ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Penn State men’s gymnastics finished fifth at the 2025 NC Men’s Gymnastics Championships. The finish marks the best for the Nittany Lions since the 2016 season, when the team also place fifth overall.
The Saturday rotations began on the still rings for the Nittany Lions. Josh Karnes opened the evening matching his season high on the apparatus with a 13.100. Akseli Karsikas kept up the pace with a 13.600, marking a new season-best for the sophomore. Ian Raubal, who finished 11th overall on the rings, posted the Nittany Lions top score of 13.833 on the event.
Graduate student Kellen Ryan led the way on vault in his first-ever NC Men’s Gymnastics Championship, posting a team-high 14.033 on his launch. Landon Simpson and Matt Cormier followed closely behind, tallying a 14.000 and 13.900, respectively.
Senior Josh Karnes earned his first of two All-American recognitions on the parallel bars, putting up a 13.900 on the apparatus. Junior Ian Raubal narrowly missed the All-American cut with a 12th-place finish on his 13.666 routine.
For the first time all season, Penn State faced real adversity on the high bar. Only Matt Cormier hit on his routine, posting a 13.033 to finish 22nd in his final collegiate meet and tally a new season best on the high bar.
Karnes again posted the top PSU score, this time on floor where he finished 13th overall on a 13.633 routine. Karsikas earned a stick on his last pass to boost his score to a 13.533 and finish 18th overall.
The Nittany Lions closed out the night on the pommel horse, where junior Kacper Garnczarek posted a career-high 13.766 routine, but the Poland native was edged out on All-American status due to a lower start value from Nebraska’s Taylor Christopulos, the 2025 Nissen-Emery Award winner. Josh Karnes, Ethan Dick, and Landon Simpson all followed, each tallying a score above 13.200.
Karnes scores across the session totaled to 80.232, and the senior finished sixth overall in his first All-Around of the season. For his efforts, he earned his third consecutive All-Around All-American nod.