Nebraska Cornhuskers men's gymnastics

Nebraska Cornhuskers men's gymnastics
Founded1939 (1939)
UniversityUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln
Athletic directorTroy Dannen
Head coachChuck Chmelka (17th season)
ConferenceBig Ten
LocationLincoln, Nebraska
Home arenaBob Devaney Sports Center (Capacity: 8,309)
NicknameCornhuskers
ColorsScarlet and cream[1]
   
National championships
1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1994
NCAA Tournament appearances
1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,[a] 2016 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Conference championships
1964, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999

The Nebraska Cornhuskers men's gymnastics team competes as part of NCAA Division I, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. NU is one of just twelve Division I universities that sponsors a men's gymnastics program.[2] Nebraska has hosted meets at the Bob Devaney Sports Center since 1976.

Since being established in 1939, the program has won eight national championships, finished as the national runner-up seven times, and won forty-two NCAA event titles. The bulk of this success came under longtime head coach Francis Allen, a former All-American who led the program for forty seasons. Twelve Cornhuskers have participated in the Olympic Games and combined to win four gold medals. The team has been coached by Chuck Chmelka since 2010.

Conference affiliations

Coaches

Coaching history

No. Coach Tenure Overall
1 Charlie E. Miller1939–194816–25–2 (.395)
2 B. R. Patterson19493–2 (.600)
3 Jake Geier1950–1969140–64–2 (.684)
4 Francis Allen1970–2009817–309–4 (.725)[c]
5 Chuck Chmelka2010–present106–183–1 (.367)

Coaching staff

Name Position First year Alma mater
Chuck ChmelkaHead coach2010Nebraska
Jim HartungAssistant coach2006Nebraska
John RobinsonAssistant coach2011Nebraska

Venues

Nebraska played its early years at the NU Coliseum before moving to the NU Sports Complex (now the Bob Devaney Sports Center) upon its completion in 1976. When Nebraska's basketball programs moved to the newly constructed West Haymarket Arena (known as Pinnacle Bank Arena for sponsorship purposes) in 2013, the Devaney Center underwent a $20-million remodel to reconfigure and shrink its main arena.[5]

Nebraska opened the Francis Allen Training Complex in 2020 to house its men's and women's gymnastics programs; at 46,000 square feet it is among the largest gymnastics practice facilities in the country.[6]

Championships and awards

National championships

  • NCAA: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1994

Team conference championships

Individual awards

  • NCAA Top Ten Award: Tom Schlesinger (1989), Patrick Kirksey (1991), Anton Stephenson (2020)
  • National coach of the year: Francis Allen (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1994)
  • Conference gymnast of the year: Marshall Nelson (1998), Jason Hardabura (1999), Derek Leiter (2000), Grant Clinton (2002), Anton Stephenson (2019), Taylor Christopulos (2023, 2025)
  • Conference freshman of the year: Taylor Christopulos (2021), Chris Hiser (2022)
  • Conference coach of the year: Francis Allen (1999)

NCAA champions

  • Phil Cahoy – 1980 (HB, PB), 1981 (HB, PB)
  • Steve Elliott – 1980 (FX), 1982 (FX, V)
  • Jim Hartung – 1980 (AA, SR), 1981 (AA, PB, SR), 1982 (PB, SR)
  • Scott Johnson – 1983 (FX, HB, PB)
  • Chris Riegel – 1983 (V), 1984 (V)
  • Wes Suter – 1985 (AA, FX, HB)
  • Tom Schlesinger – 1987 (AA, PB)
  • Kevin Davis – 1987 (PB), 1988 (AA, PB)
  • Patrick Kirksey – 1989 (AA, PB), 1990 (PB)
  • Che Bowers – 1992 (PH)
  • Richard Grace – 1993 (FX), 1994 (PB)
  • Dennis Harrison – 1994 (AA)
  • Rick Kieffer – 1995 (HB)
  • Richard Grace – 1995 (AA, PB)
  • Marshall Nelson – 1997 (HB. PB), 1998 (PB)
  • Jason Hardabura – 1999 (AA, FX)
  • Asher Cohen – 2026 (SR)

