Huskers Locked In for NCAA Championship Run

Lincoln, Neb.- The No.4 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team is headed back to Ann Arbor, Mich., to compete in the 2025 NCAA Championships. NU will compete on Friday, April 18, at noon (CT). The top three teams from each qualifying session will advance to the NCAA championship finals on April 19th at 6 p.m. (CT), along with the top three individuals in each event, including the all-around, that are not on advancing teams. The first day of competition will be streamed on ESPN+ and the finals are set to be broadcasted on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Last Time Out
During the Big Ten Championships, the Huskers showed out, placing third with a 322.850 behind Penn State and Michigan. Graduate student Taylor Christopulos placed third in the all-around competition with a 79.80. 

The Big Red had all Huskers qualify for the event finals on still rings and floor and had 11 competitors qualify for the second day of competition. 

During the event finals, the Huskers swept the top four places on still rings, with Yanni Chronopoulos winning the team's first conference title. Asher Cohen placed second, Chris Hiser placed third and Christopulos took fourth place to complete the sweep. Nathan York grabbed a silver medal on the floor, and Joey Pepe took bronze as the only parallel bars competitor for Nebraska. 

Scouting the Competition 
#1 Oklahoma 
The Sooners are led by former Husker Mark Williams who coached OU to its 20th conference championship. Senior Emre Dodanli took the high bar title and Fuzzy Benas won the parallel bar title. This is OU’s first title since 2021. Nebraska faced Oklahoma and California at the OU/Cal tri-meet in February, where the Huskers placed second behind Oklahoma.

OU leads Nebraska all-time with a 117-108-2 record. 

#5 Penn State
The Nittany Lions, who secured second place in the team finals at the Big Ten Championships, surpassed the Huskers by a score of 323.850-322.850. Josh Karnes repeated as the Big Ten parallel bar champion. Additionally, four of the seven gymnasts earned podium finishes. 

The Big Red holds a narrow winning record of 39-37 against the Nittany Lions after PSU defeated them during the regular season. With that win, Penn State claimed its share of the Big Ten regular season title. 

#8 Air Force 
Air Force, who hosted the MPSF Championships, had two of its own titles. Though the Falcons finished last in the team finals, Olympic alternate Patrick Hoopes nabbed the pommel horse title and senior Erich Upton won the all-around title with a combined score of 80.10. This is the first time Air Force has won multiple titles at conference championships. 

Nebraska dominates all time against Air Force with a record of 89-8. The Big Red faced off with the Academy at the Rocky Mountain Open, where they placed third, defeating the Falcons, who had a fourth place result. 

#9 California 
The Golden Bears went through a coaching change after the tri-meet. Interim head coach Bryan Del Castilo led Cal to their first event title in seven years at the MPSFT Championships with Jasper Smith-Gordon winning on vault. The Golden Bears finished third with their best score of the year at 315.450. 

Cal has the all-time record with 37-19 against NU but the Huskers have won both of their last meets against the Golden Bears. At the tri-meet, Nebraska surpassed California, 317.100-308.500. 

Rankings 
Team 
The Big Red is in the top-10 in all events. The team is notably ranked first on still rings, along with second on floor and vault, third on p-bars, fourth in the All-Around and fifth on high bar. 

Individual 
Floor
Sophomore Chase Mondi is ranked first on floor with an average of 13.77. Christopulos is seventh with a 14.75 season high. York is in ninth place after hitting his career high of 13.975 at Big Tens. 

Still Rings
Hiser leads the Huskers in the still ring rankings with 14.35, good for fourth. He is followed by Chronopoulos in fifth, who has a 13.838 average on the season. Cohen is in sixth place, averaging 13.813. 

Vault
Mondi holds steady in fourth place with a career high of 14.65 and Luke James is in 10th place with a 14.072 average. 

Parallel Bars
Pepe is the only Husker in the top-10 after a seventh-place finish and career high of 14.20 at the conference championships. 

High Bar
Max Odden is in fifth place and Christopulos in sixth, with both matching a NQA of 13.706. 

Follow the Huskers
Fans can follow @HuskerMGym on Facebook, Instagram or X for live updates during the meet.