Aydon "Fuzzy" Benas (born September 25, 2002) is an American

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. He is a former member of the

United States men's national artistic gymnastics team The United States men's artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG international competitions. History The first national team roster was established in 1998. The team has competed at ...

and is currently competing for the

Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnastics The Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnastics team represents the University of Oklahoma and competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The team has won 12 NCAA National Championships, most recently in 2018. Roster Coaching staff NCAA ...

team in NCAA gymnastics.

Early life and education

Benas was born September 25, 2002, in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, to Shannon and Adam Benas. His parents gave him the nickname ''Fuzzy'' when they were getting a sonogram and wanted to know the gender – the nurse said the picture was "too fuzzy" to tell, so they started calling him that before he was even born. His hometown is

Richmond, Texas Richmond is a suburb of Houston and the county seat of Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. The city is located within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city population was 11,627. History In 1822, a group of Austin's ...

and he attended

Travis High School William B. Travis High School, known simply as Travis High School, is a public high school in Pecan Grove, Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. Located off Grand Parkway and in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the school is Fort Bend ...

. He enrolled at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

to pursue gymnastics.

Gymnastics career

Benas was the 2018 co-national champion in the 15–16 age division alongside Isaiah Drake and Justin Ah Chow. At the 2019 Winter Cup Benas won gold on rings and placed fourth in the all-around. In early 2020 Benas competed at the 2020 Winter Cup where he placed first in the all-around and on rings. The remainder of competitions in 2020 were either canceled or postponed due to the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In November of that year Benas signed his

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

with the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

2022–23

Benas became age-eligible for senior-level competition in 2022. He competed at the 2022 Winter Cup where he placed eleventh in the all-around. He competed at the

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

where he helped Oklahoma finish second as a team. He was named College Gymnastics Association's ''Rookie of the Year''. After the end of the college season, Benas underwent shoulder surgery and spent the next few months recovering. In October he severed a nerve in his hand during a pumpkin carving accident. Right after Benas was medically clear to restart training, he tore his ACL. As a result, Benas did not compete during the 2023 NCAA season. Benas returned to competition in August to compete at the 2023 U.S. Classic and the 2023 U.S. National Championships, although he did not compete on all six apparatuses.

2024

Benas made his elite all-around return at the

2024 Winter Cup The 2024 Winter Cup, known officially as the Kentucky Winter Classic, was an artistic gymnastics competition held at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, on February 23–25, 2024. As in recent years, the competition included men's and women's g ...

where he placed sixth. As a result, he was added to the senior national team for the first time. Additionally Benas was selected to compete at the DTB Pokal Mixed Cup in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

alongside Riley Loos, Kai Uemura,

Addison Fatta Addison Grace Fatta ( ) (born November 23, 2004) is an American artistic gymnast. She was part of the gold medal winning team at the 2023 Pan American Championships. Early life Fatta was born to Tony and Jen Fatta in 2004 in Lancaster, Penn ...

Dulcy Caylor Dulcy Grey Caylor (born December 9, 2007) is an American artistic gymnast. Junior gymnastics career 2022 In July, Caylor was selected to compete at the 2022 Pan American Championships alongside Zoey Molomo, Tiana Sumanasekera and Alicia Z ...

, and

Nola Matthews Nola Rhianne Matthews (born September 20, 2006) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2023 Pan American uneven bars champion. Early life Matthews was born on September 20, 2006, in San Jose, California to physician parents Drs. Kari Be ...

. While there he helped the USA finish first as a team. At the 2024 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship, Benas helped Oklahoma finish third as a team. Individually he placed third in the all-around behind Khoi Young and Fred Richard. He was named CGA's ''Gymnast of the Year''. Benas next competed at the U.S. National Championships where he finished eleventh and was added to the national team. As a result he qualified to compete at the 2024 Olympic Trials where he ultimately finished sixth.

Competitive history

References

External links

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Fuzzy Benas
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benas, Fuzzy 2002 births Living people American male artistic gymnasts Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnasts Sportspeople from Richmond, Texas 21st-century American sportsmen