March 16, 2018
March 16, 2018
PENN STATE PREPPED FOR FINAL HOME MEET
The Penn State men's gymnastics team is set to welcome Nebraska for its final home meet of the 2018 campaign Saturday, March 17 at 4 p.m. inside Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions will honor the careers of Colin Coates, Ben Cooperman, Quest Hayden, and Greg Tamargo following the meet with the Cornhuskers.
CATCHING THE MEET FROM HOME
Fans who cannot make it out to the meet on Saturday, can follow along with live results on GoPSUsports.com or follow along live on Twitter and Instagram @PennStateMGYM.
SERIES HISTORY WITH NEBRASKA
Penn State holds the slight 5-4 all-time advantage in duals with Nebraska as it competed in numerous tri-meets and opens with the Cornhuskers over the history of the two programs. The Nittany Lions and Nebraska last met up for a dual in the 2000 season when Penn State took the 231.050-223.700 victory over the Cornhuskers at Rec Hall. In the last regular season meeting, Nebraska took the victory over both Penn State and Iowa in Lincoln, Nebraska, scoring a 418.350 and taking three event victories.
SCOUTING THE CORNHUSKERS
Nebraska is ranked second in the nation with an average score of 406.567 and a season-high 411.750. The Cornhuskers lead the nation on the vault and rank in the top three on the floor exercise and the pommel horse. Individually, Anton Stephenson has the top score in the nation on the vault as he averages a 15.000, while Kyle King ranks third on the vault. Antonio Castro has also proved to be a top competitor on the pommel horse with a season average of 14.079.
SENIOR PROFILES
>> Colin Coates - Coates has competed on the pommel horse in every meet this season for the Blue and White, earning a second-place finish at the West Point Open and against Army West Point with season-high 14.050. The Emmaus, Pennsylvania native also notched a podium finish on the horse at Arizona State.
>> Benjamin Cooperman - Selected the team captain for the 2018 season, Cooperman has competed on both the pommel horse and the still rings this year.
>> Quest Hayden - Hayden has appeared on three events this season, putting together routines on floor exercise, pommel horse, and vault. The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native earned two podium spots, finishing third on the floor twice.
>> Joshua Smith - Smith has appeared on two events for the Nittany Lions in 2018, earning a win on both the floor exercise and the vault. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native has also notched two podium finishes on the vault with second-place finishes.
>> Greg Tamargo - Tamargo has proven himself this season with wins on both the still rings and vault for Penn State. In the first home meet of the season, Tamargo notched victories on both events, while earning a podium finish on the floor at Arizona State.
FIVE UP, FIVE COUNT
Reaching the midway point of the 2018 season, men's gymnastics will now go to the five up, five count format for the remainder of the season. The Nittany Lions will keep all five scores that go up and compete instead of taking the five highest like it is prior to the Winter Cup.
BROTHERLY LOVE
Junior Wyatt Tyndall will have a familiar face to compete against at Rec Hall this weekend as his younger brother, Mitch Tyndall, is a freshman on the Nebraska men's gymnastics team. The younger Tyndall has yet to compete this season but was a two-time Provincial All-Around Champion and a 2016 Peter Vidmar Invitational All-Around Champion prior to becoming a Cornhusker.
PENN STATE DOMINATES ON THE FLOOR
The Nittany Lions are currently the best team in the nation on the floor with a four-score average of 69.700 and a season-best 70.950. Penn State is led by junior Joshua Smith, who scored a team-best 14.650, while the team has seen five individual event victories on the floor this season. Junior Chris Sands has picked up the victory in back-to-back weeks, earning a 14.300 at Iowa and a 14.200 at Arizona State.
REMAINING IN THE TOP THREE
The Nittany Lions have battled all season to maintain a top-three spot heading into week nine of the season. The Blue and White currently ranks third in the nation with a four-score average of 406.783 after earning victories over Arizona State and Navy this past weekend. Penn State also ranks in the top three as a team on floor exercise (1st), pommel horse (T-3rd), still rings (2nd), and parallel bars (2nd).
SANDS IS VICTORIOUS FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT WEEK
Junior Chris Sands picked up his third-straight victory in as many weeks, placing first on the floor exercise with a 14.200 at Arizona State. The win marks the third of the season for Sands as he also notched a victory on the floor exercise at Iowa with a 14.300 and on the still rings against Minnesota. The Lancaster, Pa. native also earned a top-five finish on the still rings, scoring a 13.750.
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.
NEXT UP
The Penn State men's gymnastics team concludes its 2018 regular season Saturday, March 24 when it travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a meet with the Wolverines for a 1 p.m. meet.
