UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's gymnastics opened their 2024 campaign with a 393.800-370.450 victory over Army at Rec Hall Friday evening.
The Nittany Lions swept the competition, earning event victories in all six events.
"Solid start tonight, we've been battered and beaten up and fought through illness," said head coach Randy Jepson. "But we put together a lineup tonight that showed some consistency and great bright spots."
Junior Josh Karnes led the Nittany Lions with three event victories on the floor (13.500), parallel bars (14.900) and on the high bar (14.050).
The Nittany Lions collected six stuck landings, four of which were on the parallel bars. Senior Michael Artlip notched a career high on the vault with his event winning score of 14.500.
Freshmen Luke Esparo and Landon Simpson made their collegiate debuts with event victories. Esparo earned himself a 13.600 on the still rings. Simpson collected a 13.650 on the pommel horse. Akseli Karsikas also made his first appearance as a Nittany Lion tying second place in the high bar (13.700).
"I am really happy with our freshmen. Luke Esparo did a great job. We saw some really bright things from Akseli Karsikas, Landon Simpson did a great job in his two events. I'm really proud of him," said Jepson.
The team wrapped up the night with a 67% hit ratio.
The Nittany Lions have defeated the Black Knights in the last 18 head-to-head meetings.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will face Army again next weekend at the West Point Open on Jan. 12-13.
