Iowa State cancels gymnastics for the rest of the season.....

SleepyLion

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It seems implied but the article didn't say it was just the womens' team.

Regardless, that's a shame for the participants. I'm sure they worked their asses off in preparation for, and during the season.
There are on 12 D1 NCAA men's gymnastics teams. Iowa State is not one.
 
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PSUFTG

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It seems implied but the article didn't say it was just the womens' team.

Regardless, that's a shame for the participants. I'm sure they worked their asses off in preparation for, and during the season.
Like just about every school in the nation, ISU does not have a men's gymnastics team.

Men's Gymnastics is nearly a dead sport wrt NCAA - 5 Big Ten programs, a few out west (but none of the new Big Ten west coast programs), and the service academies. That's it. If you put them all together, they wouldn't make up one decent conference.

Back in the day (70s? 80s?) just about every Big Ten school had men's gymnastics.
Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan State all dropped it over the last 20 years or so. Iowa and Minnesota dropped it just a few years ago.
In recent years, Big Ten men's gymnastics has become basically Michigan - with the other handful of schools contesting 2nd through 5th places.
 
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fairgambit

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Like just about every school in the nation, ISU does not have a men's gymnastics team.

Men's Gymnastics is nearly a dead sport wrt NCAA - 5 Big Ten programs, a few out west (but none of the new Big Ten west coast programs), and the service academies. That's it. If you put them all together, they wouldn't make up one decent conference.

Back in the day (70s? 80s?) just about every Big Ten school had men's gymnastics.
Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan State all dropped it over the last 20 years or so. Iowa and Minnesota dropped it just a few years ago.
In recent years, Big Ten men's gymnastics has become basically Michigan - with the other handful of schools contesting 2nd through 5th places.
Men's gymnastics were a big deal (9 National Championships) when I was at Dear Old State and this man, Gene Wettstone, was the reason.


 
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PSUFTG

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Men's gymnastics were a big deal (9 National Championships) when I was at Dear Old State and this man, Gene Wettstone, was the reason.


Yep.

Have had the opportunity to know/work with several former PSU Men's gymnastics guys.

All good guys - and every one I have met had much respect for Wettstone.
 

PSU Mike

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Men's gymnastics were a big deal (9 National Championships) when I was at Dear Old State and this man, Gene Wettstone, was the reason.


We used to play pool with the guys on the ‘86 team. They were all pretty cool.
 

Bison13

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Similarly, last Friday Montgomery County MD dropped gymnastics as a HS sport. It was the last county in MD to have gymnastics teams in HS, and was down to only 7 of the 25 HS with them. MD used to have some very solid HS programs and recently had only been propped up by Dominique Dawes, a Gaithersburg HS grad, who had been helping find some of the programs.

Much like many youth sports these days, they are moving away from the HS model and more towards academies. This is a big reason colleges are dropping the teams as well.
 

Karl_Havok

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Yes, but they can only access it from a pommel horse.
Story time. When I was in high school (1990s) our gym teacher would have us participate in gymnastics every year in gym class. I think because it was a personal passion of his. He was in his 50s and like most people from that time he looked like someone in their mid 60s today.

He was smaller, maybe 5'6". But man, he took great pride in showing us students how to do things like the Iron Cross or show us what's up on the pommel horse. He looked like a nerd, but he was anything but.

It was also very strange that he would shower at the school. After wrestling practice we would be required to take a shower afterwards and when we would get to the locker room he would be coming out of the shower, completely naked. I saw that man naked more times than I wish to remember.
 
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LionJim

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Story time. When I was in high school (1990s) our gym teacher would have us participate in gymnastics every year in gym class. I think because it was a personal passion of his. He was in his 50s and like most people from that time he looked like someone in their mid 60s today.

He was smaller, maybe 5'6". But man, he took great pride in showing us students how to do things like the Iron Cross or show us what's up on the pommel horse. He looked like a nerd, but he was anything but.

It was also very strange that he would shower at the school. After wrestling practice we would be required to take a shower afterwards and when we would get to the locker room he would be coming out of the shower, completely naked. I saw that man naked more times than I wish to remember.
Joel Baba was on the 1952 Olympic gymnastics team and was a long-time teacher at Neshaminy. He’d do a flag at school assemblies, the kids would go wild.
 
