SARASOTA, Fla. – Penn State men’s gymnastics tied for second with fellow Big Ten opponent Illinois at the 2026 Sam Mikulak Invitational. PSU’s 317.650 trailed behind only Evo Gymnastics, a team comprised of some of the best gymnasts in the country, in the final standings.
“We hit 20 out of 24 routines and really improved our score, but still had couple of misses we would like back,” said head coach Randy Jepson. “We are on the right track but need to clean some things up for conference play. We will have some new guys back in the lineup next week that we didn’t have tonight, so even though we saw Illinois in action today, we expect to see them come out even better next weekend. We will look to do the same.”
The Nittany Lions opened the event in the traditional rotation, beginning on floor. Freshman Brayden Erickson was the opening act, posting a 13.050 in just the second floor routine of his collegiate career. Senior Matt Underhill followed up with a 13.550, just a tenth shy of his season high. Luke Esparo hit the best routine of the Penn State rotation with a 13.700 in his first floor routine of his redshirt-sophomore season. Freshman Shaun Smith rounded out the group with a 13.000 routine, and the Nittany Lions trailed Big Ten opponent Illinois by 1.1 after the first apparatus.
Redshirt-sophomore Bobby Alessio was first up on the pommel horse, where he posted a 12.850 in the second routine of his collegiate career after missing the first two years to injury. Freshman Ritam Malik followed with a 13.800, his best score this season on any apparatus. Ricky Perez joined the personal best scores with his13.650, but Landon Simpson’s 13.850 to close the rotation led the group of PSU student-athletes.
Bobby Haberstock got his first collegiate action on a rings routine, where he scored an 11.850. Akseli Karsikas followed up with a 13.750, matching his career-best on the rotation. Underhill’s ring rotation was the best in the nation so far this season, as he posted a 14.700. The score was the best nationally by six tenths until teammate Luke Esparo notched the second-best score nationally with a 14.300. The stellar team performance on rings moved the Nittany Lions atop the leaderboard
Penn State’s vault rotation kept the Blue & White at the top of the leaderboard, as the team finished with a 54.500 on the apparatus. The rotation was highlighted by a Shaun Smith career-high 14.150 routine, while Kellen Ryan, Simpson, and Underhill scored a 13.750, 12.800, and 13.800, respectively.
Malik’s second routine of the afternoon came on the parallel bars, where he scored a 12.900. Esparo posted a career-best 13.500 on the fifth rotation, while Kacper Garnczarek notched 13.150 on his routine. Simpson rounded out the bunch with a big 13.700, his best p-bars score of the season.
A weaker high bar than the Nittany Lions are used to allowed Illinois to creep back in. Penn State was unable to record a routine over 12.750, and the Illini used the opening to force the tie at the invitational.
UP NEXT
Penn State resumes traditional dual competition next week when the team hosts Illinois at Rec Hall on Sunday, February 1 for the team’s THON Meet. Competition is set to begin at 1 p.m.