It’s conference championship week! The Big Ten, ECAC, and MPSF will all have champions by the end of the day Saturday, and there will be some intense battles for who gets to claim those titles. These meets are a preview for what we can expect to see at NCAAs in a few weeks, and we’re more than ready to see all these teams at their best.
As always, you’ll find everything you need to follow along with all the meets happening this weekend, including previews of the top matchups and every scoring and video link you could ever need.
Can’t-Miss Matchups
Big Ten Championships With No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 8 Nebraska, and No. 9 Ohio State at No. 7 Iowa
When You Need to Tell Your Friends You’re Busy: Friday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET (Team Finals) and Saturday, April 6 at 8:00 p.m. ET (Event Finals)
Why You Should Cancel Plans For It: With the parody amongst the Big Ten teams during the regular season, all seven teams enter this championship with a shot at the title. Illinois is the defending champion and has put up the highest score of any Big Ten team this season, but Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota all took home the inaugural regular season conference title. Penn State was ranked third in the nation to start the season, Nebraska upset MIchigan to end its regular season, and despite being ranked the lowest heading into the meet, Ohio State has put up the third highest total of any of the competing teams. Legitimately, all seven squads have a shot to win, making this a thrilling meet to watch.
Routines to Avoid Going to the Bathroom During: Cameron Bock (Michigan) on parallel bars, Jake Brodarzon (Iowa) on rings, Alex Diab (Illinois) on rings, Bennet Huang (Iowa) on floor, Jacob Moore (Michigan) on floor, Stephen Nedoroscik (Penn State) on pommel horse, Sean Neighbarger (Ohio State) on vault, Michael Paradise (Illinois) on pommel horse, Anton Stephenson (Nebraska) on vault, Shane Wiskus (Minnesota) on high bar, Alec Yoder (Ohio State) on parallel bars, Sam Zakutney (Penn State) on high bar
What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: The battle for the pommel horse title should be just as exciting as the team final. Penn State’s Stephen Nedoroscik enters as the top-ranked gymnast in the country on the event, followed closely behind by Illinois’ Michael Paradise and Ohio State’s Alec Yoder. All three are capable of putting up a huge number to win, and this will likely be a preview of the three who will battle for the NCAA title on pommel horse at the end of the month as well.
MPSF Championships with No. 2 Stanford, No. 11 California, and No. 13 Air Force at No. 1 Oklahoma
When You Need to Tell Your Friends You’re Busy: Saturday, April 6 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Why You Should Cancel Plans For It: Seven-time defending champion Oklahoma will have the home gym advantage for this years’ MPSF conference championship. That will make the task of upsetting the top-ranked Sooners even harder for No. 2 Stanford, who is the only other team to have been ranked No. 1 this season. Oklahoma star senior Yul Moldauer will be the leader for the Sooners and is the easy favorite for the all around title as well if he competes all six. Freshman Brody Malone has been key to Stanford’s success this season and will need to hit his routines in his first conference championship appearance to boost the Cardinal. California has a freshman phenom as well in Darren Wong who—along with senior Aaron Mah—has been the a frontrunner for the Golden Bears this season. Air Force may not factor into the team race much, but the Falcons have a handful of individuals, including high bar specialist Lukas Texeira, who can challenge for event podium finishes.
Routines to Avoid Going to the Bathroom During: Levi Anderson (Oklahoma) on high bar, Grant Breckenridge (Stanford) on parallel bars, Josiah Eng (Stanford) on rings, Ethan Esval (Air Force) on rings, Asad Jooma (California) on vault, Aaron Mah (California) on floor, Yul Moldauer (Oklahoma) on parallel bars, Bryan Perla (Stanford) on floor, Genki Suzuki (Oklahoma) on pommel horse, Lukas Texeira (Air Force) on high bar, Jonah Urlaub (Air Force) on vault, Darren Wong (California) on pommel horse
ECAC Championships with No. 10 Navy, No. 11 Army, No. 15 William & Mary, and No. 18 UIC at No. 16 Springfield
When You Need to Tell Your Friends You’re Busy: Saturday, April 6 at 2:00 p.m. ET
Why You Should Cancel Plans For It: Navy enters this year’s ECAC championship as the highest-ranked team and as the defending champion. Coming off of a USAG team title last weekend, the Midshipmen will undoubtedly be fired up and, with the help of Ryan McVay in the all around, have a real shot of taking two titles in two weeks. Army comes in ranked just behind Navy, and after finishing third in this meet the past two years, the Black Knights are positioned to improve upon that result and can realistically challenge for the title. William & Mary won this meet in 2017, finished as the runner-up last year and will rely on its squad of individual event stars to avoid another slip down the podium this year. Springfield will look to use its hosting advantage to potentially push junior Stephen Lewis to a high all around finish, and the Flames will give it everything they’ve got as this will be their final ECAC championship.
Routines to Avoid Going to the Bathroom During: Lucas Beltran (Navy) on floor, Kaleb Booth (UIC) on vault, Cash Buske (Navy) on high bar, Cole Casanova (Army) on vault, Matt Davis (Army) on rings, Jacopo Gliozzi (William & Mary) on pommel horse, Jannik Haas (Springfield) on parallel bars, Stephen Lewis (Springfield) on parallel bars, Andrew Lyubovsky (William & Mary) on high bar, Sam Montague (UIC) on floor, David Toussaint (Navy) on pommel horse, David Watkins (William & Mary) on rings
Links and Things
These aren’t the only meets happening this weekend. To see all the matchups all in one place, take a look at our master schedule. You can also find live scoring and video links for all this weekend’s competitions below.
| Date | Time (ET) | Meet | Scoring Link | Video Link |
| Fri, April 5 | 8 p.m. | Big Ten Championships (Team Final) | Scores | BTN |
| Sat, April 6 | 2 p.m. | ECAC Championships | Scores | Stream |
| Sat, April 6 | 5 p.m. | MPSF Championships | Scores | Fox Sports Oklahoma |
| Sat, April 6 | 8 p.m. | Big Ten Championships (Event Finals) | Scores | BTN |
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Article by Brandis Heffner
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