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Karl_Havok

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Joel Baba was on the 1952 Olympic gymnastics team and was a long-time teacher at Neshaminy. He’d do a flag at school assemblies, the kids would go wild.
We were in complete awe of this small man who looked like our grandfather doing the Iron Cross. There wasn't a kid in the school who didn't respect his athletecism.

His kid was a year older than me and he was not an athlete. Not even close. It's funny how that works.
 

OaktonDave

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Similarly, last Friday Montgomery County MD dropped gymnastics as a HS sport. It was the last county in MD to have gymnastics teams in HS, and was down to only 7 of the 25 HS with them. MD used to have some very solid HS programs and recently had only been propped up by Dominique Dawes, a Gaithersburg HS grad, who had been helping find some of the programs.

Much like many youth sports these days, they are moving away from the HS model and more towards academies. This is a big reason colleges are dropping the teams as well.
Top level gymnastics has been largely found in clubs rather than high schools for quite some time. My knowledge goes back to the early 80s, and Penn State's recruiting has been entirely focused on clubs.
 

Bellefonte Bob

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Like just about every school in the nation, ISU does not have a men's gymnastics team.

Men's Gymnastics is nearly a dead sport wrt NCAA - 5 Big Ten programs, a few out west (but none of the new Big Ten west coast programs), and the service academies. That's it. If you put them all together, they wouldn't make up one decent conference.

Back in the day (70s? 80s?) just about every Big Ten school had men's gymnastics.
Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan State all dropped it over the last 20 years or so. Iowa and Minnesota dropped it just a few years ago.
In recent years, Big Ten men's gymnastics has become basically Michigan - with the other handful of schools contesting 2nd through 5th places.
News flash … while Michigan was the 2025 NCAA men’s gymnastic champion. Penn State won their head to head meet and tied Mich for top spot in conference standings in 2025. Stanford has won 4 of the last 5 men’s gymnastics championships. I would consider them the leading recent men’s team. Mich has produced several top individual male gymnasts in the pass 10 years however who have represented the US National Team
 

PSUFTG

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News flash … while Michigan was the 2025 NCAA men’s gymnastic champion. Penn State won their head to head meet and tied Mich for top spot in conference standings in 2025. Stanford has won 4 of the last 5 men’s gymnastics championships. I would consider them the leading recent men’s team. Mich has produced several top individual male gymnasts in the pass 10 years however who have represented the US National Team
"In recent years, BIG TEN men's gymnastics has become basically Michigan - with the other handful of schools contesting 2nd through 5th places."

FWIW: Michigan has won the last 5 Big Ten championships (the Big Ten champion is determined by the end of year conference meet).
The last team, other than Michigan, to win the Big Ten's was PSU - in 2019 (there was no meet in 2020 due to "COVID")

2026-Men's-Gymnastics-MG.pdf
 

ApexLion

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A cyclone has hit Ames , and it ain’t pretty..,

I blame Kraft or his doppelganger in Ames.

However, I will not pile on. Why? Because guess who does enjoy Iowa State's misfortune? This guy:

1770916504109.png

Yep, pride of the midwest, those down home 'nice' people that serenade kids in the hospital. Yep, these bast%*#@s. I can't wait for Campbell to run it up on these turds.
 

Pennstatel0

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Similarly, last Friday Montgomery County MD dropped gymnastics as a HS sport. It was the last county in MD to have gymnastics teams in HS, and was down to only 7 of the 25 HS with them. MD used to have some very solid HS programs and recently had only been propped up by Dominique Dawes, a Gaithersburg HS grad, who had been helping find some of the programs.

Much like many youth sports these days, they are moving away from the HS model and more towards academies. This is a big reason colleges are dropping the teams as well.
This isn’t completely correct. Quince Orchard dropped girls gymnastics around 2005. My daughter was a level 8-10 gymnast competing for a club team at that time; QO didn’t have a team despite significant interest. The AD at that time told me if I could find a “sponsor” for ~100K that they would resume the team.
 

Bison13

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This isn’t completely correct. Quince Orchard dropped girls gymnastics around 2005. My daughter was a level 8-10 gymnast competing for a club team at that time; QO didn’t have a team despite significant interest. The AD at that time told me if I could find a “sponsor” for ~100K that they would resume the team.
How is it not correct? There were seven teams that competed this year and now they’re dropping the entire program for the county.