2016 Season Preview: Men's Gymnastics
12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Dec. 16, 2015
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2016 OUTLOOK
Head coach Kurt Golder, in his 20th season at U-M, will have the youngest team in his career with 15 freshmen (13 true freshman, two redshirt freshman). U-M brings back a pair of 2015 NCAA All-Americans in sophomore Dmitri Belanovski (high bar, 2015) and Nolan Novak (pommel horse, 2015). Tristian Perez-Rivera (vault, 2014) will miss the 2016 season due to a knee injury.
Additionally, 2015 All-Big Ten second team member and junior Anthony Stefanelli returns for added punch on floor and vault, while fifth-year seniors Colin Mahar (still rings specialist) and team co-captain Michael Strathern provide leadership. Strathern, whose ability has never been in question, has missed portions of the last three seasons due to injury and will focus on floor, vault and high bar in his redshirt senior season.
The freshman class will be led by both Anthony McCallum as well as Emyre Cole, both of whom possess All-America capabilities on multiples events and will be leaned on as all-around performers from the get go. Each excel on vault and floor and are well-balanced on the other four events.
In addition to Cole and McCallum, Matt Whitaker possesses the potential to contribute in the all-around as a freshman, with strength lying in floor and vault, and is also a gymnast with an extremely high ceiling. Uche Eke fills voids on high bar, pommel horse and parallel bars, while Samuel Su will be looked upon to step into the pommel horse lineup. Other newcomers Ryan Dunning (still rings), Justin Hopgood (high bar) and Matt Beck (floor exercise) are expected to fill holes in a lineup that returns only seven of 25 routines from the 2015 NCAA Team Finals lineup.
STUDENT-ATHLETES TO WATCH
Dmitri Belanovski -- The 2015 team MVP and All-American enters his sophomore season primed to break out. Coming off the heels of a career-high 15.025 on high bar at NCAAs last season, Belanovski is regarded as the team's best all-arounder. According to Golder, he enters the season in great shape, and is, "as ready for a season as anyone I have ever coached at this point in the season."
Marty Strech -- Strech, who was forced to sit out the majority of the season and earned a medical redshirt, is an example of an athlete that if on his game, can make a major impact not only in the Big Ten but nationally as well. A top recruit in the 2014 class, he is regarded as a technically sound, clean, aesthetic and consistent when healthy. Capable of partaking the all-around, he excels on rings as well as floor. Additionally, he is a three-time Junior Olympic champion on pommel horse, but his place in the lineup depends on his comeback from last season's injuries.
Nolan Novak -- The 2015 NCAA runner-up on pommel horse, Novak is the top competitor on arguably the most important event in all of men's gymnastics and is one of the handful of U-M gymnasts that possess the skill to shoot for an NCAA Individual title.
From left: Dmitri Belanovski, Marty Strech, Nolan Novak
KEY COMPETITIONS
Saturday, Jan. 23 -- vs. Oklahoma (Cliff Keen Arena), 5 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 30 -- vs. Ohio State (Cliff Keen Arena), 2 p.m. [ TV: BTN ]
U-M will host a treacherous stretch in the early going of the season, hosting the preseason No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners on Jan. 23 and follow with a matchup against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on Jan. 30 in a meet that will be televised the Big Ten Network. Both teams are looked upon as the frontrunners for the 2016 NCAA title.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Kurt Golder
"This team reminds me of the 1999 NCAA championship team in some respects in how the season unfolded. We didn't win a meet that year until the end of March when we won the Golden Sands Invitational in Santa Barbara. We went on to win the next few dual meets, Big Tens and NCAAs. That was the youngest team I had ever coached at the time. This year's team is young, we're probably going to start slow, experience some defeats and climb the ladder as the season goes on, and in the end, I think we'll be in pretty good shape at NCAAs at the end of the season."
2015 RECAP
The 2015 squad concluded its season by finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships and collecting three All-American honors. Nolan Novak finished runner-up on the pommel horse, while Stacey Ervin and Dmitri Belanovski placed third on floor exercise and high bar, respectively. The team finish marked the third straight year that U-M has finished in the top four nationally. At the Big Ten Championships, U-M tallied a third place finish, while Nick Hunter collected an individual event title on the parallel bars. Ervin and Anthony Stefanelli placed second and third, respectively, on the floor exercise at the event finals as well. Hunter and Ervin were both named to the All-Big Ten First Team, while Stefanelli was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team.
The regular season began at the Windy City Invite, where U-M tallied a second-place finish. The team recorded highlight wins over No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Illinois, and No. 3 Penn State throughout the year. Additionally, Ervin, Hunter, Adrian de los Angeles and Belanovski traveled to Las Vegas to participate in the 2015 Winter Cup Challenge. Ervin was also named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week twice throughout the year for his performances against Stanford and UIC. Michigan concluded the season at home against UIC on senior night, posting its highest team score of the season with a 443.05.
Communications Contact: Scott Kemps
Players Mentioned
