Illinois men’s gymnastics is gearing up to compete again this weekend after having a couple of weeks off from competing as a team. Freshman Brandon Dang was one of the three Illini who did not have a break last weekend. Dang was at the 2024 Winter Cup with graduate student Connor McCool and sophomore Tate Costa. Dang earned a bronze medal on the pommel horse with an impressive 14.850 and said that these weeks have given the team a lot of time to improve and that they will return to action better than ever.

“These past couple of weeks have given the guys time to heal up their injuries, upgrade and polish up their gymnastics,” Dang said. “I think we’re going to be looking a lot stronger.”

As a freshman, Dang has several years ahead of him at the collegiate level. Reaching impressive heights such as his bronze finish at the Winter Cup at the start of his career makes Dang even more confident in the coming seasons.

“Knowing that I’m going to get stronger and better in the next year and the years after that,” Dang said. “It makes me kinda confident that I’ll be in the lineup again.”

Illinois will be at Huff Hall this weekend to compete in a tri-meet against William & Mary and Simpson. This is the third time Illinois and Simpson have met this season, with Illinois claiming big wins in both of the previous meets. Dang noted that being at home will be beneficial this weekend and that the fans’ support helps the team.

“We have a similar environment and our fans to cheer us on,” Dang said. “It kind of gives us an advantage.”

The Illini have had an impressive season so far. They have a current win streak of nine and have beaten some impressive teams, such as No. 1 Oklahoma and reigning Big Ten champions No. 4 Michigan. Dang mentioned how the confidence from winning is good because the nerves and pressure during meets cannot be mimicked during practice. 

“I’d say that the confidence does go up after each win,” Dang said. “It’s hard to replicate the pressure and the nerves at a competition in practice … being at more competitions helps us be able to handle that pressure more.” 

At the end of the day, what allows for a win is the scores produced by the team during a meet. The Illini have been seeing an upward trend in their scores as a whole, scoring 407.200 against Oklahoma, 413.800 against Michigan and most recently 416.150 at the 2024 Evo Collegiate Open. Dang mentioned how the lineup is determined through performance each week to see who gets to compete for the Illini to try and get a win. 

“We base our lineup through performance over time,” Dang said. “Every routine that we do we get judged and it gets a score. The lineups are the highest-scoring people.”

Illinois men’s gymnastics will be back at Huff Hall on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Illinois will face William & Mary and Simpson.

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