.svg){kind=small}
2023 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Individual Titles Awarded
2023 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championship Central
COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 1, 2023) — Six individual event titles were handed out Saturday night to cap off the 2023 Big Ten Conference Men’s Gymnastics Championships at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, University of Michigan freshman Fred Richard was named the Gymnast of the Championships, while Wolverine head coach Yuan Xiao was chosen the Big Ten Coach of the Year by a vote of the conference coaches.
Earlier this week, Richard was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while Nebraska’s Taylor Christopulos earned Big Ten Gymnast of the Year honors. Richard is the first conference freshman chosen Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships since the latter award was first presented in 2017 and the third Wolverine to capture the award in its brief history, along with Cameron Bock (2019) and Paul Juda (2022).
Yuan was chosen Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season since taking the helm in Ann Arbor. It is also the eighth time a Wolverine coach has captured that honor, including each of the past four seasons — Yuan’s predecessor at Michigan, Kurt Golder, was the recipient in 2020 and 2021.
Richard, who won the Big Ten all-around title on Friday, added an individual event championship to his resume on Saturday with a victory on the high bar (14.725), the second consecutive year a Wolverine won that event (Juda).
Christopulos also picked up an individual title on Saturday with a winning score of 14.900 on the vault. He is the first Husker to prevail on that apparatus since Anton Stephenson’s three consecutive victories from 2017-19.
A trio of Illinois gymnasts took home individual event titles on Saturday. Ashton Anaya successfully defended his crown on the rings (14.475), the sixth Fighting Illini gymnast in the past seven championships to win the event title (14.375), following Alex Diab’s four-year dominance in the event from 2016-19.
Anaya’s teammate, Ian Skirkey, claimed top honors on the pommel horse (14.800), while another Fighting Illini gymnast, Connor McCool, won the floor title (14.725). Skirkey is the first Illinois winner on the pommel horse since 2017 (Brandon Ngai), and McCool returned the Fighting Illini to the top of the podium in the floor competition for the first time since 2015 (C.J. Maestas).
Penn State’s Josh Karnes rounded out Saturday’s individual event winners with a title on the parallel bars (14.350). He is just the second Nittany Lion to take first place in that event during the past 15 years and first since Sam Zakutney in 2019.
A total of 20 gymnasts earned All-Big Ten honors by virtue of their performances at this weekend’s conference meet, including seven from Illinois, four from Michigan, and three each from Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State.
The 2023 Big Ten men’s gymnastics individual award recipients and all-conference honorees can be found below.
2023 BIG TEN MEN’S GYMNASTICS HONORS
Gymnast of the Year: Taylor Christopulos, Jr., NEB
Gymnast of the Championships: Fred Richard, MICH
Freshman of the Year: FRED RICHARD, MICH
Coach of the Year: Yuan Xiao, MICH
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
Ashton Anaya, ILL
Michael Fletcher, ILL
Connor McCool, ILL
Ian Skirkey, ILL
Landen Blixt, MICH
Fred Richard, MICH
Taylor Christopulos, NEB
Matt Cormier, PSU
Josh Karnes, PSU
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
Max Farkhadau, ILL
Evan Manivong, ILL
David Pochinka, ILL
Evgeny Siminiuc, MICH
Adam Wooten, MICH
Donte McKinney, NEB
Nathan York, NEB
Donovan Hewitt, OSU
Kameron Nelson, OSU
Caden Spencer, OSU
Chase Clingman, PSU
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Connor McCool, ILL
Adam Wooten, MICH
Moritz Mueller, NEB
Luke Smigliani, OSU
Matt Cormier, PSU
Unanimous selections listed in ALL CAPS
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 1, 2023) — Six individual event titles were handed out Saturday night to cap off the 2023 Big Ten Conference Men’s Gymnastics Championships at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, University of Michigan freshman Fred Richard was named the Gymnast of the Championships, while Wolverine head coach Yuan Xiao was chosen the Big Ten Coach of the Year by a vote of the conference coaches.
Earlier this week, Richard was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while Nebraska’s Taylor Christopulos earned Big Ten Gymnast of the Year honors. Richard is the first conference freshman chosen Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships since the latter award was first presented in 2017 and the third Wolverine to capture the award in its brief history, along with Cameron Bock (2019) and Paul Juda (2022).
Yuan was chosen Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season since taking the helm in Ann Arbor. It is also the eighth time a Wolverine coach has captured that honor, including each of the past four seasons — Yuan’s predecessor at Michigan, Kurt Golder, was the recipient in 2020 and 2021.
Richard, who won the Big Ten all-around title on Friday, added an individual event championship to his resume on Saturday with a victory on the high bar (14.725), the second consecutive year a Wolverine won that event (Juda).
Christopulos also picked up an individual title on Saturday with a winning score of 14.900 on the vault. He is the first Husker to prevail on that apparatus since Anton Stephenson’s three consecutive victories from 2017-19.
A trio of Illinois gymnasts took home individual event titles on Saturday. Ashton Anaya successfully defended his crown on the rings (14.475), the sixth Fighting Illini gymnast in the past seven championships to win the event title (14.375), following Alex Diab’s four-year dominance in the event from 2016-19.
Anaya’s teammate, Ian Skirkey, claimed top honors on the pommel horse (14.800), while another Fighting Illini gymnast, Connor McCool, won the floor title (14.725). Skirkey is the first Illinois winner on the pommel horse since 2017 (Brandon Ngai), and McCool returned the Fighting Illini to the top of the podium in the floor competition for the first time since 2015 (C.J. Maestas).
Penn State’s Josh Karnes rounded out Saturday’s individual event winners with a title on the parallel bars (14.350). He is just the second Nittany Lion to take first place in that event during the past 15 years and first since Sam Zakutney in 2019.
A total of 20 gymnasts earned All-Big Ten honors by virtue of their performances at this weekend’s conference meet, including seven from Illinois, four from Michigan, and three each from Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State.
The 2023 Big Ten men’s gymnastics individual award recipients and all-conference honorees can be found below.
2023 BIG TEN MEN’S GYMNASTICS HONORS
Gymnast of the Year: Taylor Christopulos, Jr., NEB
Gymnast of the Championships: Fred Richard, MICH
Freshman of the Year: FRED RICHARD, MICH
Coach of the Year: Yuan Xiao, MICH
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
Ashton Anaya, ILL
Michael Fletcher, ILL
Connor McCool, ILL
Ian Skirkey, ILL
Landen Blixt, MICH
Fred Richard, MICH
Taylor Christopulos, NEB
Matt Cormier, PSU
Josh Karnes, PSU
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
Max Farkhadau, ILL
Evan Manivong, ILL
David Pochinka, ILL
Evgeny Siminiuc, MICH
Adam Wooten, MICH
Donte McKinney, NEB
Nathan York, NEB
Donovan Hewitt, OSU
Kameron Nelson, OSU
Caden Spencer, OSU
Chase Clingman, PSU
BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Connor McCool, ILL
Adam Wooten, MICH
Moritz Mueller, NEB
Luke Smigliani, OSU
Matt Cormier, PSU
Unanimous selections listed in ALL CAPS
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.