Pendleton senior tumbles to state title

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Eight years ago, Matt Frey walked up to the vault and prepared for what would later become one of the most memorable experiences of his young gymnastics career.

Frey had spent more than four years training for this moment. It was the first event of his first gymnastics competition, and Frey wasn’t afraid. And his determination paid off as the then-10-year-old finished first on the vault.

“My first competition ever was pretty cool,” Frey said. “They did classes instead of levels, and my first event was the vault, which I ended up winning.”

Since then, the Pendleton School at IMG Academies senior has worked his way up, spending the last four years training at Senior Level 10. In addition to numerous accolades, Frey also is a five-time national qualifier.

But perhaps no competition has been more rewarding than this year’s USA Gymnastics Florida State Championship, which was held March 6-7 in Daytona Beach. After finishing in the top three each of the past three years, Frey posted an 82.8 to capture his first-ever individual all-around state championship. Frey also won three event states titles: floor exercise, parallel bars and vault — his three favorite events.

“I freaked out and ran over to my parents and told them,” Frey said of winning his first state championship. “I was really excited, but I tried to stay chill. … It was one of my best performances of the year, but there’s definitely room for improvement.”

Frey began taking gymnastics when he was 4 years old after his parents enrolled him in recreational classes.

“I was a little crazy when I was little — my parents told me I was always doing flips out of my crib,” Frey said. “Gymnastics just sort of clicked with me and kept me entertained.

“It became a passion of mine, and I stuck with it,” he said. “I think it was just the physical act of it because it was something different. It wasn’t just running around. You got to flip upside down, and there were different things to crawl on.”

Frey moved to Florida six years ago from Pennsylvania and began training at South Florida Gymnastics & Dance under Chris Lakeman — a former Penn State University gymnast who was named the Florida state optional coach of the year at this year’s state championships.

Today, Frey spends an average of three to four hours a day practicing in the gym. Frey is now busy training for the Region 8 Championships, which will be held April 9-11 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

A strong performance there could send Frey back to the Junior Olympic National Championships May 5-9 in Knoxville, Tenn.

“I just love the competition, the thrill and the adrenaline rush,” Frey said. “You’re laying in on the line and putting it all out there. It’s that feeling of accomplishment of learning a new skill or achieving a goal.”

This fall, Frey will head to the University of Minnesota on a scholarship to join the Gophers gymnastics team. It’ll be the first time in six years Frey, who also had offers from Michigan, Illinois, Penn State and Temple, will be part of a team.

“It’s got its ups and downs,” Frey said of being the lone male in the gym. “It keeps you motivated. Overall, you get used to it and become numb to the fact that you don’t have a team. You rely more on your inner motivation.

“Having a team (again) is definitely one of the things I’m looking forward to (about Minnesota),” he said. “It’ll be (nice) to have some high-energy competition and hopefully that sense of accomplishment of winning a championship.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].