NORMAN – Six unique Sooners captured event titles as the Oklahoma men’s gymnastics squad achieved the highest team tally in the nation for this season, winning 318.200 to 299.000 against Air Force during their season opener on Sunday afternoon at McCasland Field House.
Senior
Brigham Frentheway secured the floor exercise title with a score of 13.700, junior
Ignacio Yockers clinched the pommel horse title with a score of 14.450, senior
Matthew Burgoyne triumphed on still rings with a score of 13.700, redshirt freshman
Arthur Ballon won the vault with 14.300, sophomore
Tyler Flores claimed parallel bars with 13.350, and redshirt freshman
Brandon Zepeda-Orth took the horizontal bar with 13.500.
This event was the first for Oklahoma implemented under the new NCAA men’s gymnastics regulations. This season, each NCAA men’s gymnastics event features a four-up, four-count format (four gymnasts perform on each apparatus, and all four scores contribute to the team total). The 2025 season also marks the beginning of the new Olympic cycle under the FIG’s revised code of points, which includes updated skill values. Most routines (excluding vault) now mandate eight skills instead of the prior ten. These modifications lead to lower scores for individual performances and team aggregates compared to previous years.
Oklahoma also swept all six team event titles, achieving scores exceeding 50.000 on every apparatus. OU totaled 54.250 on floor exercise, 51.650 on pommel horse, 53.700 on still rings, 55.850 on vault, 52.100 on parallel bars, and 51.650 on horizontal bar. OU’s cumulative score incurred a one-point deduction due to an injury replacement. Redshirt sophomore
Leo Koike sustained an injury during his high bar routine and was substituted in the lineup by Yockers. The Sooners competed on Sunday without any of their four returning All-Americans from the 2024 NCAA Finals (redshirt junior
Fuzzy Benas, senior
Emre Dodanli, and sophomores
Max Bereznev and
Nico Hamilton), who were absent due to injuries or recovery.
“I believe that was a solid beginning to the season,” remarked Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “We delivered commendable performances overall. We were missing a couple of athletes, so it was encouraging to see others seize opportunities and rise to the occasion. I was generally satisfied with our display. There are certainly a few aspects we can improve as we prepare for the Rocky Mountain Open. We hope to welcome back a few individuals as part of that initial road excursion. In summary, it appears we have recorded the leading score from the weekend, and ideally, we will continue to enhance that score as the season unfolds.”
Burgoyne commenced the meet on floor exercise, earning 13.450. Ballon and Koike followed with scores of 13.550 each, while Frentheway closed with a meet-high score of 13.700.
The notable performances on Sunday included the pommel sets by Yockers and Air Force’s Patrick Hoopes, the current NCAA pommel horse champion, with Yockers narrowly winning the duel by one-tenth over Hoopes’ 14.350.
Tyler Flores opened OU’s pommel horse sequence with a score of 13.000, while senior
Zach Nunez contributed a score of 13.250 in the third position.
Frentheway started for OU on rings with a personal best of 13.450; Burgoyne followed with his 13.700, sophomore
Tas Hajdu earned 13.600, and freshman
Francisco Velez Belendez achieved 12.950 during his inaugural collegiate routine.
Ballon’s NCAA gymnastics debut featured his meet-high score of 14.300 in the second position of OU’s vault rotation. Nunez set off with a score of 13.650,
Tyler Flores scored 13.700, and Frentheway closed with a score of 14.200. Yockers initiated Oklahoma’s parallel bars with a score of 12.750, followed by a 13.000 from sophomore
Colin Flores, who performed in competition for the first time since his Winter Cup injury last year. Burgoyne and
Tyler Flores wrapped up the rotation with respective scores of 13.000 and 13.350.
Zepeda-Orth earned his meet-high score of 13.500 in the lead-off spot on high bar during his first collegiate routine. Ballon recorded 12.700, Frentheway earned 13.150, and Yockers notched 12.300 in his inaugural NCAA high bar performance.
Oklahoma is set to head to Colorado Springs, Colo., the following weekend for the Rocky Mountain Open on Saturday, Jan. 18. The meet is scheduled to commence at 7 p.m. CT at the Air Force Academy. The Sooners will return to McCasland Field House on Jan. 25 to face Illinois (with a 5:45 p.m. start time).
To stay updated and for more details on Oklahoma men’s gymnastics, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (
@OU_MGymnastics) and like
Oklahoma Men’s Gymnastics on Facebook.