BERKELEY – The California men's gymnastics team overcame a shaky start in its season debut Friday night, winning two of the three final rotations to finish nearly six points better than its 2025 season opener in a dual meet between the Golden Bears and NCAA runner-up Stanford at Haas Pavilion. Although the Cardinal out-scored the Bears, 320.100-309.700, Cal triumphed on vault (55.200-53.700) and high bar (53.150-52.050), earning a share of one individual event title and one modern-era school record.
 
The latter achievement belonged to sophomore Matteo Bardana, a member of the Canadian Senior Next Gen National Team, who overcame a fall in his floor routine and a weaker score on rings to cap off the night with a 13.550 on high bar, sticking his landing as the night's last gymnast to compete.
 
"We work a lot on resetting after adversity, just trying to let that go, leave the past and the past and focus on the moment," Bardana said. "That's really what's most important, especially on high bar where it's such a technical event. Getting that big score at the end, that stick, meant so much to me. The way I was able to come back to really prove it to myself and the rest of the team shows a lot about who we are and where we want to go this season."
 
The moment was reminiscent of Cal's 2025 home finale, where the Bears landed three sticks on vault, as the rest of the team's much-improved high bar lineup also posted personal bests with sticks for Carter Kim (13.400) and Troy Nuesca (13.200). It also marked a new program record for the Bears on the event.
 
"High bar was a big point of emphasis this offseason. We spent a lot of time and effort pushing difficulty and consistency on high bar, and I think it shows in how it turned out today as our second-best event," Bardana said.
 
Cal's winning vault lineup included a 14.000 for freshman Nathan Underhill, a third-place 14.050 for senior Khalen Curry and a 14.200 for redshirt senior anchor-man Jasper Smith-Gordon, who posted the highest execution score of any routine that evening (9.4) to tie for first place in the event. Smith-Gordon was also strong on as the pommel horse anchor, recording a personal-best 13.550.
 
Sophomore Trigg Dudley, who won the floor title in December's College Gymnastics Association (CGA) All-Star exhibition event, led Cal with a score of 13.400 in the event to start off the night, while junior Jaxon Mitchell placed second on rings with a 13.050 and Nuesca took third on parallel bars (13.350).
 
 
Final Scores – Jan. 9, 2026
Stanford – 320.100
California – 309.700
 
Floor – Stanford 54.800, Cal 51.550
Trigg Dudley – 13.400 (=PR)
Tucker Yasunaga – 12.850
Khalen Curry – 13.250
Matteo Bardana – 12.050
 
Pommel Horse – Stanford 54.400, Cal 50.650
Trigg Dudley – 12.800 (PR)
Davide Comparin – 11.450 (PR – Debut)
Harry Kim – 12.850
Jasper Smith-Gordon – 13.550 (PR)
 
Rings – Stanford 52.450, Cal 50.400
Nathan Underhill – 12.700 (PR - Debut)
Carter Kim – 12.200
Matteo Bardana – 12.450
Jaxon Mitchell – 13.050 (Second Place)
 
Vault – Cal 55.200, Stanford 53.700
Harry Kim – 12.950 (PR – Event Debut)
Nathan Underhill – 14.000 (PR – Debut)
Khalen Curry – 14.050 (Third Place)
Jasper Smith-Gordon – 14.200 (Tied-Winner)
 
Parallel Bars – Stanford 52.700, Cal 48.750
Davide Comparin – 11.150 (PR – Debut)
Troy Nuesca – 13.350 (Third Place)
Kaien Orion – 12.450 (PR – Event/Cal Debut)
Tucker Yasunaga – 11.800
 
High Bar – Cal 53.150 (School Record), Stanford 52.050
Carter Kim – 13.400 (PR)
Troy Nuesca – 13.200 (PR)
Jaxon Mitchell – 13.000 (PR)
Matteo Bardana – 13.550 (PR, School Record, Third Place)
 
UP NEXT
Cal will travel to The Farm on Saturday, Jan. 24 for the Stanford Open. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. PT in Burnham Pavilion.
 
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