Air Force Opens 2023 Campaign against the Nation’s Best at the Rocky Mountain Open

The Air Force men's gymnastics team kicks off the 2023 season this weekend at the 43^rd-annual Rocky Mountain Open as they play host to some of the nation's top teams, Saturday evening (Jan. 21) in Cadet West Gym, on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy.

MEET INFORMATION
The 43rd-annual Rocky Mountain Open will include Air Force, Arizona State, No. 5 Michigan, No. 4 Nebraska, Oklahoma, and No. 1 Stanford. Action is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. (MT), inside Cadet West Gym – with doors scheduled to open one hour prior. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth, while cadets and participants of the Junior RMO will receive free admission (Junior RMO athletes must be wearing their club's jacket or uniform). The meet will be streamed live on the Falcons' YouTube page and results will be provided via StatBroadcast (direct links are available on the team's schedule page).

LET'S MEET THE OPPONENTS
Reigning national champs No. 1 Stanford opened the season with a victory over California last Saturday from the Cal Benefit Cup. The 410.500 team score was the highest for the Cardinal in an opening meet since registering a 411.250 at the Cal Benefit Cup in 2019. Three-time defending national champion Stanford received 209 points and 13 first-place votes to claim the No. 1 spot in the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Preseason Coaches Poll. Michigan checked in at No. 2 with 192 points and one first-place vote.

Oklahoma has won 12 national championships, tied for most in NCAA history (tied with Penn State), including nine national titles since 2000. Oklahoma returns a trio of fifth-year super seniors in Spencer Goodell, Vitaliy Guimaraes, and Morgan Seyler, as well as redshirt seniors Braden Collier and Cesar Gracia and true seniors Alan Camillus and Jack Freeman. The Sooners also return juniors Zach Nunez and Dan Simmons and sophomores Fuzzy Benas, Emre Dodanli, Brigham Frentheway, Raydel Gamboa, Nikolai Kolesnikov and Cailen Walker. New to the roster this season are freshmen Leo Koike of Saitama Prefecture, Japan, Adriel Perales of Tucson, Ariz., and Ignacio Yockers of Jenks, Okla.

Michigan owns the No. 5 average score in the NCAA (398.325) after two meets, while the high score of 400.600 vs. Simpson and Greenville is the third-highest mark in the country. U-M ranks in the top-five in the country on three events, highlighted by owning the No. 2 spot on high bar (67.175), No. 4 ranking on still rings (67.825) and No. 5 ranking on pommel horse (63.875). Individually, seven different Wolverines are ranked in the top-10 nationally in their respective events. The Wolverines have never competed at the Rocky Mountain Open except for the 2020 season due to COVID-19.

The Nebraska Huskers return 12 gymnasts to the men's gymnastics team from the 2022 season. Leading the Huskers as the 2023 team captains are Taylor Christopulos, Liam Doherty-Herwitz, and Sam Phillips who all competed in the 2022 NCAA Championships Qualifiers and Finals to bring the Huskers to a fourth-place podium finish. Cooper Giles, Donte McKinney, Moritz Mueller, and Dylan Young round out the accomplished senior class that is set to lead the way for the Huskers in the upcoming season. Taylor Christopulos, named 2021 All-American on vault, joins teammate Yanni Chronopolous to make up the junior class. The sophomore class is led by gymnast Chris Hiser, who was named 2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, joined by James Friedman, A.J. Morgan, Joey Pepe, Zac Tiderman, and Travis Wong, who are set to make an influential impact for the Husker lineup. The freshman class consists of Asher Cohen, Jack Critz, Luke James, Toby Liang, and Nathan York, who are set to make an impressionable debut this season.

ON THE SIDELINES
Josh Loeser is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Air Force men's gymnastics team – and his ninth overall year with the program. Loeser, who spent two years as an assistant for the men's resident program at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, served as an assistant coach for the Falcons from 2013-17 and captured USAG Assistant Coach of the Year honors four times during that five-year stint. Fourth-year assistant Sergey Resnick, who was a member of two NCAA championship teams at Oklahoma, and military assistant Maj Josiah Loeser, who is in his second coaching stint at Air Force (2016-17, 2020-present), join him on the sidelines.

LEADING THE WAY
Juniors Oliver Zavel and Garrett Braunton have been selected for the co-captaincy of the 2023 squad.

HOME SWEET HOME
Air Force will compete at the Academy three four times in the 2023 campaign. Following the Rocky Mountain Open, Air Force will host Army, Cal and the 2023 MPSF Championships in Cadet West Gym.

REPORTING FOR DUTY
Air Force welcomes seven freshmen to the squad. Keenan Berrong, Sam Brown, Tai Gopaul, Dennis Irimiea, Jack Matlock, Erik Popescu and Nicholas Write represents the Falcon freshmen lineup.

WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
Air Force is back in action next Saturday (Jan. 28), when it travels to Norman, Oklahoma, for a rematch with the Sooners alongside the University of Illinois.

Air Force Opens 2023 Campaign against the Nation’s Best at the Rocky Mountain Open

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Keenan Berrong

Garrett Braunton

Sam Brown

Tai Gopaul

Denis Irimiea

Jack Matlock

Erik Popescu

Oliver Zavel

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