Men's Gymnasts of the Week – Jan. 7, 2023

Matt Cormier – Penn State
Cormier ranked first in three of the six events this weekend and led the Nittany Lions with four stuck landings to bring the team to a 402.900-378.300 win against Army. He competed on floor, rings, vault and high bar. His floor score of 14.500 earned him first place and a finish almost one full point higher than the next gymnast. Cormier’s next routine on rings ranked him third with a score of 13.900. This is a career high for the junior. His routine on vault was nearly perfect, scoring a 14.800. This was the highest-ranking score and another career high for Cormier. The captain’s final routine of the day was on high bar which led him to another career high and first place score at the meet. His score was a 14.050.

NCAA Rookie of the Week
Fred Richard – Michigan
In his collegiate debut, Fred Richard won the high bar title with a 14.550. His 14.100 on pommel horse was second behind teammate Markus Shears.

NCAA Specialist of the Week
Markus Shears – Michigan
Shears scored a 14.450 to win the pommel horse title in the season-opening meet against Greenville and Simpson.

Gymnast of the Week
Matt Cormier – Penn State

• Earned three individual event titles and posted three career-high scores in leading No. 5 Penn State to a season-opening home win over No. 11 Army on Jan. 7
• Took victories on the floor (14.500), vault (14.800) and high bar (14.050), while finishing fourth on the still rings (13.900)
• Posted career-high marks on the vault, high bar and rings, helping PSU to its highest team score in a season opener (402.900) since 2016
• Earns his first career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award

Freshman of the Week
Landen Blixt – Michigan

• Took the all-around title and finished in the top three in four events as No. 2 Michigan opened its season Jan. 7 at home with victories over top-15 opponents Simpson and Greenville
• Posted a winning all-around score of 80.400
• Added a victory on the floor (13.800), placed second on the parallel bars (13.800) and finished third on the pommel horse (13.850) and vault (14.150)
• Captures his first Big Ten Freshman of the Week award

Gymnast of the Week
Jojo Buselmeier – Army
Sophomore Jojo Buselmeier scored career highs in the all-around and on horizontal bar this past weekend against Penn State. Buselmeier led the Black Knights on rings and placed in the top five on floor, parallel bars, horizontal bar, and in the all-around. Buselmeier also had the highest score on parallel bars, horizontal bar, and all-around in the ECAC over the weekend.

Specialist of the Week
Kevin Laurino – Greenville
Kevin Laurino placed third on parallel bars against Michigan and Simpson this past weekend with a score of 13.45. He had one of the highest execution scores with a 9.5.

Rookie of the Week
Maddox Pabellon – Army
Freshman Maddox Pabellon started his collegiate career on a high note, placing fourth on pommel horse with a score of 13.5. Pabellon’s score on pommel horse was also the top score on the event in the ECAC for a rookie and is Army West Point’s highest score on the event by a rookie since before the 2017 rule change.