January 26. 2018
NITTANY LIONS OPEN BIG TEN SLATE WITH ILLINOIS
The Penn State men's gymnastics team will compete in its first Big Ten Conference meet Saturday, Jan. 27 when it hosts Illinois for a double dual with the women's gymnastics team inside Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions and the Fighting Illini will compete starting at 4 p.m.
CATCHING THE MEET FROM HOME
Fans who cannot make it out to the meet on Saturday, can catch all the action live on LionVision at http://www.gopsusports.com/collegesportslive/ as well as follow along with live results at GoPSUsports.com.
SERIES HISTORY WITH ILLINOIS
The Nittany Lions hold the slight 14-9 advantage in dual meetings with the Fighting Illini but had a setback in the 2017 campaign to Illinois. The Blue and White lost its first meet of the season when it traveled to Champaign, Illinois in 2017, falling 411.350-404.550. Penn State picked up the win the last time the two teams met at Rec Hall as the event came down to the final rotation of the day.
ILLINOIS AT A GLANCE
The Fighting Illini come into the meet ranked third nationally with an average score of 406.000 after two weeks of competition.
Illinois leads the nation on the high bar with a 67.550 average, while Tyson Bull ranks third overall in the country. Senior Brandon Ngai sits in third overall on the pommel horse behind Penn State's Stephen Nedoroscik, while Alex Diab ranks third on the still rings with a 14.425 average. The Fighting Illini also have a top ranked competitor on the vault in Bobby Baker, who ranks second overall, and earned Co-Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors.
NITTANY LIONS DOMINATE IN FIRST HOME MEET
Behind five event victors and an all-around winner, the Penn State men's gymnastics team secured its first home victory of the 2018 season with a 407.600-384.100 win over Army West Point. The Nittany Lions bested their team score, while posting season-bests on the pommel horse (67.850), and the still rings (68.550). The Blue and White also took home five event titles as well as the all-around title as sophomore Stephen Nedoroscik notched the pommel horse title, Greg Tamargo captured both the still rings and vault titles, freshman Brennan Pantazis earned the parallel bars and all-around wins, and freshman Alex Frack picked up the high bar win. Penn State saw eight career-highs on the day with Frack besting all his scores from the West Point Open and earning his first collegiate title.
FRACK NOTCHES B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS
Freshman Alex Frack was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday, Jan. 22. The honor marks the first of his career and the second-straight week in which Penn State has won the award as Brennan Pantazis garnered it a week ago.
Frack notched three podium finishes in his first collegiate home meet, including one event victory. The Nazareth, Pennsylvania native placed third on the pommel horse, scoring a 13.550 and third on the parallel bars with a 13.650.
Frack capped off the meet with one final victory for the Blue and White, notching a 13.700 on the high bar for his first collegiate win. The freshman bested all his scores from a week prior at the West Point Open.
TAMARGO HAS BIG SHOWING AGAINST ARMY
Junior Greg Tamargo led the Nittany Lions in their first home meet of the season, securing three podium finishes on the afternoon. The Kennett Square, Pa. native started the meet with a second-place finish on the floor exercise before going on to take the title in both the still rings and the vault. Tamargo scored a 14.150 on the still rings and a 14.000 on the vault in his wins, earning him the Gene Wettstone award for the meet.
BLUE AND WHITE LEADING THE NATION ON POMMEL HORSE
After two complete weeks of competition, the Penn State men's gymnastics team is leading the nation on the pommel horse with an average score of 67.350. Sophomore Stephen Nedoroscik has won the event in both meets thus far for the Nittany Lions, having posted a career-high at the West Point Open with a 15.000, ranking in second nationally behind Ohio State's Alec Yoder. Furthermore, senior Colin Coates ranks just outside the top 10, coming in 12th in the nation after picking up second-place finishes in both weeks of competition with an average score of 13.517.
TICKET INFORMATION
For information on purchasing 2018 season tickets fans can visit http://www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
PROMOTIONS
Penn State men's gymnastics will be hosting its first double dual of the season this Saturday with a Princess and Pirates Day. Fans will receive a free princess wands and Penn State eyepatches while supplies last. There will also be a pre-meet kid zone with a balloon artist, caricature artist, face painter, and create-a-sign station. Finally, fans are invited to join both teams for a post-meet autograph session and pizza party.
NEXT UP
Penn State hits the road to take on Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio Friday, Feb. 9. The two teams will match up at 6 p.m.
