UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s gymnastics team posted a season-high event score on the last two rotations to help the team win the conference opener against Michigan, 319.000-313.900. Penn State lifted to a perfect 3-0 on the season, while handing the Wolverines their second loss. Penn State used 11 season-high scores in Saturday’s meet to secure the win over the Big Ten preseason favorites.
“For about 10 years, the athletes have been begging me for pink and black uniforms,” said head coach Randy Jepson. “This summer, the team made some great strides, and the character I have seen from them is awesome. They have been demonstrating it all year. So, we, as a coaching staff, decided this was the day and the group to unveil them with. The guys were so excited when we showed them, so to come away with a win against a great team today was great. Everybody is making those gradual improvements that we want to see through the season. It’s not by power, it’s not by might, it’s by those little things that you do better every day. We just need to get that much better every day, and the guys are doing that.”
The Nittany Lions wore pink and black uniforms for the first time in program history, a nod to Penn State’s original color scheme. With the new look came a new spark, as Penn State posted season-high event scores on the parallel bars and high bar to help close out victory.
The afternoon started with Michigan putting up a season-best 53.400 team score on floor, putting the Nittany Lions in nearly a two-point hole. Sophomore Akseli Karsikas posted the top Nittany Lion score of 13.600 on the rotation, just 0.050 shy of his top mark this season.
On the pommel horse, PSU began chopping away at the deficit, with a 50.400-50.350 win, but no Nittany Lion eclipsed 13.000 for an individual score. Graduate student Ethan Dick got his first action of 2025 with a 12.900 routine.
Penn State cut the lead to less than a point following a 52.850-52.050 win on rings, but Olympian Paul Juda soiled Underhill’s ring title streak to give the Wolverines their third event win of the afternoon.
The Blue and White took its first lead of the day after winning vault, 55.100-54.000. Underhill kept his event title streak alive with a 14.200 routine. The score marked his best since the Big Ten Championship last season.
Three of four Penn State parallel bar routines matched or topped a season high. Junior Kacper Garnczarek tied his career-high 13.200, and graduate student Matt Cormier and senior Josh Karnes each tallied a new best score in 2025, while Karnes 14.200 won him the event title. Despite the individual success, Michigan held on, winning the p-bar event title and boasting a one-tenth lead heading into the final rotation.
Of all rotations this season, the Nittany Lions have had the the lowest average score on the high bar. The team faced no problem today, running up a season-high 54.350 team score, besting Michigan’s season-low 49.150 enroute to the win. Graduate student Michael Artlip picked the perfect day for his event-title worthy 13.750 routine with a stuck landing, and junior Ian Raubal, Garnczarek, and Karnes each also posted a season best in the event, sealing the win.
UP NEXT
Penn State hits the road for the first time in nearly a month this coming weekend when the team travels to Ohio State for a matinee meet on Sunday, February 9 at 1 p.m. in the Covelli Center. The action will be streamed live via B1G+.