First-team NCAA All-Americans

  • Phillip Sprague – 1948 (T)
  • Bruce Riley – 1955 (HB)
  • Karl Byers – 1959 (PH)
  • Dennis Albers – 1964 (V)
  • Francis Allen – 1964 (PB)
  • Gene Mackie – 1975 (AA)
  • Pete Studenski – 1975 (SR)
  • Jim Unger – 1975 (FX)
  • Steve Dickey – 1976 (PH)
  • Larry Gerard – 1976 (AA, HB, SR), 1977 (HB), 1978 (AA, HB, SR)
  • Kurt Mackie – (SR)
  • Mark Williams – 1978 (HB)
  • Jim Hartung – 1979 (AA, FX, PB, PH, SR), 1980 (AA, FX, PB, PH, SR), 1981 (AA, FX, HB, PB, PH, SR), 1982 (AA, FX, HB, PB, PH, SR)
  • Phil Cahoy – 1980 (AA, HB, PB), 1981 (AA, HB, PB), 1982 (AA, PB, PH), 1983 (AA)
  • Steve Elliott – 1980 (FX, V), 1982 (FX, V)
  • Scott Johnson – 1980 (V), 1981 (HB, SR), 1982 (AA, FX), 1983 (AA, FX, HB, PB, SR, V)
  • Frank Hibbitts – 1981 (PH)
  • John Balluff – 1982 (PH)
  • Jim Mikus – 1982 (AA, FX), 1983 (HB), 1984 (FX, HB)
  • Chris Riegel – 1983 (AA, V), 1984 (AA, FX, HB, PB, V)
  • Mike Epperson – 1985 (PB), 1989 HB)
  • Neil Palmer – 1985 (HB)
  • Wes Suter – 1985 (AA, FX, HB), 1986 (AA, PB)
  • Kevin Davis – 1986 (PB), 1987 (AA, PB, PH), 1988 (AA, PB, SR)
  • Tom Schlesinger – 1986 (PB), 1987 (AA, HB, PB), 1988 (AA, HB, SR)
  • Patrick Kirksey – 1988 (V), 1989 (AA, HB, PB, PH), 1990 (AA, PB, PH)
  • Bob Stelter – 1988 (V), 1989 (AA), 1990 (AA)
  • Mark Warburton – 1988 (PB), 1990 (PB, SR)
  • Trent Dimas – 1990 (FX, HB)
  • Dennis Harrison – 1991 (V), 1992 (AA, HB), 1993 (AA, PB), 1994 (AA, FX, HB, PB, PH, V)
  • Che Bowers – 1992 (HB, PH), 1993 (HB, PH), 1994 (PH)
  • Sumner Darling – 1992 (PB), 1994 (AA)
  • Rich Kieffer – 1992 (HB), 1993 (SR), 1994 (SR), 1995 (HB)
  • Josh Saegert – 1992 (PB)
  • Richard Grace – 1993 (FX), 1994 (AA, HB, PB), 1995 (AA, PB)
  • Burkett Powell – 1994 (PB)
  • Jason Christie – 1996 (HB, PB)
  • Ted Harris – 1996 (SR)
  • Marshall Nelson – 1996 (PH), 1997 (HB, PB, V), 1998 (PB, PH)
  • Ryan McEwen – 1997 (HB)
  • Jim Koziol – 1998 SR), 1999 (SR)
  • Derek Leiter – 1998 (AA), 2000 (AA, V)
  • Bill Mulholland – 1998 (V)
  • Blake Bukacek – 1999 (HB)
  • Jason Hardabura – 1999 (AA, FX, HB)
  • Dusty Jakub – 2000 (PB)
  • Ashter Lichterman – 2000 (V)
  • Steven Friedman – 2003 (PB)
  • Josh Rasile – 2004 (SR)
  • Paul Chumreonlert – 2005 (PH)
  • Stephen Tetrault – 2005 (V), 2007 (AA, PH)
  • T. J. Schmidt – 2007 (PH)
  • Anthony Ingrelli – 2010 (SR)
  • Grant Perdue – 2012 (FX), 2013 (V)
  • Wyatt Aycock – 2013 (AA), 2014 (AA)
  • Sam Chamberlain – 2013 (PB), 2016 (PB)
  • Ethan Lottman – 2015 (AA), 2016 (PH)
  • Austin Epperson – 2016 (FX), 2017 (FX)
  • Anton Stephenson – 2016 (PB), 2018 (V), 2019 (AA, V)
  • Kyle King – 2017 (FX)
  • Connor Adamsick – 2018 (FX)
  • Griffin Kehler – 2018 (FX)
  • Chris Stehenson – 2018 (PB)
  • Jake Bonnay – 2019 (FX)
  • Charlie Giles – 2019 (V), 2021 (PH, V)
  • Khalil Jackson – 2019 (HB)
  • Josh Martin – 2019 (PH)
  • Taylor Christopulus – 2021 (V), 2023 (AA, FX, PB), 2024 (AA, FX, HB, V), 2025 (AA, PH)
  • Evan Kriley – 2021 (PH)
  • Mitch Tyndall – 2021 (PH)
  • Dillan King – 2022 (PB)
  • Donte McKinney – 2022 (V), 2023 (HB)
  • Zac Tiderman – 2023 (V), 2024 (HB, V)
  • Asher Cohen – 2024 (SR), 2025 (SR)
  • Cooper Giles – 2024 (PH)
  • Sam Phillips – 2024 (AA, HB)
  • Chris Hiser – 2025 (SR)
  • Chase Mondi – 2025 (FX)
  • Max Odden – 2025 (HB)

