CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 5 Fighting Illini men's gymnastics (5-1, 0-0) will host No. 3 Michigan (7-0, 0-0) for their Big Ten opener on Saturday at Huff Hall on B1G+.
History
A rivalry as old as time, the Illini and the Wolverines have faced each other 229 times, both in the postseason and in the regular season. Illinois leads Michigan ,130-98-1, though Michigan has walked away victorious the last four times the two teams have faced off (March 18, 2023: 405.55-411.250; March 31, 2023: L, 409.400-412.40; April 15, 2023: L, 415.590-419.889; and Jan. 13, 2024: 404.450-405.150).
No. 1 Oklahoma Recap
Illinois is coming off a 407.200-406.650 victory over No. 1 Oklahoma on Sunday evening.
Two Illini are coming off title wins – Ashton Anaya on still rings and Will Hauke on parallel bars.
Illinois also got season-high scores on floor with a 69.100, parallel bars with a 66.850 and team score of 407.200.
Scouting Report
Coming off a bye week, Michigan has yet to lose a meet in the 2024 season. The Wolverines started the year winning a tri-meet against Greenville and Simpson (404.900) then taking the Windy City Invitational trophy on Jan. 13 (405.150). Most recently, Michigan defeated Army, 412.500-382.950, in Ann Arbor.
In their meet against Army, the Wolverines won all six team events and swept the individual podium in five of six rotations, with vault being the only exception. A total of nine different Wolverines placed in the top three on various events.
2023 Nissen Emery winner Paul Juda made his debut in the meet, scoring a career-best 15.000 on vault.
Fred Richard – the 2023 floor, parallel bars, high bar and all-around national champion – also made his 2024 season debut, scoring a top-tiered 15.000 on pommel horse.
Rankings
Although Illinois upset No. 1 Oklahoma, the Illini stayed at the No. 5 spot in the Road to Nationals rankings. The ranking system is based off of team score and not votes, like in many other NCAA sports.
Illinois has an athlete ranked in every event. Connor McCool is 13th on floor, Brandon Dang is eighth on pommel horse, Anaya is fifth on still rings, McCool is 13th on vault, Michael Fletcher is 14th on vault, Hauke is 10th on parallel bars and Logan Myers is sixth on high bar.
The Illini are also ranked No. 2 on vault.
