MINNEAPOLIS — When the final scores came up in Friday night's men's gymnastics NCAA Championships, the fourth-ranked Wolverines reacted as if they had won.

“I think (my most memorable moment was) when I watched the ESPN broadcast of me jumping up and down like a sixth-grade schoolgirl screaming at the top of my voice when we got second,” sophomore Thomas Kelley said. “We could possibly be happier than the first-place Stanford team right now, just because of all we’ve been through. They were expected to win. No one expected us to get second.”

Kelley had earned a 15.30 floor score in Michigan's final routine of the night, moving Michigan past both No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 5 California. With that, the Wolverines exploded in raucous celebration.

For much of the season, No. 1 Stanford was favored to win the national title. But no one expected Michigan to be the runner-up. Michigan finished just behind the Cardinal's 362.80 score with a 361.50. Defending national champion Oklahoma was just three tenths behind the Wolverines, with Cal coming in a half a tenth behind that.

Just one big mistake could have dropped the Wolverines to fourth.

But Michigan put together its best meet of the entire season when it mattered most, posting its highest NCAA finish since 2000. And for the second straight night, the Wolverines posted their highest team score of the season.

“Pretty much everything clicked,” senior Joe Catrambone said. “We’ve never, ever hit this high. It was just one great routine after another.”

As the gymnasts predicted all year, pommel horse was a difference-maker. The Wolverines chose to start on the bye rotation, meaning their first event would be the pommel horse. For some teams, the pommel horse might exacerbate those first-rotation nerves.

Not Michigan.

The Wolverines knocked out 5 of 6 hit sets, with sophomore Chris Cameron anchoring the rotation. He was competing with an injured shoulder held together by an extensive tape job, but he performed as if nothing was out of the ordinary. After his 15.30 set, he tilted his head back and whooped.

Following a picture-perfect rings rotation, in which Michigan’s four top gymnasts all scored a 15.00 or higher, the Wolverines headed for vault. And in what became the story of the night, all six vaulters performed to their potential.

Still, of the teams who had already gone on the bye, Michigan was third. And coming up next was parallel bars, the event that had given the Wolverines problems for over a month.

Senior Ralph Rosso led off. Over his career, Rosso's trademark has been his steadiness, and his hits are usually so predictable that they can be easily overlooked. On Friday, he did exactly what he was supposed to do — get Michigan started with a solid hit.

The Wolverines built off Rosso's success, as four of the next five hit their sets. After senior Ryan McCarthy stuck his dismount, he began dancing and gesturing to the fans to get louder. Cameron bounced among his teammates like an out-of-control Ping-Pong ball after his 14.95 set, while Kelley anchored with a 14.75.

When the Wolverines got to high bar, the energy of team and fans reached new heights. Catrambone performed the same set that earned him the Big Ten high bar title, sticking his triple backflip dismount. Kelley finished the event with a 15.45 set, roaring to his teammates.

“That was the moment for me where I went crazy,” Michigan assistant coach Scott Vetere said. “I think I could have jumped over the high bar.”

Heading into floor exercise, the final event, Michigan was in third behind Cal and second-place Stanford. The two expected powers of the night, Stanford and Oklahoma, finished on rings and vault.

Michigan knocked out set after set on the floor. Sophomore Ben Baldus-Strauss finished his routine and ran in long leaps back to his teammates’ arms. Rosso, Cameron and Kelley ended the night with three straight scores above 15 — exactly what the Wolverines needed to edge out the Sooners for second place.

“You know, even though we got second, this felt like ‘99 where we won," said Vetere, who was a freshman on the 1999 NCAA Championship team. "You could just feel that we were going to hit routines. That’s just a great feeling and as a coach, I haven’t had that feeling since I was competing."

The Cardinal finished in first place, but from the beaming smile on the face of every Wolverine, it was easy to believe they had won.