KATY, Texas, Jan. 15, 2016 – The United States claimed the bronze medal at the 2016 RD761 International Junior Team Cup at Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The international competition wraps up tomorrow with individual event finals at 5 p.m. CT. The International Junior Team Cup is being held in conjunction with the RD761 Gymnastics Invitational.

The USA posted a 250.850 in the team competition for third place. Great Britain won the team title with 254.350, followed by Japan at 254.250. The second U.S. squad, USA 2, was fourth at 244.850. Canada rounded out the top five with 243.900. USA 1 had the top score for still rings (42.150) and the second highest for both floor exercise (41.500) and vault (44.050).

In the all-around, Japan grabbed the top two spots. Kakeru Tanigawa won the title with his 85.350, followed by Shigeto Suzuki at 84.250. Great Britain’s Joe Fraser landed in third place at 83.150. Cameron Bock of Tustin, Calif./SCATS Gymnastics, barely missed the medal podium with his 83.000. Matthew Wenske of Houston/Mini-Hops Gymnastics, was fifth (82.950); Tanner Justus of Cypress, Texas/Cypress Gymnastics, eighth (82.400); and Alexei Vernyi of Cypress, Texas/Cypress Gymnastics, 10th (79.900).

The members of the two U.S. squads are as follows: USA 1 – Davis Grooms of Katy, Texas/Champions Gymnastics, Bennet Huang of Palo Alton, Calif./West Coast Olympic Gymnastics Academy, Shane Wiskus of Spring Park, Minn./Mini-Hops Gymnastics, Bock and Wenske; and USA 2 – Addison Chung of Medfield, Mass./New England Sports Academy, Vitaly Guimaraes of Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics, Jacob Moore of West Bloomfield, Mich./Twistars USA Inc., Justus, and Vernyi.

The U.S. gymnasts who advance to event finals are: floor exercise –Wiskus, Huang; pommel horse – Huang, Justus; still rings – Bock, Wenske; vault – Wiskus, Wenske; parallel bars – Bock, Wiskus; horizontal bar –Guimaraes, Wiskus.

Each team has five gymnasts. For the team competition, four gymnasts competed on each apparatus, with the three top scores counting toward the team score. The all-around rankings were determined based on performances at the team competition. With a maximum of two per country, the top eight on each apparatus qualified for event finals. USA 1 and USA2 were considered as different countries.

The RD761 International Junior Team Cup is named in honor of U.S. Junior National Team member Ricky Deci, who tragically passed away in 2001. The annual RD761 age group invitational competition supports the Ricky Deci Memorial Fund, which in turn funds a USA Gymnastics elite development training camp held each summer at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

2016 RD761 International Junior Team Cup
Katy, Texas
Jan. 15, 2016
Team and all-around finals results

Team finals
1. Great Britain, 254.350
2. Japan, 254.250
3. USA 1, 250.850
4. USA 2, 244.850
5. Canada, 243.900
6. Colombia, 238.000

All-Around finals
1. Kakeru Tanigawa, Japan, 85.350
2. Shigeto Suzuki, Japan, 84.250
3. Joe Fraser, Great Britain, 83.150
4. Cameron Bock, USA, 83.000
5. Matthew Wenske, USA, 82.950
6. Samuel Zakutney, Canada, 82.800
7. Dilan Jimenez, Colombia, 82.600
8. Tanner Justus, USA, 82.400
9. Hamish Carter, Great Britain, 81.000
10. Alexi Vernyi, USA, 79.900
11. Anthony Tawfik, Canada, 78.750
12. Manuel Martinez, Colombia, 77.200
13. David Toro, Colombia, 76.250
14. Jhon Cardona, Colombia, 75.050