Oct. 3, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Head Coach Randy Jepson announced the 2017 Penn State men's gymnastics schedule, which includes four home meets, Monday October 3. The 2017 slate features eight regular season duals, two invitationals and four home duals.
"All of it is challenging, noted Coach Jepson. "We are going to be slugging it out with every Big Ten team. We face every team but Minnesota in head-to-head competition and it will be a challenge all the way through. The nice thing is that will get you prepared for end of the season competitions. When you are looking at the Big Ten and NCAA's, facing strong foes all through the season that are highly ranked nationally will get you battle-hardened."
The Nittany Lions open the year with their annual Blue-White Showcase Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. inside Rec Hall. The open will allow the men to polish their skills and will give fans a sneak preview of the squad.
Penn State will officially open the 2017 slate when it heads to Army West Point for the West Point Open, Jan. 13-14. Last season, the Blue and White won the West Point Open and swept all six individual event titles for just the second time in Penn State history and the first time since 2012.
Jepson and his squad will compete in Rec Hall for the first time in the 2017 season on Saturday, Jan. 21 when Army comes to Happy Valley for a 4 p.m. contest. The Nittany Lions will then close out the month of January on the road at Springfield Saturday, Jan. 28.
The Blue and White open its Big Ten Conference season Friday, Feb. 3 when it travels to Champaign, Ill. for a 7 p.m. dual with the Fighting Illini. Last season, the Nittany Lions battled back at Rec Hall to take a full point victory over Illinois in its first home conference meet.
Penn State returns to State College for its second home dual of 2017 and first home Big Ten meet Saturday, February 11 when defending Big Ten champion Ohio State comes to Rec Hall for a 4 p.m. meet.
The Nittany Lions will then travel for three-straight meets including the Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nev. Jan. 16-18. From the Winter Cup, Penn State will head to Navy Saturday, Feb. 25 for a dual with the Midshipmen.
The Blue and White close out its road slate Saturday, Mar. 11 when it makes the trek to Nebraska for a 4 p.m. tri-meet with the Cornhuskers and the Hawkeyes of Iowa.
Penn State returns to the friendly confines of Rec Hall Saturday, Mar. 18 for a dual against Michigan before finishing the 2017 regular season with a dual against Iowa Saturday, Mar. 25 at 4 p.m. inside Rec Hall. This season Penn State will honor five seniors against the Hawkeyes including: Franz Card, Dominic DiFulvio, Christian McSwain, Jeremy Munn and Leroy Clarke, Jr.
The Nittany Lions will take a two-week break in action before heading to Champaign, Ill. in search of its fourth Big Ten Championship, Apr. 7-8.
Following the Big Ten Championship, Penn State will travel to West Point, N.Y. for the second time in the season to compete for a national championship. The qualifier will be held on Friday, Apr. 21 and the individual finals will be held Saturday, Apr. 22.