April 9, 2014
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The final competition of the 2014 season has finally arrived and the No. 6 Penn State men's gymnastics team is set to compete in the NCAA national championships hosted by Michigan at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Nittany Lions open the three-day event in the second session of the NCAA qualifier Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. PSU returns to action Friday, April 11 for the team and all around finals before closing out the event with the individual event finals Saturday, April 12 at 7 p.m.
All four sessions of Friday's individual finals will stream live via NCAA.com, while also broadcasting live on the Big Ten Network with Lisa Byington and John Roethlisberger on the call.
The Nittany Lions enter this weekend's competition looking to capture their 13th national title in program history. Penn State's 12 team titles ranks first in the NCAA among all active DI programs. One of all seven Big Ten squads to qualify for this year's championships, the Nittany Lions also enter the weekend ranked within the top five as a team in three events. PSU is currently tabbed fourth on the floor exercise (73.463) and fifth on both the vault (73.938) and the parallel bars (72.650).
Last weekend, Penn State earned a third-place finish at the 2014 Big Ten Championships. Sophomore Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) led the way with an individual title on the still rings, swinging to a career-high score of 15.825 to earn first team All-Big Ten honors. Junior Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) closed out the weekend with a runner-up finish on the pommel horse with a score of 15.175 to earn second team All-Big Ten honors.
Despite finishing fourth as a team at the 2013 NCAA national championships, Howard highlighted the individual finals with his first career NCAA title. Howard headlined a group of six PSU All-Americans with the program's third victory on the floor exercise, marking the first Penn State title on the floor in 50 years. Howard's presently ranked 11th nationally on the floor exercise (15.100) and fifth in the NCAA on the rings (15.712).He's also ranked within the top 15 in two more events, slated 14th on the vault (15.006) and 13th on the parallel bars (14.887).
Junior Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) and redshirt junior Nestor Rodriguez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) are both ranked within the top 20 in two separate events each. Torres is the Nittany Lions' highest ranked gymnast on the floor exercise, as he's currently slotted ninth (15.113). He's also ranked 11th on the rings, averaging a score of 15.250 on the apparatus.Following a top-10 finish on the parallel bars last weekend, Rodriguez is ranked 12th on the parallel bars (14.919), while also coming in at 16th on the vault, (14.900).
Junior Matt Felleman (Medway, Mass.) will look to capture his second consecutive All-America status. After a fourth-place finish at last year's championships, Felleman is currently ranked eighth nationally on the high bar (15.000). Senior Wasef Burbar (Arlington Heights, Ill.) will look to bookend his collegiate career with his second All-America honor on the high bar. Currently ranked 19th nationally on the apparatus, (14.619), Burbar recorded his first All-America performance at the 2011 NCAA national championships during his rookie season.
Junior Tristan Duverglas (West Orange, N.J.) and Hernandez are both vying for their first career NCAA titles ranked within the top five in two events. Following his runner-up performance last weekend, Hernandez is ranked third on the pommel horse (15.063). Duverglas narrowly missed a top performance last weekend, but heads into this week ranked second nationally on the vault (15.175).