Benas, Dodanli Win National Awards

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas was named the national Gymnast of the Year and junior Emre Dodanli was named the national Specialist of the Year by the College Gymnastics Association Thursday night at the pre-NCAA Championships awards banquet.

The MVP award is presented to the gymnast who has meant the most to his team in scoring and performance through the regular season. The specialist award is given to the gymnast who displayed the most dominance nationally during the regular season, weighted primarily by performance on one event.

Benas is ranked No. 1 nationally in the all-around with an 82.663 national qualifying average. He also ranks among the top 20 nationally in four individual events: parallel bars (fifth; 14.338), vault (10th; 14.613), pommel horse (14th; 13.900) and still rings (19th; 13.738). In seven meets with Benas in the lineup as a full participant, the Sooners are averaging a 415.214 team score (the exceptions were at Illinois [competed only three events], at Simpson and at Stanford/vs. Cal [did not compete]). The Richmond, Texas, product has completed the all-around five times (including two rounds at Winter Cup) and boasts an overall average of 83.170.

Most remarkably for Benas, a three-time All-American and the CGA Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2022, he won the nation's top gymnast award this season after missing nearly all of the 2023 campaign as a result of sustaining three consecutive injuries. The honor helps solidify his comeback season in which he was also named to the USA Gymnastics Men's Senior National Team. He went on his first international assignment in March, helping Team USA win gold in the Mixed Cup at DTB Pokal in Stuttgart, Germany.

Dodanli leads the nation in floor exercise with his 14.975 national qualifying average, which is 0.525 points higher than the next highest NQA. He has registered the five highest scores in the nation on the event this season (15.250 at Rocky Mountain Open, 15.050 vs. Cal, 14.900 at Michigan, 15.050 at Stanford/Cal and 14.950 in the MPSF Championship). No other gymnast nationally has scored higher than 14.800 on floor this season. The Milton, Ontario, product is the first gymnast nationally to register a 15-plus score on floor since the 2021 season, and his 15.250 was the highest floor score nationally since the 2021 NCAA Finals (15.266 by OU's Gage Dyer). He is also ranked among the top 10 nationally on horizontal bar (sixth; 14.000) and vault (eighth; 14.625).

Oklahoma begins the NCAA Championships with a qualifying session at 6 p.m. CT Friday at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. The second-seeded Sooners will face No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 and host Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 10 Air Force and No. 11 Springfield. A free live video stream via NCAA.com and live scoring will be available.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma men's gymnastics, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_MGymnastics) and like Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics on Facebook.

Players Mentioned

Fuzzy Benas

Emre Dodanli

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics