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Published March 27, 2024

No. 6 Gophers defeat No. 11 California on senior day

On the team’s senior day, Minnesota earned a title in every event.
Teammates cheer for Justin Karstadt after sticking his landing on the pommel horse during a meet at Maturi Pavilion on Sunday, March 18.
Image by Easton Green
Teammates cheer for Justin Karstadt after sticking his landing on the pommel horse during a meet at Maturi Pavilion on Sunday, March 18.

No. 6 Minnesota faced No. 11 California on senior day, and it hoped to end its home portion of the season with a victory. 

The Gophers did just that by defeating the Golden Bears 411.150-388.550 on Sunday. 

Seniors Joel Gagnon and Alex Wittenberg tied for the floor title, finishing with scores of 14.200.

“It was a lot nicer having shared it [with Gagnon],” Wittenberg said. “Being able to share it with your teammate when you’re both seniors is special, especially since we’ve been captains for the last two years together.”

On pommel horse, junior Justin Karstadt won the event title. He received a score of 14.350. Senior Yaroslav Pochinka won the rings title with a score of 14.300. Pochinka and junior Shaun Herzog tied for first on vault with scores of 15.100. Karstadt finished first on parallel bars with a score of 14.600.

Gagnon said Sunday’s meet was more emotional than others.

“It’s our last chance to represent the U at home,” Gagnon said. “It kind of adds a cherry on top to our whole careers here.”

Freshman Shane Wiskus won both the horizontal bar and the all-around title. On horizontal bar, Wiskus scored 14.000 and in the all-around, Wiskus received a score of 83.050.

Head coach Mike Burns said it was crucial for Minnesota to win against California before the team travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, for a meet against No. 2 Nebraska and No. 8 Iowa.

“These guys have known that they’ve been capable of this kind of a competition,” Burns said. “We still have some room for improvement, which is fascinating. Everything was on tonight. The energy was great. The guys stepped up.”

All of Minnesota’s 10 seniors received portraits after the meet. Each senior posed for photos with family and friends as well as Burns.

“Having that support from home makes going out in a new environment a lot easier, because you know that you have people back home rooting for you,” Wittenberg said.

Gagnon said his teammates and coaches are family to him.

“It’s been huge to have them around,” Gagnon said. “We live in the dorms together. We’ve gone through every major college event together. It creates a bond that’s tight. It’s crazy that it’s all coming to an end.”

Minnesota’s meet against Nebraska and Iowa on Saturday will begin at 2 p.m. This will be the final meet for the Gophers before the Big Ten championships on April 6. Burns said Minnesota has a difficult challenge ahead of them on Saturday.

“This meet was important for them to get ready for that meet next week. I’m excited about what they did,” Burns said. “They’ve known all along how good they are. It’s going to be the marquee event of the weekend.”

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