Jan. 21, 2012
Results
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Penn State men's gymnastics team dropped its 2012 road opener on Saturday evening, falling to Big Ten rival Michigan, 340.300-338.450, at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor. The Nittany Lions won two events as a team (floor exercise and still rings) and three individually (floor exercise, still rings, and high bar).
Penn State was dominant once again in the still rings, outscoring the Wolverines by nearly three points (59.650-56.750). Senior Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio), competing for the first time in 2012 after sitting out last weekend's season opener, won the event with a score of 15.300. Reigning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week junior Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.) placed second (15.250) while sophomore Nestor Rodriguez (Guaynabo, P.R.) finished in fourth with a career-high score of 14.650.
Penn State scored a 59.200 in the floor exercise with junior Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) taking top individual honors (15.300) and junior Matt Chelberg (Athens, Ohio) placing second (15.000).
Mackenzie Dow (Cranford, N.J.) was Penn State's third individual winner, claiming his third title through the first two weeks of the season. The junior captured the high bar with a career-best mark of 14.750.
Seeing action for the first time since qualifying for the 2012 Olympics earlier this month, junior Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) competed in four events. His top effort was a third place finish in the parallel bars (14.200).
Freshman Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) made his Nittany Lion debut on Saturday. A former Junior Olympic national champion in the pommel horse, he placed third in the event with Penn State's top score (13.400).
Penn State will be back in action next weekend when it competes at the 21st annual West Point Open on January 20-21. Hosted by the United States Military Academy on its southern New York campus, the Nittany Lions have dominated the annual competition, winning 13 consecutive team titles. In 2011, Penn State posted a score of 347.000 to top the West Point Open field and three Nittany Lions captured individual event titles.
The team competition is scheduled for Friday with the individual event finals to be held on Saturday. Both competitions are set for 7 p.m. at the home of the Army Black Knights, Christl Arena.