The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 9 BY ANTHONY BROOME H o m e swe e t h o m e . T h e N o . 2-ranked men's gymnastics team achieved glory on April 19 with its sev- enth NCAA title in program history at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. It is their first national title since the last time the championships were held on campus in 2014. The event came down to the final vault from grad student Paul Juda, whose performance clinched the victory for the Wolverines. Michigan finished with a score of 332.224, ahead of No. 3 Stanford (332.061), No. 1 Oklahoma (327.891), No. 4 Nebraska (326.222), No. 5 Penn State (317.258) and No. 6 Illinois (316.293). Juda posted a 13.966 on the final routine from the anchor position to edge out Stanford by 0.163 points. "I didn't know if it was going to be enough," Juda said, via The Michigan Daily. "I was really worried. I didn't even know how close it was, because we weren't keeping track. I went out of bounds, and I was like, 'If that's going to be it, that's going to haunt me for the rest of my life.'" Junior Frederick Richard (84.264) earned an individual all-around title, while fellow Team USA bronze med- alist Juda grabbed a parallel bars title with a season-high mark of 14.200. He also finished second in the all-around (82.164), with Evgeny Siminiuc grab- bing bronze on parallel bars (14.066). Carson Eshleman and Richard tied for second on the high bar with 13.766. Richard's heroics were another sig- nature moment in his career, which saw him step up in the brightest lights yet. "I want to be one of the greatest, and the greatest have to be very consistent," Richard said. "The greatest have to per- form under pressure. And I take these moments. These are tests. I'm happy to be passing them." Seven Wolverines combined to earn 17 All-America citations, headlined by Richard who grabbed All-America hon- ors in six events. Michigan head coach Yuan Xiao and his assistants, Jordan Gaarenstroom and Juha Tanskanen, were fittingly recog- nized as Coaches of the Year. "It's the greatest feeling in the world," Juda said. "They handed us the trophy and I could see every single guy just breaking down and knowing that this whole year was worth it. Every single guy is going to get that ring and know that they earned it." Juda's big night was not finished by his team reigning supreme as the last group standing. He also proposed to his longtime girlfriend, U-M graduate stu- dent gymnast Reyna Guggino, shortly after becoming a national champion. "I couldn't be happier for Olympic medalist Paul Juda on winning both the Big Ten and national championships with [U-M Gymnastics]," U-M presi- dent Santa Ono said on social media. "And on his engagement to Reyna Gug- gino, 2021 national champion and for- mer women's team captain. Wishing them a lifetime of happiness and fulfill- ment. So proud they will forever be part of the Michigan Wolverine family!" Coming off back-to-back finishes as the national runners-up and facing a potential six-peat from Stanford, the Wolverines finally conquered their de- mons to stand atop the men's gymnas- tics pecking order. "We are not supposed to be the cham- pions," Juda said after the event. "But we willed it, and we worked our butts off because we knew what the competi- tion was three years in a row." ❑ ❱ Inside Michigan ATHLETICS Men's Gymnastics Captures National Championship The Wolverines earned their seventh NCAA title in program history — and first in 11 years — in front of a home crowd at Crisler Center, knocking off No. 1 Oklahoma and five-time defending champion Stanford. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS