RESULTS
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The eighth-ranked Penn State men's gymnastics team remained unbeaten on the season and picked up its first Big Ten win in thrilling fashion with a 405.900-405.000 victory over No. 7 Ohio State in front of 2,518 fans on Saturday at Rec Hall.
The Lions moved to 8-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten, while Ohio State dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Fans can watch the replay of the meet on the Big Ten Network on Sunday at noon.
The Lions won four events on the night, including a clutch return performance on parallel bars by senior Sam Zakutney. He was joined as event winners by senior Stephen Nedoroscik (pommel horse), junior Brennan Pantazis (vault) and senior Isaac Hammett.
Zakutney competed for the first time this season after suffering an injury prior to the first meet. The team's top all-arounder performed two routines as he works his way back and the Lions needed his first-place score of 14.35 on parallel bars in the closely-contested meet. The defending Big Ten champion in the event came through with a solid performance that included a stick bonus and edged the runner-up from Ohio State, Justin Ah Chow (14.30).
It's no coincidence that Penn State totaled its best score of the season on parallel bars with Zakutney in the lineup, scoring 67.35 compared to 62.0 last week against Army and 64.1 two weeks ago at the West Point Open.
"We got some really clutch performances on parallel bars," Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. "Favian (Valdez) and Sam both have really bad ankles and haven't worked on their dismounts at all but both rocked their routines and stuck their dismounts. That was a huge momentum build for us heading into high bar, where we pulled through with five hits."
Nedoroscik put together a routine worth 15.35, which would be the best in the nation this season if not for the fact that he scored a 15.5 just two weeks ago. Sophomore Nick Mock entered the day with the second-best score in the nation and improved on it with a personal-best score of 14.45 for a runner-up finish.
Mock was another clutch performer for the Lions. After not competing on parallel bars at all last season, he scored a 13.2 in his second routine this season
Pantazis showed huge improvement from last weekend on vault. After finishing eighth with a score of 13.45 against Army, he won the event with a score of 14.5 against Ohio State. Brayden Borromeo was third in the event with a score of 14.25.
All Hammett has done this season is win. He tallied the best score on rings during the team portion of the West Point Open before winning the individual event the following day, finished first against Army last weekend, and now took first against the Buckeyes. His latest score was 13.95, winning easily over the runner-up score of 13.65. Borromeo was third with a score of 13.6.
Kaleb Booth posted a third-place finish on floor for the Lions. The event was won by Jesse Tyndall, the brother of former Penn State gymnast Wyatt Tyndall. Alex Frack added a third-place showing on high bar.
Redshirt freshman Eric Lung posted two personal-best scores during the meet, scoring 13.350 while taking sixth on floor and 13.35 while finishing fourth on high bar. Freshman Robbie Shamp was fourth on floor with a personal-best 13.7.
In addition to its best score of the season on parallel bars, Penn State posted season-best scores on floor (68.15) and high bar (66.5). The Lions also had their best overall score of the season.
"We didn't get off to the start we wanted," Jepson said. "We had a solid performance on floor but then we got to pommel horse and were really hoping to build a lead there. We didn't quite distance ourselves like I wanted to. From there it was tight the rest of the way. I looked at our sheet with 12 routines left and it was anybody's meet at that point. Our guys hung tough and pulled out the win."