Seasons

National champion Regular season champion[d] Tournament champion
Year Coach Overall Conference
tournament		 Postseason
MVIAA / Big Eight Conference [b] (1939–1994)
1939Charlie E. Miller5–3Not available[e]
19402–3
19414–2
19421–9
1943Did not compete[f]
1944
1945
1946
1947Charlie E. Miller1–4–1Not available[e]Not held
19483–4–1
1949B. R. Patterson3–2
1950Jake Geier2–3
19515–5
19526–3
195310–1
19547–1
19555–1
19565–1
19578–2
19585–4–1
195910–2
19605–0
19617–2
19628–2
196313–1
196411–11st
19659–4–13rd
19666–94th
19679–84th
19688–75th
19692–126th
1970Francis Allen5–85th
19713–75th
19725–84th
19737–42nd
19746–43rd
197511–82ndNCAA 5th
197612–61stNCAA preliminaries
197737–193rd
1978[c]31–143rd
197966–62ndNCAA champion
198037–31stNCAA champion
1981[c]15–22ndNCAA champion
198239–01stNCAA champion
198345–01stNCAA champion
198431–102ndNCAA preliminaries
198541–51stNCAA runner-up
1986[c]21–31stNCAA runner-up
198725–4–12ndNCAA runner-up
198828–31stNCAA champion
198922–41stNCAA runner-up
199037–2–11stNCAA champion
199112–162ndNCAA preliminaries
199239–41stNCAA runner-up
199332–11stNCAA runner-up
199432–31stNCAA champion
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (1995–2011)
1995Francis Allen26–11–13rdNCAA runner-up
199618–94thNCAA regional
199721–81stNCAA regional
199818–72ndNCAA regional
199924–6–1T–1stNCAA 3rd
200010–113rdNCAA 9th
20017–63rd
20025–124th
20034–164thNCAA 11th
200413–164thNCAA 10th
200513–134thNCAA 10th
20064–154thNCAA 10th
20076–144thNCAA 10th
20087–144thNCAA 9th
20092–74thNCAA 9th
2010Chuck Chmelka8–104thNCAA 9th
20116–164thNCAA 10th
Big Ten Conference (2012–present)
2012Chuck Chmelka5–197thNCAA 9th
20135–197thNCAA 11th
20145–226thNCAA 8th
20152–187thNCAA[a]
20165–17–16thNCAA 7th
201712–175thNCAA 6th
201814–146thNCAA 5th
20198–64thNCAA 3rd
20207–2Canceled[g]
20219–86thNCAA 4th
20229–52ndNCAA 4th
202310–63rdNCAA 5th
20246–23rdNCAA 4th
20253–43rdNCAA 4th

