Falcons Fall to Sixth-Ranked Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Air Force sophomore Ethan Esval earned a pair of event titles, but the 13th-ranked men's gymnastics team dropped a 402.050-387.350 dual to sixth-ranked Minnesota this afternoon (March 17) in Minneapolis.

Esval improved his personal score on the pommel horse by 1.50 points to tie for first on that event (13.750) and interrupt a Gopher sweep of the top-five scores. The sophomore added a 13.800 on the still rings – a mark just 0.100 shy of his career-best – to win that event and pace the Falcons to four of the top-five scores on the rings.

Classmate Frankie Valentin scored a 13.600 to finish second on the still rings, while freshman Max Stergiades finished fourth (13.050) and senior Lukas Texeira tied for fifth with a score of 13.000. Valentin also helped Air Force to a strong presence at the top of the floor exercise standings, as the Falcons collected four of the top-six scores. Senior Christian Kalustian earned runner-up honors on that event with a 13.800, while Valentin, freshman Collin Hickey and senior Ryan Girouard tied for fourth with matching scores of 13.650.

The Falcons added a pair of top-five finishes on the high bar and parallel bars, with Texeira leading the way with a runner-up finish on the high bar (14.150). Valentin added a fifth-place score of 12.800 on that event, while sophomore Allen Shadan and Esval finished fourth (13.300) and fifth (12.900) on the parallel bars. Kalustian rounded out the Falcons' list of top-five finishers, as he registered a season-best tally of 14.250 to lead Air Force on the vault (fourth).

The Falcons return to the Academy on Saturday (March 23), when they close out the regular season against Washington at 6:00 p.m. (PT). During the meet, Air Force will honor its five seniors – Girouard, Kalustian, Texeira, Eric Klein and Jonah Urlaub.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ethan Esval

Ryan Girouard

Collin Hickey

Christian Kalustian

Eric Klein

Allen Shadan

Max Stergiades

Lukas Texeira

Jonah Urlaub

Frankie Valentin

Footer