| Saturday, Jan. 20 | 4 p.m. | Rec Hall University Park, Pa. | Tickets |
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January 19, 2018
PENN STATE READY FOR FIRST HOME MEET
For the 16th-straight season, Penn State men's gymnastics will open its 2018 home campaign with a dual against Army West Point. The two teams are set to square off Saturday, Jan. 20 at 4 p.m. at Rec Hall. The two squads will have a 30 second warm up period for the first three rotations before taking a seven minute halftime prior to the fourth rotation of the meet. Penn State will begin on the floor exercise and Army will compete on the pommel horse in the first rotation.
NITTANY LIONS KICK OFF HOME SLATE WITH ARMY WEST POINT DUAL FOR 16TH-STRAIGHT SEASON
Saturday's meeting with the Black Knights will mark the 16th-straight season in which Penn State and Army West Point have kicked off the Nittany Lions' home campaign with a dual against the Black Knights. Furthermore, the two teams have met up to start the season for 20 seasons with both squads being at the West Point Open in 2001, 2002, 2017, and 2018.
SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BLACK KNIGHTS
Penn State owns the 41-18-1 overall dual record over Army West Point. The Nittany Lions have not dropped a meet to Army West Point since 1962 when the Black Knights handed Gene Wettstone and his squad their lone loss of the season with a 54-42 victory over Penn State. Most recently, Penn State earned a 406.850-380.350 victory over the Black Knights at the 27th Annual West Point Open, Jan. 13.
PENN STATE CAPTURES FIFTH-STRAIGHT WEST POINT OPEN TITLE
he Penn State men's gymnastics team captured its fifth-straight and 20th overall West Point Open title, scoring a 406.850 in the 27th Annual West Point Open at the Gross Center Friday, January 12. Navy placed second overall with a 395.050, while Army came in third with a 380.350 and William and Mary notched a fourth-place finish with a 378.300. Springfield and Temple rounded out the meet with 369.250 and 223.050, respectively.
The Nittany Lions earned the team win on five-of-six events, scoring a 69.200 on the floor and a 66.850 on the pommel horse. The Blue and White also captured the event victory on the still rings with a 65.600, while placing second on the vault with a 70.500. Finally, Penn State notched event wins on the parallel bars with a 67.850 and the high bar with a 66.850.
The Blue and White also swept all six event titles with victories from Sam Zakutney (vault & parallel bars), Wyatt Tyndall (floor exercise), Michael Burns (high bar), Stephen Nedoroscik (pommel horse) and Noah Roberson (still rings).
BLUE AND WHITE TAKE HOME FOUR EVENT TITLES
The Penn State men's gymnastics team took home four individual event victories, including sweeping the top three spots on the parallel bars in the individual event finals of the West Point Open.
Freshman Brennan Pantazis made his mark in his first weekend donning the Blue and White at the West Point Open, capturing the individual event titles on the floor exercise with a 14.250 and on the parallel bars with a 13.900. Junior Michael Burns continued to dominate the high bar at the West Point Open, capturing his third-straight title at the event with a 13.550. The Nittany Lions saw their first victor of the evening in Pantazis on the floor exercise before sophomore Stephen Nedoroscik notched his first pommel horse title of the 2018 season, earning a career-high 15.000. Pantazis notched his second win of the night for the Nittany Lions before Burns capped off the event with his third-straight West Point Open high bar title.
PENN STATE SWEEPS CONFERENCE AWARDS
Sophomore Sam Zakutney and freshman Brennan Pantazis swept the Big Ten Conference weekly awards with Zakutney winning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week and Pantazis notching Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. Zakutney notched conference honors for the sixth time in his career as he was a four-time Freshman of the Week honoree and the 2017 Big Ten Freshman of the Year award winner. Pantazis picks up his first conference honor after donning the Blue and White for the first time at the West Point Open.
PANTAZIS PUTS UP BIG NUMBERS IN FIRST COLLEGIATE MEET
Freshman Brennan Pantazis paced the Nittany Lions at the West Point Open, earning two first-place finishes in the individual finals. The freshman notched a 14.250 on the floor exercise and a 13.900 on the parallel bars in his finals debut. Pantazis placed himself in the finals after earning a second-place finish in the team portion of the event on the floor exercise and tying for fourth on the parallel bars. The Sparks, Nevada native also placed second in the all-around in his first collegiate meet.
ZAKUTNEY PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF LAST SEASON
Sophomore Sam Zakutney led the Nittany Lions to a win at the 27th annual West Point Open. The Ottawa, Ontario native won three events in the team finals, with victories on the vault, parallel bars and in the all-around. Zakutney also placed third on the high bar and fourth on the floor. Finally, Zakutney participated in four event finals at the West Point Open for the Blue and White with a second-place finish on the parallel bars. After the first week of competition, Zakutney ranks second in the nation in the all-around after scoring an 81.350, while also ranking sixth on the parallel bars with an average score of 14.100.
NEDOROSCIK BESTS CAREER SCORE ON POMMEL HORSE
Sophomore Stephen Nedoroscik kicked off the season scoring a 14.800 on the pommel horse in the team finals before going on to post a career-high 15.000 in the individual finals. Nedoroscik bested the 14.900 he earned last season when he became the NCAA Pommel Horse National Champion.
