NORMAN, Okla. – Penn State's Chase Clingman is a national champion! The junior won the pommel horse title at the National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships on Saturday at Oklahoma University's Lloyd Noble Center.
Joining Clingman with All-America honors for Penn State was sophomore Michael Jaroh, who hit all six of his routines while finishing eighth in the all-around competition. Both Clingman and Jaroh earned All-America status for the first time in their respective careers.
Clingman's national title is Penn State's 55th individual event championship overall and the 12th on pommel horse. The Lions have won a national title on pommel horse in three of the last five competed National Championships. Stephen Nedoroscik won gold in 2017 and 2018.
Clingman, who scored a 14.0 on his finals routine, shares the title with Stanford's Brody Malone. It was a nerve-wracking meet for Clingman, who competed during the second rotation and then had to wait the rest of the meet to see if his score held up. Malone tied his score during the fifth rotation. The next closest was Oklahoma's Zach Nunez with a 13.833.
After missing all but one meet with an injury last season, Clingman may not have been on everyone's radar early on this season. He will be now with an outstanding run to end the season. He closed the regular season with a career-best 14.20 at Michigan and then matched that score on the first day of the Big Ten Championships. He smashed that score with a 14.425 to win the Big Ten title to give him confidence and momentum heading into the national meet.
But Clingman's championship routine almost didn't happen. He only narrowly qualified for the finals after finishing in a tie with teammate Josh Karnes for the final spot in the finals. He won the tiebreaker with his difficulty score and then made the most of his opportunity on Saturday.
"It's unreal. I can't believe this; it's crazy," said an emotional Clingman after his title was secured when the last competitor fell off the pommel horse. "It was all about a mindset. I am grateful for a lot of things that got me here. It was a lot of hard work."
Jaroh put together the best all-around of his young career with a personal-record score of 81.432. He started the night strong with a 13.266 on pommel horse and moved along with the competition on rings (13.3), vault (14.466), parallel bars (13.8), high bar (13.7), and floor (12.9).
Jaroh is Penn State's first all-around All-American since Trevor Howard in 2016.
"I was just grateful to be here and blessed to have the opportunity," Jaroh said. "I went six-for-six and I'm super stoked. I'm proud of my performance today and happy with how everything turned out."
Penn State had a total of nine gymnasts competing in the finals. Matt Cormier just missed All-America status. He tied for eighth on floor with a score of 14.333 but lost the tiebreaker for the final spot on the podium. He also competed on rings, vault, and high bar.
Also competing in the finals for Penn State were Josh Karnes (parallel bars, high bar), Robbie Shamp (floor), Nate Warren (rings), Michael Artlip (vault), Ethan Dick (parallel bars), and Andres Perez Gines (high bar).
