USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Capturing its second-highest score of the season (425.450), the 11th-ranked Air Force men’s gymnastics team easily defeated 13th-ranked Temple (398.500) on Thursday, March 14, at the Academy’s Cadet West Gym. The Falcons, who hadn’t competed at home since mid-January, captured a share of every event title in the 27-point victory.
Sophomore Nick Gaudlip paced the Falcons with three event titles, while senior Tory Brown (two) and sophomore Gared Chapman (one) combined for the remaining first-place scores.
Gaudlip scored a career-best 14.000 to win the pommel horse, while adding a personal-best score of 14.750 to win the parallel bars. He also tied for first on the high bar with a mark of 14.150. Brown won the floor exercise with a mark of 14.900, while recording a 14.750 to take first on the vault. Chapman improved his still rings score to 15.450 – the sixth-best score in Academy history – to win the still rings.
Gaudlip led Air Force to four of the top five scores on the parallel bars, as the Falcons set a new program-best mark of 72.650. Classmate Greg Chaput finished second with a 14.650, while junior Mac Ritchie recorded a career-best 14.600 to take third and Brown finished fifth with a score of 14.350.
Air Force also netted a new Academy-record score on the still rings (74.250), after collecting four of the top five scores. Junior Tyler Huebner finished second to Chapman with a career-best 15.350 (eighth on the program’s all-time list), while freshman Denis Aurelius also reached the 15-point mark (15.000) to finish third. Ritchie collected another career-best mark on the rings, placing firth with a 14.650.
The Falcons also dominated the top of the standings on the high bar, as they accounted for a share of the top six scores. While Gaudlip tied with Temple’s Alex Tighe for first with a 14.150, Ritchie and Brown finished third (14.050) and fourth (13.950), respectively. Sophomore Skyler Awisus captured a score of 13.200 to take fifth, while Aurelius placed sixth with a mark of 12.850.
In addition to the event winners, Air Force placed an additional two within the top five of the floor exercise and pommel horse. Gaudlip scored a 14.700 to finish second on the floor, while classmate Corbin Palmer scored a season-best mark of 14.350 to tie for fourth. Junior Patrick Duffy earned the same placement on the pommel horse with a score of 13.700, while freshman Zach Owen returned to the lineup after a three-week absence to finish fifth with a career-best 13.500. Aurelius added one additional top-five finish to the Falcons’ lineup, as he tied for third on the vault with a score of 14.450.
The Falcons return to action on Saturday (March 16), when it hosts No. 19 Washington. Air Force will honor its three seniors – Brown, Alex Jessop and James Okamoto – prior to the competition, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
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