WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Penn State men's gymnastics team took down Army, 396.5-391.00, on Saturday afternoon in Gross Center on Army's campus in the Nittany Lions first dual meet of the season.
"We had four really solid events, but unfortunately we couldn't close the meet in the same fashion," head coach Randy Jepson said of this team's performance. "Some bright spots - Stephen Nedoroscik showed the form we know he can put in and had a great pommel horse routine. It was nice to see Favian Valdez, again, be very sound in his events. The other good news is we got some mileage on some of the newcomers, some guys got into the competition for the first time, and that builds some depth which is a positive."
Penn State started the afternoon off by taking a 69.600-67.700 lead after floor exercise. Junior Sam Zakutney dominated the floor with a 14.400 routine, with freshman Brady Yamamoto and Army's Mathew Davis both scored a 14.100. Redshirt sophomore Favian Valdez recorded a 13.800, and both redshirt senior Greg Tamargo and junior Brayden Borromeo recorded 13.650s. Sophomore Brennan Pantazis, who was competing in all-around, scored a 13.350.
In the second event of the afternoon, Penn State added to their lead by scoring 67.100 on the pommel horse, while Army scored a 62.800. Junior Stephen Nedoroscik led all gymnasts with a 14.850 score, while senior Michael Burns put together the second highest score with a 13.500. Valdez, who competed in his second of four events on the day, recorded a 13.400, and sophomore Alex Frack recorded a 13.100. Fellow sophomore Jack Baldwin scored a 12.250, and freshman Nick Mock recorded a 11.650.
Penn State then transitioned over to the still rings where junior Isaac Hammett and redshirt senior Greg Tamargo each scored a 13.900 to lead the Nittany Lions to a 68.800-67.00 score over Army. Sophomore Parker Clayton followed with a score of 13.850, and Borromeo added a career-best 13.750 routine score. Seniors Chris Sands and Burns wrapped things up with 13.400 and 13.300 respectively.
With a 205.500-197.500 lead heading into vault, Penn State was led by Borromeo and Yamamoto, who each tallied 13.950 on the vault. Tamargo and Pantazis record 13.650s, Clayton added a 13.550, and Valdez scored a 13.250.
The final two events of the day went in favor of the home team with Army taking the parallel bars team score of 63.00-60.900, and the high bar team score by a 63.500-61.350 advantage.
On the p-bars, Burns had the best score for the Nittany Lions with a 13.100, with sophomore Alex Thomason recording 12.900 for the second-best score for the Blue & White. Clayton tallied a 12.400, and Yamamoto recorded a 12.250. Zakutney and Pantazis finished with scores of 10.250 and 9.700, respectively.
The final event of the day was the high bar, which Valdez won the event with a 13.300 and Burns took second with a 13.250. Thomason added a 12.350 score, while Zakutney recorded a 11.450. Sands added a 11.000, and Yamamoto closed out his first career collegiate meet with a 10.450.
Pantasiz finished third in all-around with a 71.700 score.
Penn State opens Big Ten play at home next weekend as they host Nebraska in a double dual on Saturday, January 26 with the women's gymnastics team who will be hosting Minnesota. The double dual will start at 4 p.m. in Rec Hall.
