April 12, 2018
By Madeleine Balestrier, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For Brennan Pantazis, last weekend's Big Ten floor championship brought his entire freshman experience full circle.
"He really struggled on floor the first day of training and it was a different kind of punch, the floor was different and it was hard for him," head coach Randy Jepson said. "I knew if he just got some time, he'd rock and he did. So, I've been happy with it."
"I took like two months off before I came to college so that's definitely like why I was struggling," Pantazis said. "Trusting in the process and doing everything extra that I can do to get back to where I was definitely helped."
Since the first meet of the season, Pantazis began working towards the coveted Big Ten Championships.
"It is a whole different environment once you step into that next level," captain Ben Cooperman said.
He began his freshman campaign with Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and career-bests across the board as an all-around competitor at the West Point Open and at Rec Hall against Army West Point in the first two weeks of competition. That start gave the team confidence in their newcomer.
"Brennan is a guy that we knew could compete at a high level," Jepson said. "There are four different types of competitors...you have the guy that doesn't practice well and he doesn't compete well and you have the guy who practices well, but doesn't know how to compete. Then you have a guy who doesn't practice well, but he finds a way to compete and that drives you crazy because he would be so much better if he worked...then you have a guy that practices well and competes well and Brennan is both of those."
Before Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Pantazis' best floor routine came at the West Point Open when he landed a 14.250 for the Nittany Lions.
At the highly anticipated conference championships, Pantazis bested the competition and a new personal best with a clean and dynamic floor routine. He led the entire field of Big Ten floor gymnasts at 14.275.
"It's nice to get a guy who practices well and competes well, but then in a meet can do even better than what you hoped," Jepson said. "Brennan has a routine that he is really confident on now and it's very clean. He lands very well physically. His technique on landing is excellent on floor. That's what floor comes down to, you gotta land."
"It's pretty awesome," Cooperman said. "We really have all the guys pulling for each other and we all get to share in their glory even if it's individual."
When Pantazis stuck the final landing of his floor routine, the Crisler Center erupted with cheers from his Blue and White brothers, while he left the floor with a fist pump and a smile.
"It definitely amplified the excitement and the joy I was feeling," Pantazis said. "I mean I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face for the rest of the night."
"One of the best things about him, he's really hard on himself he wants to compete at a really high level," Cooperman said. "He gets really excited. He wants the team to succeed and it was awesome to see how energtic he was after that final stick on floor, but he's a great teammate and a really great guy to have and he's definitely doing well for the team."
The young freshman has even garnered comparisons to other accomplished Penn State men's gymnastics alumni, like Trevor Howard and Louis Vargas. Howard was a national champion on floor during his freshman year, while Vargas went to the Olympics representing Puerto Rico in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
"He [Pantazis] can find another gear," Jepson said. "We've had some other guys like that here before. Trevor Howard, Louis Vargas, guys that compete really really well and we knew he had that in him and it was just a matter of time I think before he felt on top of things enough."
He also made history at his freshman Big Ten Championships. In the footsteps of another Blue and White gymnastics alum, Mike Dutka, Pantazis was only the second Penn State gymnast ever to notch the Big Ten floor exercise title.
"It's really exciting," Pantazis said. "I guess I'm the second guy in the history of Penn State to do that on floor...just a really nice accomplishment stepping stone and hopefully going to look for a national title in two weeks."
Sophomore teammate Stephen Nedoroscik and Pantazis will head to Chicago, Illinois next weekend to represent Penn State men's gymnastics in the NCAA Championships.
"I feel...really amazing, I mean it was a cool experience," Pantazis said. "A really exciting and jovial moment in my life and I don't know it gave me more motivation to push harder going into NCAAs next weekend."
"They are just enjoying the last two weeks of preparation and they've worked hard all season to get a good result so I think they are ready for that," Jepson said.
Beyond NCAA Championship expectations, Pantazis' rookie season has set the tone for his next three years as a Nittany Lion.