The 10th-ranked California men's gymnastics team will be hitting the road this weekend, meeting conference-mate and 11th-ranked Air Force in Colorado Saturday at 1 p.m. PT. The Golden Bears last met the Falcons at the 2024 MPSF Championships, outscoring them 405.600-395.450.
 
AT AIR FORCE (Saturday, 1 p.m. PT – Cadet West Gym, USAF Academy, Colorado)
Live Stream (YouTube)
Live Scoring (Virtius)
Guest Pass – Air Force Events
 
ACROSS THE GYM – AIR FORCE
Air Force is currently ranked 11th in the nation - one spot behind Cal - but boasts better season averages on pommel horse and rings. Like the Bears, the Falcons field an outstanding pommel horse specialist in 2024 NCAA champion Patrick Hoopes, who is averaging a nation-leading 14.650 on the year. Their top all-around threat is senior Erich Upton, a two-time USA Gymnastics collegiate national champion and a 2024 CGA Regular-Season All-American. Air Force is led by sixth-year head coach Josh Loeser.
 
LI NAMED CGA, MPSF SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK
Graduate student Aidan Li posted the highest pommel horse score of any gymnast nationwide last weekend with a 14.650 at The Big Flip that earned him his first career weekly awards (CGA Specialist of the Week and MPSF Specialist of the Week). He is just the third Cal gymnast in history to receive the national specialist of the week honor, following 2021's Will Lavanakul and 2023's Jasper Smith-Gordon.
 
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 sixth 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. He has claimed at least a share of first place on horse in each of Cal's first three meets this year.
 
TOP PERFORMERS RETURN
In addition to Li, several other Bears with top-level experience are 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. 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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