LINCOLN, Neb. – Five gymnasts represented No. 6 Penn State on seven different routines in Saturday’s individual finals of the Big Ten Championships. During the meet, Penn State earned a second event medal with Matt Underhill’s rings routine and earned three spots on All-Big Ten Squads. Graduate student Kellen Ryan and junior Landon Simpson each earned a spot on the first team with yesterday’s all-around performances, while senior Underhill’s second-place finish on the still rings got him the spot on the second team.
Ritam Malik was the first Nittany Lion up, competing on the pommel horse. A stumble on his first pass was remedied by an otherwise clean routine, resulting in a 12.850. He finished tied for ninth on the event.
Kellen Ryan and Matt Underhill were the closers on rings. Ryan stuck his landing and earned an eighth-place finish with his 12.725, while Underhill neared the top of the leaderboard. His 14.075 garnered him All-Big Ten honors and earned him a second-place finish on the apparatus.
Ryan opened the second half of the night as the first out of the gate on vault. He placed sixth on the apparatus with a 13.600. Fellow Nittany Lion Shaun Smith wrapped the first half of the vault rotation in the five slot, posting a 13.975, just barely missing a medal spot in his first Big Ten Championships at fourth place.
Akseli Karsikas was the final Nittany Lion to post routines in the individual finals. He earned a podium finish with his fifth-place worthy high bar routine, scoring a 13.400. He wrapped up all PSU competition on the parallel bars, where he placed eighth with a 12.825.
UP NEXT
Penn State gets a week off before traveling to Champaign, Illinois for the 2026 NC Championships. Regional action at nationals is set to begin on Friday, April 17 with the top three squads from each regional and select individual qualifiers earning bids to day two on Saturday, April 18.