Feb. 27, 2016
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IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Penn State men's gymnastics team placed second in a Big Ten Conference tri-meet against Iowa and Nebraska Saturday, Feb. 27. The Nittany Lions scored a 424.000, falling to Iowa, who notched a 431.150 and defeating Nebraska, who earned a 423.300.
Saturday's tri-meet was the first meet of the season in which the teams competed in Championship format where five gymnasts compete and all five scores count. The remaining meets of the season will all be in this format in preparation for the NCAA Championships.
Senior Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) led the Nittany Lions with his second-straight vault title, while Leroy Clarke, Jr. (Maplewood, N.J.) placed second on the pommel horse and tied for third on the parallel bars and Michael Burns (Baltimore, Ohio) nabbed the second-place finish on the high bar.
Starting on still rings, Penn State scored a 72.800 with Dominic DiFulvio (Marietta, N.Y.) placing third overall with a career-high 15.050. Also placing in the top-five for the Nittany Lions was Clarke notched a 14.950 for a fourth-place finish. Senior Alexis Torres (Cantano, Puerto Rico) rounded out the top three scorers for the Blue and White with a 14.400 on the still rings.
Moving to the floor, junior Christian McSwain (Jamestown, N.C.) earned the third-place finish with a 15.200 and Torres nabbed his second ninth-place finish of the day with a 14.600. Finally, Howard tied for 10th overall after working his way back from an injury. After the conclusion of the second rotation, the Nittany Lions held a slight lead over both Iowa and Nebraska.
On the pommel horse, Clarke stepped up for the Blue and White to tie for second with a 14.500, while McSwain rounded out the top five scorers on the apparatus with a 14.300. As a team, the Nittany Lions earned a 68.550 on the pommel horse.
Penn State came up with a huge set on the vault, scoring a 73.850 using a victory from Howard. Since returning from injury just two weeks ago, Howard has captured two vault titles, including earning a 15.200 against Iowa and Nebraska. Junior Jeremy Munn (York, Maine) also had a stellar performance for the Blue and White, earning a career-best 14.850 and a third-place finish. Finally, Wyatt Tyndall (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and Torres tied for fifth with a 14.700.
The Nittany Lions struggled on the parallel bars, notching a 67.950 with Clarke placing a team-best third overall with a 14.700. DiFulvio notched a sixth-place finish with a 14.350 for the Blue and White.
In the final rotation of the day, Penn State notched a 69.000 to fall just short of defeating both Iowa and Nebraska. Burns continued to be leader on the event, earning a 14.400 and a second-place finish, while Tyndall placed fifth with a 14.000.
The Nittany Lions will be back in action Friday, Mar. 4 when they head to Tempe, Ariz. for a meet against the Sun Devils of Arizona State. The meet is slated to start at 9 p.m. ET.