INFO TO SIGN UP FOR VIRTIUS PLATFORM – LIVE RESULTS AND VIDEO
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 2021 Penn State men's gymnastics season opens Saturday afternoon when the Nittany Lions take on Army West Point at 1 p.m. The meet will be held virtually, with the Lions competing at their home gym in Rec Hall and the Black Knights competing at their home facility.
While the teams will not be competing in the same gym, they will be able to watch their opponents' routines live via the video board. The teams will alternate routines on the same apparatus.
Both live results and video will be available free of charge HERE.
Penn State opened the season with the West Point Open in each of the previous four seasons but went head-to-head with Army in the season opener for 13-straight years prior to that. The Lions won all 13 of those contests and are 44-18-1 all-time against the Black Knights.
The Lions were announced as the sixth-ranked team in the nation in the College Gymnastics Association Preseason Poll. The Black Knights debuted at No. 12.
Saturday's meet is one of just two against non-conference opponents for Penn State this season. The other six meets are in person against Big Ten competition.
Randy Jepson, who is set to begin his 30th season as the head coach of the Penn State men's gymnastics team, welcomes back two gymnasts that earned CGA Regular Season All-America honors. Junior Nick Mock earned the award with his work on pommel horse, while senior Alex Frack excelled on high bar.
Mock is set to take over as the team's top performer on what is still a loaded pommel horse lineup. Last season he ranked fourth in NQA (13.967) in the event and had the fifth-best individual routine in the nation with a 14.450.
Frack looks to build off his breakout junior campaign which saw him rank fifth in the nation in NQA (13.833) on the high bar.
The Lions will look to Brennan Pantazis for veteran leadership. The senior was named as team captain in the offseason, taking over for recent graduate Brayden Borromeo. Pantazis had eight podium finishes last season, including event wins against William & Mary on floor and vault. He also qualified for the Winter Cup.
Including Pantazis, Penn State returns eight gymnasts that recorded at least one event win in a meet last season. The others include Jack Baldwin (pommel horse), Kale Booth (floor), Frack (high bar), Eric Lung (parallel bars), Andres Perez Gines (high bar), Robbie Shamp (floor, vault) and Brady Yamamoto (floor).
Following the meet with Army, the Lions are off until Sunday, January 31, when they host Illinois for a Big Ten meet at Rec Hall.
