No. 2 Stanford is set to host its first home meet of the season, welcoming No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 California for the Stanford Open on January 24 at Burnham Pavilion. The event will also feature gymnasts from Team USA and two groups of individual competitors aiming to qualify for next month’s Winter Cup. The competition begins at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on Virti.us.
In their most recent outing, Stanford finished second at the Rocky Mountain Open, winning five out of seven events with a score of 320.750. Oklahoma took first place with a score of 323.950, while Stanford outperformed Nebraska and Air Force. David Shamah led Stanford by winning two events, including a career-best performance on parallel bars that earned him a share of the event title, as well as topping the all-around standings with a score of 79.700. Other event winners for Stanford included Nick Kuebler (high bar), Reece Landsperger (still rings), and Wade Nelson (vault).
Stanford opened its season with a win against California at Haas Pavilion, securing six event titles in a 320.100-309.700 victory over their conference rival. Nick Kuebler and David Shamah each won two events, while Kiran Mandava took pommel horse and Wade Nelson won vault.
Following this win, Stanford swept the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation weekly awards: Nick Kuebler was named Gymnast of the Week, Jun Iwai received Freshman of the Week honors, and Kiran Mandava was recognized as Specialist of the Week—each earning their first career MPSF award. This marked the first time since March 2025 that Stanford claimed all three weekly awards in one week. Additionally, Mandava was named National Specialist of the Week by the College Gymnastics Association.
Last season, Stanford finished as national runner-up at the NCAA Championships with a season-best score of 332.061—just short of Michigan’s winning mark of 332.224—and ended its bid for a sixth consecutive national title. Asher Hong secured individual NCAA titles on floor exercise and still rings; he joined Mark Berlaga, Jeremy Bischoff, Taylor Burkhart, Ian Lasic-Ellis, Colt Walker, and Khoi Young in earning a combined total of eleven All-America honors.
Looking ahead to this season, only three gymnasts from last year’s NCAA Championship lineup return: six-time NCAA champion Asher Hong; former floor national champion Nick Kuebler; still rings All-American Arun Chhetri; and Marcus Kushner—a two-time NCAA team champion—are among key returners.
Stanford welcomes back fourteen gymnasts from last year’s squad along with new freshmen Jun Iwai, Joey Nieves, Divier Ramos-Delgado, Deano Roberts, and Michael Scheiner—all bringing significant national team or international experience to bolster this year’s roster.
