
Aaronson Mansberger received a wealth of accolades in his first season on the University of Michigan’s men’s gymnastics team.
The 2024 Carmel High School graduate was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times. He also was named Michigan’s 2024-25 Rookie of the Year for men’s gymnastics and was named a College Gymnastics Association Regular Season All-American.
But those are not the accomplishments that meant the most to him.
“Helping the team win its fifth straight Big Ten Conference title and first NCAA title in over 10 years (April 19) brought me more joy than any individual title ever could,” Mansberger said. “It was a really special moment to look up at the home crowd at (Michigan’s) Crisler Arena and see all of our friends and supporters cheering us on after bringing home the championships.”
Next up for Mansberger is competing June 28 in the men’s national qualifier.
“My goal is to qualify from that meet to the U.S. Championships in August, which serves as the selection competition for the U.S. Senior National Team and the 2025 World Championships Team,” he said. “Looking ahead to next college season, my goal is to improve my dismount skill. I fell at the (Big Ten) pommel horse final and NCAA Championships and I want to increase the difficulty score in my routine while maintaining the high-execution scores I received last season.”
Mansberger’s season-high score of 14.7 in the Big Ten team competition qualified for second place for the pommel horse final. The next evening, he fell on his dismount and scored 13.575, which placed him sixth. In the NCAA Championships, he had the third-highest score with 14.466 after qualifications. In the finals the next night, he again fell on his dismount and scored 13.4, which placed 17th.
Mansberger said his uncharacteristic falls on his dismount in the Big Ten and NCAA finals are why he knows there’s still work to do to improve his consistency.
“I showed very high potential by being in the top three of both the Big Ten and NCAA after qualifications, but I wasn’t able to finish strong in finals,” said Mansberger, who trained at Interactive Academy in Zionsville from the time he was 5 years old through high school.
Mansberger said the falls taught him that he still needs work on his mental and physical preparation.
“I didn’t have a perfect record, but I was able to prove myself as someone the team can rely on to anchor the pommel horse lineup,” he said. “In my club career before college, I struggled with performing under pressure. This year, I did a lot of mental training, and this helped me perform my routine more reliably. Knowing that my 24 teammates had my back no matter what gave me confidence.”