UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The fifth-ranked Penn State men's gymnastics team opened the 2022 season with a 369.050-358.200 win over No. 11 Army on Friday night at Rec Hall. The Lions had individual wins in five of the six events and had sophomore Matt Cormier take the top spot amongst three all-around competitors.
"We were very shorthanded today. I'm pleased with effort of the guys we had out there," Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. "Some guys stepped into a difficult situation and got some experience while helping us get a victory."
Senior Andres Perez Gines earned the Gene Wettstone Award as the Most Valuable Gymnast of the meet. He placed in the top three in all three events in which he competed, including a first-place finish with a score of 12.60 on parallel bars. He was the runner-up on high bar and added a third-place showing on pommel horse.
"Andres did a great job," Jepson said. "He's a guy that's been out and hasn't been able to do routines for a while. He was probably our cleanest competitor this meet. I'm thrilled for him and how he led the team. We'll need that all the way through the season."
Cormier had a solid start to the season, opening the meet with a win on floor with a score of 13.60. Redshirt junior Eric Lung was the runner-up in the event. Cormier tied for third on pommel horse and was fifth on vault on his way to the top all-around score of the meet.
Junior Chase Clingman earned the first event victory of his career while scoring 13.05 on pommel horse. That was .75 higher than the runner-up gymnast from Army.
Sophomore Michael Artlip competed in all six events and picked up the second victory of his career while scoring 14.20 on vault. Junior Robbie Shamp posted a score of 14.0 to take third in the event. Artlip added a third-place finish on parallel bars.
Sophomore Ethan Dick scored 12.70 to close the meet with a victory on high bar, an even he competed in just twice last season as a freshman. Artlip and senior Brady Yamamoto were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the event.
Penn State returns to competition at the West Point Open on Jan. 14-15. The event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on both nights.
