LINCOLN, Neb. – Penn State men's gymnastics posted its best score of the season but ran into a Nebraska team that posted the third-best score in the nation this year in a 408.650-400.850 loss Saturday at the Devaney Center.
The Nittany Lions dropped to 10-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, while the Huskers upped their record to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
"We still have some holes we have to fill. There are still some performances that aren't as sharp as we need," Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. "We have three weeks to prepare before our next meet. We're going to use this time to heal up and refocus so we can try to make a run at the end."
Sophomore Michael Jaroh was impressive again for Penn State, adding two more event wins. He took first on rings with a personal-best score of 14.35, joining teammates Josh Karnes (13.85) and junior Nate Warren (13.8) to take the top three spots. All three earned stick bonuses and all three came through with personal-best scores.
Jaroh closed the meet by winning high bar with a season-best score of 13.85. That gives him five event wins over the last two meets, both of which were against Big Ten opponents.
Penn State posted season-best scores on four events – floor (67.5), rings (68.3), parallel bars (66.45) and high bar (65.35).
Sophomore Ethan Dick led the way on parallel bars, taking second with a score of 13.85. Jaroh was fourth in the event.
Chase Clingman was the team's top performer on pommel horse, taking fourth while matching a personal-best with a score of 13.6. Matt Cormier was fourth on vault with a 14.4.
"Robbie Shamp did an excellent job. I'm really pleased with him," Jepson said. "It was good to see Jalen Peterson get in. It was only the second meet of his career and he did a really good job. He came through with a pretty solid floor routine. We've got some bright spots, but we have a lot of work to do."
Penn State now has a long break before competing as a team. The next meet is at home against Ohio State on March 5. A few of the team's gymnasts will compete at the Winter Cup in Frisco, Texas, on Feb. 25-27.
