No. 3 Utah comes from behind to defeat No. 2 UCLA in gymnastics

Utah gymnastics coach Tom Farden keeps saying his team has a lot of fight. Now, everyone in the college gymnastics world should know it.

The third-ranked Utes earned one of their most memorable wins in recent seasons as they came from behind to upend second-ranked UCLA 197.550-197.425 in front of 11,085 at Pauley Pavilion.

The win was the first for Utah at UCLA since 2008 and it avenged an earlier loss to the Bruins in a quad meet in January.

The two will face off again at the Pac-12 Championships on March 24 and probably in the NCAA Championships, too, but for now, the Utes own the bragging rights after winning the meet in the final moments.

“I told the team they were wedding crashers,” Farden said. “It was UCLA’s alumni night and with everything else, it was just a great win.”

The Utes (8-1, 5-0 Pac-12), who fought through a few mistakes early, rallied on the floor with a 49.55 to tie Bruins (9-2, 3-1) going into the final rotation.

Despite the rally, a Utah win seemed unlikely since the Bruins were ending on floor and the Utes were on the balance beam where they are ranked just eighth.

But the Utes shined in the tense moments as they tied their season high of 49.4 on the balance beam. UCLA seemed like it was the team that felt the pressure, suffering three step-outs and scoring only 49.275.

MaKenna Merrell-Giles and MyKayla Skinner led the Utes on the beam with 9.925s. Other routines that stood out were a 9.85 from freshman Alexia Burch and a 9.825 from Missy Reinstadtler. Reinstadtler had a few bobbles but kept her composure to earn the solid score.

Her fight was indicative of the Utes’ effort all meet.

“This is just a great, gritty team,” Farden said. “To come in here in this hostile environment and have that kind of performance, I’m so proud of them. We understand that these regular season meets are just steps for the postseason, but this is a big positive outcome for us.”

Skinner won the all-around with a 39.625 and Merrell-Giles was second with a 39.525.

The Utes fell behind early when they had some uncharacteristic miscues, including a rough landing from Merrell-Giles on the vault, a near-break on the uneven bars by Skinner and a fall on the vault from Kim Tessen, but Utah never gave up.

The Utes trailed 98.75-98.60 at the halfway mark, then made their move in the third rotation where they scored a 49.55 on floor, tying their second-best effort on the event this year.

Skinner led the Utes on floor with a 9.975 and Reinstadtler and Merrell-Giles both had 9.925s, setting up the showdown in the final rotation.

Farden said the coaches tried to prepare for UCLA’s crowd by blaring the school’s fight song in practice this week and putting the team in several pressure situations.

It seemed to help as the Utes were unfazed on the balance beam to win the meet.

“I’m really happy with the way it worked out,” Farden said.