UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 7 Penn State held a virtual competition at the Gene Wettstone Gymnastics Complex for the first time and came out on top with a 403.600-398.600 win over Navy in a non-conference meet Saturday afternoon. The meet was held virtually with each team competing at their home facility.
Penn State's previous virtual meet was still held at the team's usual competition space, Rec Hall. The building was unavailable but that didn't stop the Lions from turning in a solid performance while competing in their practice facility at the White Building.
"It was our first virtual meet in our practice gym, which could lead to all kinds of pitfalls as far as motivation and other factors," Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. "Our guys were great and they pulled together. I really wanted us to finish strong in the second half of the meet today, because we haven't done so well with that the past two outings. They did a great job in the last three events and put the meet away."
Receiving the Gene Wettstone Award after the facility of the same name was senior Brennan Pantazis. He had a huge day, highlight by a personal-best score of 14.8 while earning the win on vault. That ranks as the fourth-best vault score in the nation this season.
Pantazis was one of six Penn State winners on the day as Penn State swept the individual event titles. The others were Eric Lung (floor), Jack Baldwin (pommel horse), Parker Clayton (rings), Andres Perez Gines (parallel bars) and Ethan Dick (high bar).
Lung got Penn State off to a solid start with his performance on floor, posting a personal-best score of 14.5. That ranks as the third-best score on floor by Penn State this season and topped his previous high score of 14.2 set against Ohio State earlier this season. It was his first event win of the year and his third top-three finish. Pantazis scored 14.0 for a fourth-place showing.
Baldwin earned a first-place finish on pommel horse for the second-straight week, doing so with a personal-best score of 14.2. Michael Jaroh was the runner-up, scoring 14.0.
Clayton continued his nearly perfect season on rings, winning with a score of 14.05. He has won the event in five of six meets this season while taking second in the only meet he didn't win. Nate Warren was third in the event with a personal-best score of 13.4. That easily bested his previous high of 12.8 in a meet against Nebraska this season. Pantazis took fifth.
The teams moved on to vault following rings and that's where Pantazis excelled. He stuck the landing and received a 14.8. His season-best score in the event prior to Saturday's meet was 14.05.
Penn State scored 71.15 as a team, which ranks as its second-best score in the event this season. And it came without one of its best competitors in the event, Matt Cormier. The Lions took the top three spots with Jaroh in second and Ethan Dick in third.
Perez Gines finished first on parallel bars for the second time this season, scoring 14.05. Dick was the runner-up with a personal-best score of 13.7. Penn State posted its best parallel bars score (67.00) of the season.
Dick followed parallel bars with a first-place finish on high bar. It was his collegiate debut in the event, and he won with a score of 13.35.
"It was great to see Jack Baldwin get another victory on horse, and of course Brennan Pantazis did an excellent job today, sticking four of his dismounts of the five that he did," Jepson said. "Brennan really stepped up and put in some great routines. It was nice to see young guys like Ethan Dick step up and Michael Jaroh getting in his first all-around."
Penn State has two meets remaining on its regular season schedule, both against Big Ten teams. The Lions travel to take on Minnesota on Saturday, March 6, and then host Michigan on Saturday, March 20.
"We need to get healthier and get some guys back in the lineup," Jepson said. "We're going to need that going five up, five count coming up."
