Feb. 2, 2017
By Tom Shively, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - For so many freshmen, heading off to college for the first time can be a nerve-wracking experience. For Penn State men's gymnastics' Stephen Nedoroscik, that was the easy part.
"I adapted to college life really quickly. That didn't take long," Nedoroscik said. "Adjusting to college competitions on the other hand, took me a couple weeks to get into it."
Of course, Nedoroscik had the added advantage of being surrounded by teammates who walked a very similar path. All of them have been together since summer workouts, making the transition to college and competition much smoother.
"I got a lot of tips from the coaches and other teammates and I think what they told me really helped me," Nedoroscik said.
Like his teammate Favian Valdez, Nedoroscik gained interest in gymnastics at a very young age, as it was a way for him to release all his pent up energy. His parents saw potential in that, and they decided together that it was something they could pursue.
"As a kid, I would always climb everything, and my mom thought it was a sign that I should go into gymnastics," Nedoroscik said. "I used to grab on to edges of a wall and I would all the way up. I was like a year old."
He hasn't stopped since, as Nedoroscik was able to work his way through the junior ranks and obtain a college scholarship. Now that he is at Penn State, he is making the most of his opportunity and excelling in his main event: pommel horse.
A native of Worcester, Mass., Nedoroscik had a chance to have a homecoming of sorts last weekend as Penn State traveled to Springfield College, very close to Nedoroscik's home. He put on a fantastic show in front of his friends and family, winning the individual pommel horse title, his first as a Nittany Lion.
"It was really exciting, I'm glad they all got to see me so early in the season," Nedoroscik said. "This was the only meet that a lot of them are going to be able to go to, and I was able to hit it the first time."
"I think for him, he just felt really comfortable," head coach Randy Jepson said. "He'd been in that gym before, competed on that pommel horse before, so that was nice for him to have a chance to do that."
Despite his success, Nedoroscik, his teammates, and the coaching staff understand there is and always will be room for improvement, something that pushes Nedoroscik every day.
"[The upperclassmen] are really motivating," Nedoroscik said. "They're not hard on you if you mess up and that really helps me adjust quicker to the meets. I messed up the first and second meets, but they weren't hard on me about it. They just gave me a lot of tips and it really helped me adjust."
"It's been a good adjustment for him, but he's put a little too much pressure on himself in terms of expectations," Jepson said. "We just want him to go out and have fun and hit routines. It doesn't have to be perfect every time. I think he's going to start to build and get more comfortable and really jump up in the stats, but we're just concerned that he gets into a groove. If he does that, we know he can do great things."
Focusing on only one event has allowed Nedoroscik to concentrate all his efforts toward perfecting his pommel horse routine, something that he hopes will translate to huge success down the road. He is only a freshman, but the man is not afraid to dream big.
"I'm just going to keep that same mindset going into my routine. I want to be able to replicate what I did last weekend every time, especially this upcoming weekend," Nedoroscik said.
"Personally, I'd love to take the NCAA title on pommel horse."