California men's gymnastics will open its 2025 season Monday evening at Haas Pavilion against Stanford, with the Golden Bears and the top-ranked Cardinal each set to begin their first routines at 6 p.m. PT.
 
Stanford is coming off its fifth straight national title and is led once more by eight-time CGA Coach of the Year Thom Glielmi in his 23rd season at the helm.
 
The Cardinal returns 2024 Olympian and four-time individual NCAA Champion Asher Hong, who helped Team USA to a bronze medal in Paris, and Olympic alternate Khoi Young, the 2024 NCAA all-around champion. Stanford's talented group of veterans also includes senior Nicolas Kuebler, the 2023 NCAA floor champion. The Cardinal also brings in six top-level freshmen, including U.S. Senior Development Team members Kai Uemura and Kiran Mandava.
 
NEW RULES
The NCAA has introduced several rule changes to the sport, effective in the 2025 season. Each team will only be allowed to enter four athletes per lineup, down from the previous five, while only 12 total gymnasts (down from 15) will be eligible to compete each week. Additionally, each routine will now only need to feature eight skills instead of 10.
 
ONE MORE YEAR
Graduate student Aidan Li, who majored in mechanical engineering, returns to the Bears for his fifth and final season in 2025. As a senior, he posted four of Cal's top-10 pommel horse scores in the previous scoring era. Following an all-conference nod for his second-place finish on horse at the MPSF Championships, he broke the program record in the NCAA Championships Qualifier and tied for seventh place in the final, earning Cal's first All-America honor since 2021 and the first on pommel horse since 2014. Two months later, he entered his first senior Canadian Championships and won the pommel horse title.
 
TOP PERFORMERS RETURN
In addition to Li, several other Bears with top-level experience will be competing for Cal this season, including five more returning NCAA finalists. Theodor Roald Gadderud, who competed for the Norwegian National Team on the world stage prior to enrolling at Berkeley, was named Team MVP after an outstanding season that included an MPSF Gymnast of the Week nod and an appearance in the NCAA All-Around final. Joining him in the latter category is Tyler Shimizu, a two-time All-MPSF honoree who competed in the all-around at the 2023 U.S. Championships. Fellow two-time All-MPSF honoree Khalen Curry reached the NCAA finals in two different events in 2024, while Jasper Smith-Gordon – the 2019 World Junior bronze medalist on vault and a two-time CGA Regular-Season All-American – reached his first NCAA final after a season in which he posted five scores in Cal's top-10 list (previous scoring system). Rounding out that group is sophomore Jaxon Mitchell, who was one of just three freshmen to earn 2024 All-MPSF honors; he was also Cal's only rookie to earn a spot in the NCAA final that year, where he competed on rings.
 
WELCOME NEW BEARS
Seven freshmen joined the Bears in 2025, headlined by top international gymnasts Matteo Bardana and Trigg Dudley. Bardana, who hails from Oakville, Ontario, appeared with the Canadian Junior National Team at the 2023 Junior World Championships, while London native Dudley has eight British medals to his name. The rookie class also includes Emilio Bracken Serra (Berkeley), Sam Cirlincione (Huntington, New York), Brendan Friele (Henderson, Nevada), Troy Nuesca (Thousand Oaks) and Evan Wenstad (Santa Clarita). Cal additionally added Ohio State transfer Tomo Kawada, brother of former Cal gymnast Takahiro Kawada, for one final year of eligibility.
 
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