Saturday, April 19
Ann Arbor, MI
4:30 pm MT
Air Force Academy
at
NCAA Team & Event Finals
Photo by: Andrew Mascharka, Michigan Photography
Patrick Hoopes Repeats as NCAA Pommel Horse Champion
4/19/2025 9:50:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Patrick Hoopes added another chapter to his legendary Air Force gymnastics career this evening (April 19), as he successfully defended his national title on the pommel horse during the final night of competition at the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships in Ann Arbor.
Hoopes, who became the Academy's first-ever NCAA champion last season, secured his second title in dominating fashion tonight at Crisler Center. Hoopes, who had to wait until the fifth rotation to compete, had watched the apparatus stifle several of his competitors – but, when his name was called, he took control of the event and secured a 14.833 – a score that bettered the event's 37-man field by nearly 0.400 points and accounted for the largest margin of victory in any of the six individual events on Saturday.
With tonight's title, Hoopes captured NCAA All-America honors for the third-straight year and became just the third NCAA gymnast since 2010 to claim the pommel horse title in back-to-back years.
Hoopes wasn't the only Falcon to make a trip to the podium on Saturday, as classmate Erich Upton capped his stellar collegiate career with All-America honors in the all-around. Combining for a score of 79.531, Upton finished seventh in a field that included two Olympic medalists. Individually, he finished within the top half of the field on the parallel bars (13.600, 14th) and floor exercise (13.560, 15th), while scoring a 13.355 on the vault, a 13.300 on the still rings, a 12.933 on the high bar, and a 12.766 on the pommel horse.
The podium finishes from Hoopes and Upton mark just the second time that Air Force has accounted for multiple All-Americans in the same championship meet (2016).
Three other Falcons also competed in the national championships on Saturday. Junior Jack Matlock finished within the top half of the field on the pommel horse following a 15th-place score of 13.466, while classmate Tai Gopaul tied for 23rd on the high bar (13.033) and fellow junior Denis Irimiea finished 33rd on the still rings (12.733).
| NCAA CHAMPION |
| Patrick Hoopes, Pommel Horse |
Hoopes, who became the Academy's first-ever NCAA champion last season, secured his second title in dominating fashion tonight at Crisler Center. Hoopes, who had to wait until the fifth rotation to compete, had watched the apparatus stifle several of his competitors – but, when his name was called, he took control of the event and secured a 14.833 – a score that bettered the event's 37-man field by nearly 0.400 points and accounted for the largest margin of victory in any of the six individual events on Saturday.
With tonight's title, Hoopes captured NCAA All-America honors for the third-straight year and became just the third NCAA gymnast since 2010 to claim the pommel horse title in back-to-back years.
Hoopes wasn't the only Falcon to make a trip to the podium on Saturday, as classmate Erich Upton capped his stellar collegiate career with All-America honors in the all-around. Combining for a score of 79.531, Upton finished seventh in a field that included two Olympic medalists. Individually, he finished within the top half of the field on the parallel bars (13.600, 14th) and floor exercise (13.560, 15th), while scoring a 13.355 on the vault, a 13.300 on the still rings, a 12.933 on the high bar, and a 12.766 on the pommel horse.
The podium finishes from Hoopes and Upton mark just the second time that Air Force has accounted for multiple All-Americans in the same championship meet (2016).
Three other Falcons also competed in the national championships on Saturday. Junior Jack Matlock finished within the top half of the field on the pommel horse following a 15th-place score of 13.466, while classmate Tai Gopaul tied for 23rd on the high bar (13.033) and fellow junior Denis Irimiea finished 33rd on the still rings (12.733).