Oklahoma Reloads in Men’s Gymnastics for 2010 Season
Posted on 13 November 2008 by admin
The Oklahoma Sooners Men’s Gymnastics Team has announced the signing of four gymnasts for the 2010 season. This is quite a coup for the Sooners. Three of the four have been members of the USA Junior National Team.
Jake Dalton of Gym Nevada has been a fixture the past few years as one of the top performers at the J.O. Nationals and is a current Junior National Team member. Dalton was runner-up at the ‘08 JO Nationals. Alex Naddour of Arizona Flairs, placed fourth in the all-around at the ‘08 JOs and is also on the Junior National Team.
Naddour’s brother, Anthony, is transferring from Chandler-Gilbert CC. He led Arizona State’s club team to a national collegiate title last season. Cypress Academy’s Chris Stehl, another solid all-arounder, was a member of the Junior National Team in ‘05-’06.
This is what’s called reloading, folks. Despite the losses of Jonathan Horton and Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, this incoming 2010 freshman class will keep Oklahoma in the national title hunt for years to come.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:45 am
GREAT GROUP! But this was almost mandatory for them considering the loss of hortan and Taqiy and the senior class that they are going to lose next year in, chris brooks, garret carr, Russell Czeschin, Jason Laughton, Kyle McNamara, AND Jacob Mussina!
November 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
MG - I have a strong feeling that OU will end up signing some big time talent for ‘11. The long-term prospects look very promising. You’re right, though. They will lose a lot of talent after the ‘09 season, including the tallest man in gymnastics…Czeschin.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I know I am looking well ahead but who are going to be the big names for 11′. I know that CJ maestas is awsome.. And then is John Orozco already a junior? and Sam Makalak? Who are the top contenders in 11?
November 15th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
MG - Both Orozco and Mikulak are sophomores…they will be the frosh class of ‘12. That’s going to be an amazing class. The ‘13 class will be great as well. The top gymnast in the ‘11 class will be Danell Leyva. He can write his own ticket.
November 16th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Great work by OU in recruiting this group. Not only did these guys do great at National’s, but, from the ‘08 Visa Championships, Jake, Alex and Chris were in the top 7 all around and in the top 4 recruitable seniors of 2009. Look forward to seeing the OU team compete next year!
November 16th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I wonder if Danell will go to college though? Last I heard he was leaning towards staying with Yin and going to a CC. Who else is there in his year? Maestas I am pretty sure but I dont know who else.
November 16th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
MG - Yes, Maestas looks like one of the top gymnasts for ‘11…so far. Others on the rise are Alex Barrera, Matt Del Junco, Josh Glenn, Chris Turner and Jordan Gaarenstroom. Good question about Leyva. He has to do what’s best for him, I suppose. Hard to believe he has two more years of club gymnastics left.
November 16th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
If anyone is wondering about where some of the other recruits ended up, collegegymfans.com has a number of schools that recruits have committed to like stanford and michigan
November 19th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
John and Sam are actually juniors in high school. I also noticed you only mention kids from California and Florida. Try looking elsewhere such as Texas and Illinois. There are many upcoming gymnasts from there such as Josh Wilson, Dylan Akers, Devin Burnett, Jacoby Rubin, Craig Hernandez. There are many more that could be mentioned and if you really want an idea of who is coming up, look at the Visa Championships website.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
CH - You’re absolutely right. WOGA had 3 of the top 12 finishers at VISAs. Buffalo Grove had 2 of the top 20. This is exactly why this website exists…so people like you can expand our horizons and school us on club gymnastics. We would love to know more about Jacoby Rubin. His 4th place finish at VISAs and 5th place finish at JOs is a great comeback story. We’d love to hear more from you, CH.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
CH - Not sure about John, but you’re right about Sam being a junior. Sam’s birthday is in October…that’s what threw us off. That means we’ll probably be reading about which college he’ll be signing with this time next year.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I know Jacoby personally and it was a great comeback. He has had many problems with shoulder but he always seems to bring his gymnastics to an elite level at the times of nationals and championships. If he never had an injury he would be so much better than he is now. However, he has been plagued with them and only his work ethic in practice keeps him in contention for the national team every year.
November 20th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
John is definitely a junior. There’s also Sean Senters, another junior, for ‘11. He won floor at ‘08 Visas and came in third on high bar.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
John Orozco and Sam Mikulak are both juniors, but they have weird birthdays so they are competing in the younger age group in level 10 again this year. Danell Leyva is most likely planning on staying in Miami. He really has no intention of leaving Yin. As far as contenders for ‘11, on the Junior National Team this year there are CJ Maestas, Danell Leyva, John Orozco, Sam Mikulak, and Cameron Rogers. Dylan Akers and Jacoby Rubin are sophomores… Max Mayr is a freshman, but will be up there on the list when his time comes. Of course there are lots of talented guys that didn’t wuite make the team this year like Chris Turner, Eric Schryver, Devin Burnett, Preston Ellsworth, Craig Hernandez, Alex Bubnov, Matthew Del Junco, Sean Senters, Jordan Gaarenstroom, and Preston Gall.