STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Stanford led from start to finish on the way to winning its fourth consecutive NCAA men's gymnastics championship, on Saturday at Penn State's Rec Hall.
Stanford, the nation's top-ranked team, scored 422.458 points to beat runner-up Michigan with 419.889, giving the Cardinal its ninth championship. Stanford, as a school, now has won at least one NCAA team championship each of the past 47 academic years, dating back to 1976-77.
From the first gymnast – Taylor Burkhart on vault – to the last, Stanford never trailed. Burkhart opened the first rotation with a career-best 15.000 and Stanford immediately added to that advantage with Khoi Young scoring 14.800 at No. 2 in the lineup. Freshman Asher Hong followed by scoring a meet-best and career-high 15.333 at No. 3 to win the individual national title. Stanford already had a 73.999-70.665 lead over second-ranked Oklahoma, which opened on floor, after one rotation.
Stanford extended the lead in the second rotation on parallel bars, getting a career-high 14.566 from Brandon Nguyen to lead the way. Oklahoma, Stanford's main rival over the Cardinal's recent run of success, dropped to third on the rotation and never recovered, finishing fourth.
After Stanford put up a 67.999 on horizontal bar, led by Burkhart (14.000) and J.R. Chou (13.900), Nicolas Kuebler kept the momentum going in the fourth rotation, guiding Stanford to a season-best 70.965 on floor exercise. Kuebler nailed down a career-high 14.800 to win the floor national title - taking the crown over Michigan's Fred Richard based on execution score.
With Kuebler's win, Stanford has now won the floor title in back-to-back seasons after Bryan Perla was crowned in 2022. With Brody Malone winning in 2019, Stanford has now won the floor title in three of the last four championship meets.
Though the Cardinal maintained a healthy lead, Michigan made a late run, moving up from fifth after two rotations to second after four. After five rotations, Stanford's lead was cut to only 2.337 points, with the Cardinal heading to rings and Michigan to floor in the final rotation.
Fortunately, Stanford had Kuebler to keep the momentum with the Cardinal. And he did. Kuebler enjoyed a near-flawless routine, sticking the dismount perfectly to score a career-best 14.556 for the second consecutive meet. With Michigan's leadoff scoring 13.100, Stanford's lead ballooned to 3.803 points.
The dagger came from Brandon Briones at the No. 4 spot. Briones nailed his routine to the tune of 14.733, offsetting a strong performance from his Michigan counterpart, Landon Blixt, who scored 14.600 on the floor.
With all-around champion Richard scoring a 14.800 to close out floor for Michigan, Mark Berlaga gave Stanford enough with a 13.566, and the Cardinal were victorious once again.
Hong finished third overall in the all-around, scoring 83.932 to finish with three All-America honors after also earning accolades for his national-title vault (15.333) and a sixth-place finish on still rings (14.266). Richard won the all-around crown with an 85.998, followed by Nebraska's Taylor Christopulos at 84.166.
Including the three from Hong, Stanford finished with 12 All-America honors. Kuebler followed with two, including his national title on floor (14.800) and a fourth-place finish on rings (14.566). Burkhart also captured a pair of All-America honors, finishing as the national runner-up on vault behind Hong (15.000) and placing fifth on horizontal bar (14.000). Chou was the final dual All-American, placing sixth on pommel horse (13.800) and eighth on horizontal bar (13.900).
Briones, a finalist for the Nissen-Emery Award, was the national runner-up on still rings, with his stuck 14.733 earning his All-America honor. Nguyen's 14.566 was good enough for fifth and an All-America tag on parallel bars, while sophomore Khoi Young earned an All-America selection for his sixth-place finish on vault at 14.800.
Thom Glielmi has led the Cardinal to six NCAA titles, which ranks third overall among active Stanford head coaches and trails only Lele Forood of women's tennis (10) and John Tanner of women's water polo (8).
For their efforts in guiding Stanford to the national title, Glielmi and assistant coaches Mark Freeman and Grant Breckenridge were named Coaches of the Year. The honor is the seventh National Coach of the Year selection for Glielmi, while Freeman has been awarded National Assistant Coach of the Year in each of the last four seasons - becoming the first three-time Assistant Coach of the Year in men's gymnastics. Breckenridge earned his first selection in his inaugural campaign as a collegiate coach.
The nine national titles ties Stanford for fourth among men's gymnastics programs (Penn State 12, Oklahoma 12, Illinois 10). Gymnastics is just the second Cardinal men's sport to win four consecutive NCAA titles, and the first since men's tennis from 1995-98.
Stanford has won 132 NCAA team championships (70 men's, 62 women's) and 159 national team championships overall. Of Stanford's 132 NCAA championships, 35 have been won by fall sports, 32 by winter sports and 65 by spring sports. Since 2000, Stanford has captured 56 NCAA team crowns.
