Minnesota women's gymnastics made history on Thursday, as the Golden Gophers punched their first-ever gymnastics Final Four ticket after upsetting UCLA in the NCAA gymnastics championships semifinals in Fort Worth.
"I'm so proud of these guys," Minnesota coach Jenny Hansen said afterwards. "They believed we could do this and they just walked in today with that belief and were steady all the way through. I'm just so proud of them. I'm still a little in disbelief."
The Golden Gophers scored 197.4625 to claim the last remaining spot in Saturday's final, joining Oklahoma, Florida, and LSU in the Final Four.
The victory capped a stunning postseason run for Minnesota, first upsetting perennial contender Utah in the regional final before taking down No. 4 UCLA in the semis.
UCLA entered Thursday as the Big Ten champion with high expectations. However, the Bruins struggled on bars early, with Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles falling during the rotation. UCLA clawed back into second place entering the final event, before an error-filled vault rotation ended the team's championship hopes.
Minnesota, on the other hand, delivered a strong performance on bars in the final rotation to secure the historic berth.
Brooklyn Rowray later won beam, becoming just the second Gopher to claim an individual NCAA gymnastics title while adding to the breakthrough night.
Minnesota now prepares for Saturday's team championship final, as the Gophers face off against three powerhouse programs en pursuit of their first NCAA gymnastics team title.
How to Watch the 2026 NCAA Gymnastics Final Four
The 2026 NCAA gymnastics championships Final Four — AKA "Four on the Floor" — hits the mat on Saturday at 4 PM ET, live on ABC.
