Jan. 19, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - In a tightly contested dual meet that came down to the final rotation, the No. 2 Penn State men's gymnastics team missed a chance to claim a road win against a conference and fell to No. 6 Michigan, 356.950-353.900, on Saturday night at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.
For the second consecutive meet, PSU was without one its top competitors, as 2007 All-American Vladi Klurman (North Miami Beach, Fla.) missed the conference dual due to an illness. In its season opening win over Army, five-time All-American Tommy Ramos (Guaynabo, P.R.) did not compete. Ramos saw limited action versus the Wolverines.
With the team's health affecting the make-up of the line-up, junior Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) proved to be the Nittany Lions saving grace once again. The reigning Big Ten Men's Gymnast of the Week captured titles in the pommel horse (15.150) and parallel bars (15.350) and tied for the still rings crown (15.300), giving him six individual event victories through the first two weeks of the season. Sandy was an uncontested all-around winner, besting his week one score by posting a 91.150 against the Wolverines. He also placed second in the floor exercise (15.400) and vault (15.750).
Senior captain Santiago Lopez (Cibola del Mar, Mex.) continued his impressive start to the 2008 season, winning the vault (15.900) for the second consecutive week. He also placed third in the floor exercise.
Redshirt freshman Jason Chu (Los Angeles, Calif.) built on his opening week standout effort, finishing in third place in the pommel horse with a score of 14.250.
As a team, Penn State won the floor exercise, pommel horse, vault, but faltered late in the meet on the parallel bars and high bar, denying the Nittany Lions the opportunity to avenge last year's loss to the Wolverines; one of just two blemishes in their 2007 national championship season.
Penn State returns home next weekend for a dual meet with No. 11 Temple on Sat., Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions own a 71-11 record in its all-time series with the Owls, including wins at the Temple Invitational and West Point Open in 2007. Penn State has not lost to Temple since 1995.