California men's gymnastics will share the gym with the nation's top team this weekend, meeting No. 1 Oklahoma at the McCasland Field House on Saturday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma. The first rotation will begin at 4 p.m. PT/6 p.m. CT, with live streaming and live scores from the competition to be broadcast on Virtius.
 
The Golden Bears have found great success in Norman in recent years, visiting twice in 2024 and posting scores above 400.000 (old scoring system) in both of those meets.
 
At the Stanford International Collegiate last weekend, the Bears posted their second-best total of the year (312.850), including a season-high 52.650 on parallel bars. Matteo Bardana was named the CGA Gymnast of the Week after a standout performance in the all-around, finishing with a total score of 78.050 that included scores of 13.900 on parallel bars and 13.700 on floor. Tucker Yasunaga posted a 13.550 on high bar to tie for the highest score by a Cal gymnast in the modern scoring era, while Brendan Strom returned to action from a year-long injury hiatus with a 13.900 on parallel bars.
 
ACROSS THE GYM - OKLAHOMA: USA Gymnastics Hall of Famer Mark Williams is in his 27th year at the helm of Oklahoma men's gymnastics and has led the Sooners to nine national titles and 10 runner-up finishes during his tenure. This year, Oklahoma is once again in prime position to make a championship run, boasting the nation's top overall score (331.300) by nearly five points as well as the top scoring average (325.150). By team average, the Sooners lead the country on pommel horse (54.660), vault (55.610) and high bar (53.780), with redshirt freshman Colby Aranda (14.250 average, 14.500 high) topping the national pommel horse list. Oklahoma's star-studded roster also includes 2025 NCAA bronze medalists Fuzzy Benas (all-around) and Tas Hajdu (rings) as well as MPSF Freshman of the Year Francisco Velez Belendez.
 
Cal last met Oklahoma at the NCAA Championships on April 18, 2026, with the Sooners outscoring the Bears 323.460-319.091. Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 70-13.
 
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Sophomore Matteo Bardana was named the CGA Gymnast of the Week after competing in his first collegiate all-around at the Stanford International Collegiate on Feb. 28. Bardana's score of 78.050 was the best of all gymnasts competing in a collegiate uniform that weekend and included a personal-best score of 13.900 that tied for second-best by any Bear in the modern scoring era. He is the first Cal gymnast to win the award since alumnus Yu-Chen Lee in 2022 as well as the youngest Bear to receive the honor since current assistant coach Donothan Bailey did so in 2011.
 
ROOKIE STANDOUT
Following his collegiate debut on Jan. 9, freshman Nathan Underhill was named a Co-Rookie of the Week by the CGA along with Michigan's Eli Osuna. Underhill posted one of Cal's three 14-plus scores on vault to help the squad to an event title and what was then a nation-best score, also recording the team's second-best routine on rings. He joins current teammate Jasper Smith-Gordon (2023) as well as alumni Noah Newfeld (2021) and Darren Wong (2019) as the only Bears to claim national rookie of the week recognition. Underhill was also named the MPSF Freshman of the Week after his performance at the Stanford Open on Jan. 24, where he competed in the all-around and helped Cal to a second straight vault title and another nation-best score.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW ROLES
Cal's coaching staff is composed of three program alumni this season, each of whom has competed or coached at the highest level. New head coach Bryan Del Castillo, who spent the previous six years with the Bears as an assistant and was the interim head coach for the second half of the 2025 season, earned five All-America honors as a gymnast at Cal and is a former member of the U.S. National Team. Third-year assistant coach Karl Ziehn is a former U.S. National Team coach as well as a seven-year assistant at Stanford, helping the Cardinal to a national title in 2019. New to Cal's staff is Donothan Bailey, a former teammate of Del Castillo's who was a three-time All-American and is the last Golden Bear to win an MPSF title on pommel horse (2012, 2014), won a bronze medal with the U.S. National Team in 2011 and also coached the USA Gymnastics Resident Team in 2011-22. During their time at Cal, Del Castillo and Bailey were named finalists for the Nissen Emery Award, the top honor presented annually to a senior collegiate men's gymnast.
 
ON THE WORLD STAGE
Senior Theodor Roald Gadderud of Norway and sophomore Matteo Bardana of Canada each represented their respective nations on the international stage in the summer of 2025. Roald Gadderud, a four-time All-MPSF honoree who earned two MPSF medals in 2025 and is Cal's parallel bars record-holder in the modern scoring system, competed at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships after runner-up finishes on floor, high bar and the all-around at the Norwegian National Championships. One of the youngest gymnasts ever to be recruited by the Norwegian National Team at age 11, Roald Gadderud ranked 10th in the NCAA on parallel bars in 2025 and competed in his third straight NCAA Championships final. He has represented Norway twice this year, first at the Cottbus World Cup in Germany and later at the Baku World Cup in Azerbaijan. Bardana, who broke Cal's modern era high bar record in the Bears' 2026 season opener, helped Canada to its first medal in history (silver) at the FISU World University Games as a member of the Canadian Senior Next Gen National Team, earning the spot after winning the Canadian Senior Next Gen parallel bars title and bronze medals on floor and rings. In his first season with the Bears, Bardana earned All-MPSF and MPSF Freshman of the Week honors, later qualifying for the NCAA Championships final on floor and rings.
 
THEY'RE BACK
In addition to Roald Gadderud and Bardana, Cal returns several of its top gymnasts for the 2026 season. Jasper Smith-Gordon, a redshirt senior who owns the vault school records in the current and previous scoring systems, is a two-time College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Regular-Season All-American (2023-24) in the event and the reigning MPSF vault champion, becoming the first Bear to win a conference vault title in 38 years. Fellow senior Khalen Curry is a two-time All-MPSF honoree and a three-time NCAA Finals qualifier, while juniors Carter Kim and Jaxon Mitchell also have received All-MPSF recognition. Sophomore Trigg Dudley, who competed in the British Championships last spring, won the floor title in December at the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) All-Star exhibition contest.
 
NEW BEARS IN THE RANKS
Cal is fielding six rookies and one graduate transfer in this season's squad. All-around stars Nathan Underhill (Oconomowoc, Wis.), Davide Comparin (Irving, Texas) and Liam DeWeese (Murphy, Texas) each have a Men's Development Program national title to their name, while Finley Chin (Irvine), JD Ehinger (Coppell, Texas) and Will Horenziak (Montgomery, Ohio) have a combined 15 state championships over the past four seasons. Comparin, DeWeese and Ehinger are also former club teammates, having competed for Texas Dreams Gymnastics as junior gymnasts Finally, newcomer Kaien Orion spent the 2023-25 seasons at Stanford, helping the Cardinal to national titles in 2023-24 and appearing in the NCAA Finals in each of the past two years.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal men's gymnastics, please follow the Bears on X (@CalMGym), Instagram (@CalMGym) and Facebook (@Cal Men's Gymnastics).