UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's gymnastics team heads to West Point, N.Y., for the second-straight weekend, this time taking on Army in a dual at 12 p.m. on Saturday, January 19 at the Gross Center on Army's campus.
Zakutney's Big Opening Weekend
Junior Sam Zakutney opened up his junior season in impressive fashion, winning the all-around with a score of 81.00 on Friday night at the West Point Open, while taking first in three events in the preliminary rounds: floor (prelim score: 14.450), high bar (prelim score: 13.700), and parallel bars (prelim score: 13.950) and qualifying for the finals in all three of those events. On Saturday in the finals, not only did the junior win all three events again, he improved upon his score in all three, winning the floor title with a 14.550 routine, winning high bar with an improved 13.800, and elevating his performance on the p-bars to a 14.000. He was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week as well as the CGA NCAA National Gymnast of the Week for his performance.
Valdez Returns From Injury With Strong Performance at Army
Redshirt sophomore Favian Valdez competed in five events for the Nittany Lions at the West Point Open last weekend, making the finals in all five, and he went on to secure his first career pommel horse title as well. Read more about his road to recovery HERE
In the Polls
Penn State was picked No. 4 in the Big Ten Coaches Poll and No. 8 in the College Gymnastics Association. Senior Wyatt Tyndall and junior Sam Zakutney were named to the 2019 Big Ten Men's Gymnasts to Watch List.
Returning All-Americans
Penn State returns All-Americans Stephen Nedoroscik, Greg Tamargo, and Sam Zakutney. Nedoroscik was named an All-American for the second straight year after earning a 14.666 and earning a second national championship title on the pommel horse. Tamargo earned his first career All-America citing on still rings after tying for sixth place with a 13.800 record. Zakutney earned two citings in 2018, bringing his career total to three. He tied for third in the parallel bars with a 14.466 score, and a seventh place finish on the high bar with a score of 13.866.
Build on Big Ten Success
Brennan Pantazis and Stephen Nedoroscik garnered First Team All-Big Ten honors, while junior Greg Tamargo was named to the second team. Pantazis and Nedoroscik became the 13th and 14th Big Ten Individual Event Champions in Penn State men's gymnastics history at the 2018 Big Ten Championships and are the first since Trevor Howard earned the high bar title in the 2016 campaign. Furthermore the duo are the first pair of Penn State gymnasts to earn a title in the same year since 2015 when Howard and Matthew Felleman each took home individual titles. Pantazis was just the second Penn State gymnast to capture the Big Ten floor exercise title and the first since Mike Dutka earned the honor in the 1998 season. Nedoroscik is the third Nittany Lion to notch the pommel horse title for Penn State as Craig Hernandez captured the title in both 2012 and 2013. Nedoroscik also joins the company of Dutka, who won three titles in the 1998 season, including the pommel horse victory.
2019 Slate Moments
Penn State will host Nebraska in a double dual with Penn State women's gymnastics on January 26, then will also host Navy and Air Force on February 23. Penn State will return to Rec Hall for its final home meet of 2019 to host Illinois and Michigan on Saturday, March 16.
Road highlights include going to the Winter Cup in Las Vegas, and a meet at Ohio State on Saturday, March 2. Ohio State finished 2018 ranked at No. 5 in the College Gymnastics Association Poll, and returns senior Alec Yoder who was the 2018 CGA Event Specialist of the year. The Nittany Lions will finish the regular season on the road, taking on Minnesota and Iowa in Minneapolis on March 23. Minnesota finished the season ranked No. 2 in the polls, and as the NCAA runners-up. Iowa fell in behind Penn State at No. 9 at the end of 2018.
