Air Force Academy
Army West Point
Air Force Gymnastics Downs Army West Point
1/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Results | Air Force vs Army West Point 
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Backed by a season-high tally of 409.150, the eighth-ranked Air Force men's gymnastics team defeated service academy rival and 12th-ranked Army West Point (389.250) this afternoon (Jan. 28) at the Academy's Cadet West Gym. The Falcons claimed first-place finishes on five of the six events, while adding nearly two points to their previous team-high total.
Five different Falcons earned event titles during the first of two regular-season contests against the gymnasts from Army West Point. Senior Aaron Nubine matched the Academy record of 14.200 to win the floor exercise, while classmate Tim Wang finished first on the pommel horse with a score of 14.200 and junior Fletcher Braunton was the meet's top-scorer on the still rings (career-best 14.150). Sophomore Casey Branin improved his parallel bars score by one point (14.600) to win that event, while classmate Eric Klein posted a 14.550 – the third-highest total in program history – to win the vault.
The Falcons' event winners also combined for eight additional finishes within the top half of the field. Nubine took second on the still rings (13.700) and finished third on both the vault (13.950) and high bar (career-high 13.700), while Wang added third-place scores on the still rings (13.600) and parallel bars (13.550). Branin recorded a third-place finish on the floor exercise (13.750) and took sixth on the high bar (career-best 13.450), while Braunton tallied a 13.800 to take second on the pommel horse.
Sophomore Christian Kalustian claimed runner-up finishes on the floor exercise (career-best 13.950) and high bar (career-best 13.900), while adding a top-five placement on the still rings (13.150, fifth). Senior Chase Cannon finished third on both the pommel horse (career-best 13.600) and high bar (13.700), while sophomore Jonah Urlaub earned fourth-place finishes on the pommel horse (career-best 13.500) and still rings (13.350). Fellow sophomore Jake Stanley also placed within the top half of the field on multiple events, as he finished fifth on the parallel bars (career-best 13.450) and high bar (13.650). Junior Jonathon Fornoff finished second on the parallel bars (14.100), while classmate Michael Graft rounded out the Falcons' list of top-six finishers with a fifth-place score of 13.100 on the pommel horse.
In addition to improving its overall team total, Air Force also improved their events scores on the floor exercise (66.450) and high bar (68.400).
The Falcons remain at the Academy next weekend, when they host second-ranked Stanford in a conference dual at 1:00 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 4.
Players Mentioned
