University of Michigan Athletics

Team Captains: Paul Juda, Zach Granados, Lais Najjar

Record: 22-3, 3-1 Big Ten Conference (Co-Champions)

Big Ten Championships: 1st of 5 (330.750)

NCAA Championships: 1st of 6 (332.224)

A banner season for the University of Michigan men’s gymnastics team, 2025 ended with the team’s fifth straight Big Ten Championship and seventh NCAA Championship. Fred Richard was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships for the third straight year, while head coach Yuan Xiao was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth straight year. Overall, seven Wolverines combined for 17 All-America honors and a pair of Big Ten and NCAA individual titles. The Wolverines played host to both the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Championships at Crisler Center.

Team Highlights

• U-M earned its seventh overall NCAA Championship, and first since 2014, with a team score of 332.224 in the team finals. Richard took home the all-around title while Paul Juda took home the parallel bars title. The finish marked the eighth straight season the Maize and Blue has finished in the top five and fourth straight in the top three.

• At Big Tens, the Wolverines earned their fifth straight team title, a pair of individual titles and eight medals. Five straight titles is the longest streak for Michigan since winning six straight from 1961-66. Richard was crowned Big Ten All-Around Champion for the third straight year, the first time a Wolverine has won three straight since Rick McCurdy from 1969-71. Senior Evgeny Siminiuc took home silver on the parallel bars in addition to the high bar title.

• The Maize and Blue started strong, handily defeating both Greenville (299.450) and Simpson (287.400) with a score of 310.900 to open the season on Jan. 11. The team fell 321.700-316.600 to Illinois at the Windy City Invitational before bouncing back to top Springfield and Army.

• Michigan stumbled to open Big Ten competition, dropping the conference opener on Feb. 1 at Penn State, 319.000-313.900. The Wolverines led for the majority of the meet, with the Nittany Lions pulling ahead following vault. A big rotation on parallel bars allowed U-M to retake the lead, but falls on the high bar to close out the meet were costly and allowed PSU to secure the win.

• The Wolverines returned to their winning ways with a decisive 322.100-315.450 victory over Illinois at home on Feb. 8 before finishing second of three at Oklahoma on Feb. 15.

• U-M took a month-long break from NCAA competition following the tri-meet in Norman, Okla., with Richard and Javier Alfonso representing Michigan at the Winter Cup. Richard finished second in the all-around, third on the parallel bars and high bar and fifth on floor exercise to lead the pair’s effort.

• Michigan returned to NCAA competition with Ohio State at home on March 15, defeating the Buckeyes 328.100-322.000 on Senior Day. The team is undefeated at home since March 9, 2019, at Cliff Keen Arena.

• The Wolverines clinched a share of the regular-season title at Nebraska to close out the regular season with an NCAA-leading team score of 335.950. The conference crown is Michigan’s fifth.

Individual Highlights

• Richard’s NCAA all-around title is his second in the event and fourth overall individual title. With Juda’s parallel bars title, 22 Wolverines have combined for 46 NCAA individual titles.

• Head coach Xiao was named Coach of the Year by the College Gymnastics Association, while Jordan Gaarenstroom and Juha Tanskanen were named Assistant Coaches of the Year.

• The Wolverines combined for 17 All-America honors, with Richard earning the citation in the all-around and all six events. He is the first gymnast in NCAA history to earn seven All-America citations in a single season.

• This year’s All-America haul brings Michigan’s all-time number to 292 and is the fifth straight year the Wolverines have combined for double-digit All-America honors (11 in 2024, 10 in 2023, 11 in 2022, 13 in 2021).

• Richard (all-around) and Siminiuc (high bar) took home individual titles at the Big Ten Championships, marking the sixth straight year U-M has claimed at least one individual conference title. Siminiuc also picked up silver on the parallel bars, with Juda (silver, all-around), David Wolma (silver, vault), Zach Granados (bronze, pommel horse), Solen Chiodi (bronze, vault) and Pierce Wolfgang (bronze, high bar) also earning hardware.

• The Wolverines earned 32 event titles in the regular season.

Honors & Awards

Paul
Juda

Fred
Richard

Evgeny
Siminiuc

Carson
Eshleman

Rithik
Puri

Charlie
Larson

David
Wolma

NCAA

All-America: Carson Eshleman (high bar), Paul Juda (all-around, floor exercise, parallel bars, high bar), Charlie Larson (floor exercise), Rithik Puri (still rings), Fred Richard (all-around, floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, high bar), Evgeny Siminiuc (parallel bars, high bar), David Wolma (vault)

College Gymnastics Association

Coach of the Year: Yuan Xiao

Assistant Coaches of the Year: Jordan Gaarenstroom, Juha Tanskanen

Gymnast of the Week: Fred Richard (March 27)

Rookie of the Week: Carson Eshleman (Jan. 15), Aaronson Mansberger (March 19, March 27)

Specialist of the Week: Charlie Larson (March 27)

Big Ten Conference

Medal of Honor: Paul Juda

Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships: Fred Richard

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Yuan Xiao

All-Big Ten First Team: Paul Juda, Fred Richard, Evgeny Siminiuc

All-Big Ten Second Team: Solen Chiodi, Zach Granados, Pierce Wolfgang, David Wolma

Big Ten Sportsmanship Award: Paul Juda

All-Big Ten Freshman Team: Solen Chiodi, Aaronson Mansberger

Gymnast of the Week: Fred Richard (Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 25)

Big Ten Freshman of the Week: Carson Eshleman (Jan. 28), Aaronson Mansberger (Jan. 21, March 18, March 25)

Big Ten Specialist of the Week: Charlie Larson (Feb. 18, March 25)

Academic All-Big Ten

Javier Alfonso, Gr., Master of Management

Landen Blixt, Jr., General Studies

Kevin Chow, So., Business Admin

Zach Granados, Jr., Information Analysis

Jake Islam, So., Sport Management

Alex Istock, So., Business Administration

Paul Juda, Gr., Master of Accounting

Logan McKeown, Sr., Computer Science

Lais Najjar, Sr., Computer Science

Robert Noll, Jr., Business Administration

Akshay Puri, So., Biomedical Engineering

Rithik Puri, Sr., Biomedical Engineering

Chris Read, Sr., Applied Exercise Science

Fred Richard, Jr., General Studies

Kyle Walchuk, So., Materials Science & Engineering

Pierce Wolfgang, So., LSA Undeclared

Will Young, So., Mechanical Engineering