Luka Sisauri claimed the pommel horse title while sophomore Connor Pattison claimed the parallel bars title. The Huskies will be led by senior Ben Bloom, who claimed the all-around title at their opening meet.
2019 Review
In 2019, Nebraska finished third at the NCAA Championships (the Huskers best finish since 1999) and return 12 letterwinners and five All-Americans (Jake Bonnay, Josh Martin, Griffin Kehler, Charlie Giles and Khalil Jackson) from that team.
Senior Jake Bonnay claimed All-America honors after placing eighth on floor at the 2019 NCAA Championships. Senior Josh Martin also earned All-America honors after finishing eighth on pommel horse in 2019. Sophomores Khalil Jackson and Charlie Giles claimed All-America honors on high bar and vault respectively in 2019 while Junior Griffin Kehler tied for fifth on floor in 2018 to earn All-American honors.
Bonnay is expected to do big things for the Huskers this season after finishing seventh on pommel horse at the Summer Universaide Games competing with Team Canada. Bonnay will also lead the team as a captain alongside juniors Zach Peters and Griffin Kehler. Bonnay and Kehler are expected to set the pace for the team as both were named Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch prior to the start of the season.
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