Hear what Coach @RandyJepson had to say about our win over William & Mary tonight.#WeAre pic.twitter.com/btcLimwZ4O
— Penn State Men's Gymnastics (@PennStateMGYM) February 16, 2020
RESULTS
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 8 Penn State men's gymnastics stayed unbeaten at 10-0 with a 403.750-381.100 win over William & Mary in a non-conference meet Saturday at Rec Hall. The Lions finished with a higher team score on five of six events.
The Lions won all six individual events, including a pair of first-place finishes each from Brennan Pantazis and Sam Zakutney.
Penn State was without two-time national champion Stephen Nedoroscik as he is in Melbourne, Australia, and will compete in the World Cup on Thursday. That didn't stop the Lions from posting their second-best team pommel horse score of the season with a 69.000. Only one team – Michigan – has recorded a higher score in the event this season despite the Lions competing without the nation's best individual in the event right now.
Head coach Randy Jepson has lauded the potential of Jack Baldwin all season and the sophomore stepped up big against William & Mary. He came through with the best routine of his career for a personal-best 14.25. Baldwin shared the title with teammate Favian Valdez, who also scored a 14.25. The Lions took the top four spots in the event with Nick Mock finishing third and Alex Frack taking fourth.
Pantazis picked up his first win of the day with a 14.0 score on vault. Redshirt freshman Eric Lung was the runner-up while scoring a personal-best 13.75, and Nate Warren took third while scoring 13.7 in the first floor routine of his collegiate career.
Pantazis later added a victory on a vault with a 14.4. Parker Clayton finished third.
Zakutney won back-to-back events to end the meet, taking first outright on parallel bars and sharing the win with Frack on high bar. Zakutney scored 14.3 to win parallel bars, while Clayton competed in the event for the first time this season and took third. Frack and Zakutney tied for first on high bar, scoring 13.95. Brady Yamamoto was third with a personal-best score of 13.55 on high bar, while Valdez was right behind him in fourth.
It didn't take long for Isaac Hammett to get back to his winning ways on rings. He won the event in each of the first three meets before having the streak end at Air Force two weeks ago. He bounced back in a big way, matching his season high with 14.35. Brayden Borromeo (13.5) was the runner-up, and Zakutney (13.4) finished third with his first rings routine of the season.
Penn State is 10-0 to start the season or the second-straight year. The Lions will look to keep their perfect record intact when they travel for a Big Ten meet at Nebraska on Saturday, Feb. 29.
Nedoroscik – at the World Cup – and Pantazis will be the only Penn State gymnasts competing prior to the meet at Nebraska. Pantazis will compete at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas on Thursday-Saturday.