[4]

Olympians

Ten Nebraska gymnasts and two coaches have combined to compete in sixteen Summer Olympiads, with nine representing the United States and one representing Canada. Francis Allen, Phil Cahoy, Larry Gerard, and Jim Hartung were a part of the U. S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and did not participate in any events. Four years later, Hartung and two other NU gymnasts, Jim Mikus and Scott Johnson, won the team all-around gold medal in Los Angeles. Trent Dimas won Nebraska's only individual gymnastics gold medal on the horizontal bar in Barcelona in 1992; it was the second American gymnastics gold medal in an Olympiad held outside the United States.[7]

OlympiadCityGymnastCountryMedal(s)
1980 (XXII) Soviet Union MoscowPhil CahoyUnited States United StatesBoycotted
Larry Gerard
Jim Hartung
Francis Allen (head coach)
1984 (XXIII) United States Los AngelesJim HartungUnited States United States1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold (Team all-around)
Jim Mikus
Scott Johnson
1988 (XXIV) South Korea SeoulKevin DavisUnited States United States
Scott Johnson
Tom Schlesinger
Wes Suter
1992 (XXV) Spain BarcelonaTrent DimasUnited States United States1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold (Horizontal bar)
Francis Allen (head coach)
1996 (XXVI) United States AtlantaMark Williams (asst. coach)United States United States
2016 (XXXI) Brazil Rio de JaneiroMark Williams (head coach)United States United States
2024 (XXXIII) France ParisYanni Chronopoulos (alternate)Canada Canada

Notes

  1. 1 2 Nebraska's 2015 NCAA tournament scores were vacated by the NCAA due to the use of ineligible student-athletes.[4]
  2. 1 2 In 1928, the ten member schools of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association agreed to a splintering of the conference – Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma retained the MVIAA name and Drake, Grinnell, Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), and Washington University formed the Missouri Valley Conference. The MVIAA became commonly known as the Big Six, and later the Big Seven and Big Eight. Its name was officially changed to the Big Eight in 1964.[3]
  3. 1 2 3 4 Records incomplete from the 1978 Rocky Mountain Open, 1981 Windy City Invite, 1981 Husky Classic, 1986 Windy City Invite, 1986 Titan Invite, 1986 UCLA Invite, and 1986 Southwest Cup.[4]
  4. ↑ The Big Ten began crowning a regular-season champion in 2019.
  5. 1 2 Conference tournament information not available prior to 1964.[4]
  6. ↑ Nebraska did not field a team from 1943 to 1946 due to World War II.
  7. ↑ Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ↑ "The Power of Color" (PDF). Nebraska Athletics Brand Guide. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  2. ↑ "MAG Pathways: NCAA". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  3. ↑ Braden Gall (June 29, 2012). "The History of Big 12 Realignment". Athlon Sports. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "2024–25 Men's Gymnastics Media Guide" (PDF). Nebraska Athletics. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  5. ↑ Evan Bland (January 30, 2025). "Nebraska volleyball to expand Devaney Center with goal to reach 10,000 seats". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  6. ↑ Clark Grell (April 11, 2020). "New Francis Allen Training Complex is a game changer for Nebraska men's and women's gymnastics". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Trent Dimas" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
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