Benas, Yockers Named Finalists for Nissen-Emery Award

NORMAN – Oklahoma men's gymnastics redshirt senior Fuzzy Benas and senior Ignacio Yockers were named as two of the six finalists for the prestigious Nissen-Emery Award, which is presented annually to the year's outstanding senior collegiate gymnast, the College Gymnastics Association announced Monday.

Benas and Yockers are joined on the list of Nissen-Emery Award finalists by Nebraska's Asher Cohen, Stanford's Asher Hong, Michigan's Fred Richard, and Ohio State's Parker Thackston.

Benas was the 2024 CGA Gymnast of the Year, the 2022 CGA Rookie of the Year, a two-time all-around bronze medalist at NCAA Championships, an eight-time All-American and six-time CGA Regular Season All-American and has been a member of the U.S. Senior National Team. Yockers is a two-time MPSF Specialist of the Year, a pommel horse bronze medalist, a four-time All-American on pommel horse and an MPSF pommel horse champion. He is also a three-time CGA All-America Scholar-Athlete and a two-time MPSF All-Academic Team selection.

A product of Richmond, Texas, Benas has placed third in the all-around at NCAA Championships each of the last two seasons, is a three-time All-American in the all-around (2022, 2024 and '25), a two-time All-American on vault (2022 and '24) and an All-American on floor exercise (2025), parallel bars (2024) and high bar (2022). He is a two-time CGA Regular Season All-American in the all-around (2022 and '24) and on parallel bars (2022 and '24), while also earning Regular Season All-America status on vault (2022) and still rings (2022). He won the 2025 MPSF parallel bars title and is a seven-time MPSF all-conference selection: parallel bars (2024 and '25); still rings, vault and all-around (2024); and floor exercise and high bar (2025).

Benas has been one of the most high-performing gymnasts in the country during his collegiate career. He finished two regular seasons ranked number one in the all-around (2022 and '24), was ranked third on parallel bars in 2024 (14.333), and ranked fourth on vault (14.675) and ninth on still rings (13.950) in 2022. As of March 9, he is ranked 10th on floor exercise (13.683 four-score average) and ninth on vault (14.050 four-score average) for the 2026 season. Additionally, he has won 28 career individual titles: 10 on vault; seven on parallel bars; three on still rings, floor exercise and in the all-around; and two on high bar.

On the national front, Benas has been a member of the U.S. Senior National Team (in 2024-25 and 2025-26), and he placed sixth in the all-around and fourth on high bar at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. At 2025 U.S. Championships, he won bronze in the all-around and on vault, and placed fourth on high bar, fifth on parallel bars and eighth on floor exercise. He has competed at Winter Cup five times, including junior division wins in the all-around (2020) and on still rings (2019). Internationally, Benas represented the United States at the 2024 DTB Pokal Mixed Cup, helping lead the team to a gold medal, as well as the Arthur Gander Memorial and Swiss Cup in the fall of 2024.

Yockers, a product of Tulsa, Okla., has been named MPSF Specialist of the Year twice (2023 and '24), won a bronze medal and earned All-America status on pommel horse in 2023 and is a three-time CGA Regular Season All-American on the event (2023, '24 and '25). He won the MPSF pommel horse championship in 2024 and is a three-time MPSF all-conference selection (2023, '24 and '25).

Yockers has been one of the nation's most consistently high-performing pommel horse specialists over the past four seasons. He has finished the year ranked in the top three nationally on the event twice and in the top six in each of his three collegiate seasons. His two top 3 finishes came in 2023 when he ranked second (14.800 NQA) and 2024 when he ranked first (15.000 NQA) entering NCAA Championships. In 2025, he ranked sixth nationally with a 14.313 NQA. He currently ranks sixth nationally in 2026 with a 14.067 four-score average. He has registered at least a 14.000 on pommel horse 31 times and at least a 15.000 seven times in NCAA competition. Both figures are the most nationally among active college gymnasts.

Over his four-year career, Yockers has accumulated 21 individual pommel horse titles, including eight during the 2024 season alone, and has won two event titles on parallel bars. He notched a career-high 15.550 on pommel horse in 2023, which stands as the highest recorded pommel score among active collegiate gymnasts.

Internationally, Yockers claimed gold on pommel horse and silver in the all-around and on parallel bars at the Spanish National Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2025. He also competed at the 2025 FISU Summer World University Games, qualifying for finals in pommel horse and the all-around, where he placed fourth and ninth, respectively. Yockers has competed at Winter Cup four times, winning silver on pommel horse in 2023 and bronze in 2025.

Since 1966, the Nissen-Emery Award, the "Heisman Trophy" of gymnastics, has been presented to the collegiate senior gymnast who has established an outstanding record of achievement during his college career. The winner must also exhibit good sportsmanship and fair play and maintain a high standard of scholarship throughout his college career. The award presentation is held annually at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships.

Oklahoma has produced a nation-leading eight Nissen-Emery Award winners: Bart Conner (1981), Jarrod Hanks (1991), Daniel Fink (1998), Todd Bishop (1999), Daniel Furney (2003), Jonathan Horton (2008), Steven Legendre (2011) and Yul Moldauer (2019).

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.

Benas, Yockers Named Finalists for Nissen-Emery Award

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Fuzzy Benas

Ignacio Yockers

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Benas, Yockers Named Finalists for Nissen-Emery Award

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