UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – For the first time since the 2023 season, and only the second season since 2020, Penn State has a finalist for the Nissen-Emery Award, which highlights the nation’s top men’s gymnast. Senior Josh Karnes has been named one of seven finalists for the award, the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) announced Tuesday afternoon.
Karnes, a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, finished his 2024 season with a bronze medal at the NCAA Championships on the Parallel Bars after being securing the event title at Big Ten individual championships the same season. The senior is a five time All-American, earning the nod in the All-Around and Parallel Bars in both 2023 and 2024 in addition to earning the honor on the Vault in 2023.
This season, Karnes has earned Gymnast of the Week honors from the Big Ten and Specialist of the Week honors from the CGA. The Communications and Media Studies major is currently the nation’s No. 2-ranked Parallel Bars gymnast with a four-score average of 14.033. His High Bar numbers have been equally as impressive this year. He ranks fifth in the country on the event with a four-score average of 13.683. As the anchor for the event, he has helped Penn State to secure its last two meet wins, including the upset over No. 2-ranked Stanford.
The “Heisman Trophy” of gymnastics, the Nissen-Emery Award is inscribed with the following motto: “The true champion seeks excellence physically, mentally, socially, and morally.”
Presented annually to the top collegiate male senior gymnast in the U.S., the award was originally named the Nissen Award after George Nissen, a former NCAA Champion, for his contributions to the sport. In 1997, it was renamed the Nissen-Emery Award in honor of former Penn State gymnast Dr. Robert Emery for his support of the sport. Emery won the award in 1969.
Penn State's seven recipients are tied with Stanford for second most in the award's history behind Oklahoma’s eight. Stephen Nedoroscik is the most recent Nittany Lion to receive the award, coming in 2020. Steve Cohen was the Lion's first winner in 1967, followed by Emery in 1969, Gene Whelan in 1976, Spider Maxwell in 1987, Matt Cohen in 2007 and Casey Sandy in 2009.
The winner of the 2025 Nissen-Emery Award will be announced at the NCAA Championships in April.