The California men's gymnastics team will enter the 2025 season with high hopes for another standout season after a record-setting 2024. This year, the changes will encompass much more than the annual roster turnover, as the NCAA has introduced several rule alterations to the sport.
 
Although all six events – floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar – remain the same, only four athletes from each squad will compete on each, down one from the previous five-man lineups. Additionally, only 12 total gymnasts (down from 15) per squad will be allowed to post scores in each meet. Routines themselves will also be altered, as gymnasts are now only required to execute eight skills instead of 10.
 
"We've set a gameplan for this season and are poised to make adjustments as necessary," said head coach JT Okada. "The freshmen can approach this with a blank slate, since they've never competed in any other way at the collegiate level, but the veterans are having to make strategic adjustments to their meet prep. It's more nuanced now, since you really have to think about what you can do to be a top-four guy in each event and make the lineup."
 
The Golden Bears finished 2024 with a No. 7 ranking on Road To Nationals and came in at No. 8 on this year's College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Preseason Coaches Poll. Last season, they posted their highest finish at the NCAA Championships since 2015 (seventh place) and qualified 10 men for the finals for the first time in nine years. Six of those qualifiers remain on the squad this season, providing a breadth of valuable high-level experience to the team despite the departure of nine men to graduation.
 
Aidan Li, a 2024 All-American, Canadian Champion and pommel horse specialist, returns to Cal for his fifth year of eligibility as the longest-tenured member of the team, while two-time Regular-Season All-American Jasper-Smith Gordon looks to make it three straight as one of the nation's top vaulters. Senior Tyler Shimizu, a three-year NCAA Finalist (twice in the all-around), will look to return to the U.S. Championships this year after appearing on the national stage in 2023. Meanwhile, juniors Khalen Curry and Theodor Roald Gadderud look to build upon already-stellar careers with the Bears: last year, Curry posted the third-best vault score in the previous scoring era and qualified for the NCAA Final on both vault and floor, while Roald Gadderud competed in his first NCAA all-around final and earned team MVP at the conclusion of the season. Leading the underclassmen will be sophomore Jaxon Mitchell, who was one of just three rookies to earn All-MPSF honors last year and reached the NCAA Final on rings.
 
Cal's newcomers include two freshmen with National Team Experience in Matteo Bardana (Canada) and Trigg Dudley (England), as well as five additional rookies in Emilio Bracken Serra, Sam Cirlincione, Brendan Friele, Troy Nuesca and Evan Wenstad. The Bears also added Ohio State transfer Tomo Kawada, brother of former Cal gymnast Takahiro Kawada.
 
"This team has a younger mindset overall, since we lost a lot of seniors," Okada said, "but a little bit of naivete can be helpful in some cases. When you don't have as many past struggles to distract you, it breeds more potential for our group to reach the next level."
 
Cal opens its 2025 campaign at Haas Pavilion on Jan. 13, hosting reigning national champion Stanford.
 
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