Athletics

No. 6 men's gymnastics travels to West Point Open

Senior Matthew Felleman Credit: GoPSUsports.comAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 6 Penn State men's gymnastics team is heading to West Point, N.Y., this weekend for the 24th annual West Point Open hosted by Army. The West Point Open takes place inside the Christl Arena on Friday and Saturday, with both nights starting at 7 p.m.Along with Army, Penn State will be competing against Navy, Springfield and Temple. Penn State recently defeated Army at home (426.700-403.000) in the season opener for both schools. This will be the first meet of 2015 for Springfield and Temple.All four teams are currently ranked in the most College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Coaches' Poll (Jan. 15). Penn State leads the competition with their No. 6 ranking followed by No. 12 Army, No. 17 Springfield College and No. 18 Temple.For fans heading to West Point, N.Y., for the meet, tickets are available at the door or can be purchased over the phone by calling 1-877-TIX-ARMY. The cost of admission is $10. Youth, seniors and students can purchase a discounted seat for $8. All-session passes are also available for $25.LAST TIME OUTThe No. 6 Penn State men's gymnastics team opened their 2015 season with a 426.700-403.000 win over No. 12 Army inside Rec Hall last Saturday. The Nittany Lions won all six events Saturday over the Black Knights.Penn State won the floor exercise (70.650-69.200), took the crown in the pommel horse (69.400-66.700), swept the top six spots in the rings (71.500-64.400), won the title in the vault (71.800-68.650), nabbed the top four spots in the parallel bars (73.400-66.650) and the horizontal bar (69.950-67.400).Seniors Matthew Felleman (Medway, Mass.) and Ismael Sanabria (Caguas, Puerto Rico) led Nittany Lions early in the first rotation as they took the top two spots in the floor exercise as they tallied scores of 15.100 and 14.700, respectively. In the final event on the day for Penn State, the horizontal bar, Felleman claimed the title with his score of 14.700. Also in the horizontal bar, Sanabria rounded out the top three with his score of 14.200.The Nittany Lions went onto distance themselves from the Black Knights during the third rotation in the still rings event. In the still rings, the Nittany Lions grabbed the top six scores with Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) leading the way with his score of 15.200. Leroy Clarke, Jr. (Maplewood, N.J.), finished in second (14.700) and Tristan Duverglas (West Orange, N.J.) placed third (14.400).Along with Torres winning the still rings, he also won the vault with a score of 14.900 and Clarke, Jr., followed up his second-place finish in the still rings with a career-best mark of 15.300 to claim his first career parallel bars title.Redshirt-senior Nestor Rodriguez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) began the year with his first-place finish in the pommel horse with a score of 14.750. Along with his first-place finish in the pommel horse, Rodriguez placed second in the horizontal bar (14.350) and third in the parallel bars (15.000).

LAST YEAR AT THE WEST POINT OPENThe No. 4 Penn State men's gymnastics team closed out the final day of competition at the 2014 West Point Open with three individual titles, as juniors Ismael Sanabria (Caguas, Puerto Rico), Matt Felleman (Medway, Mass.) and Tristan Duverglas (West Orange, N.J.) all recorded a trio of top performances.The Nittany Lions captured their 15th consecutive West Point Open team title, outscoring Army, Navy, Springfield College, Temple and William & Mary with a total team score of 428.100.Improving upon his day one score, Sanabria secured his first title of the season in the floor exercise with a season-high score of 15.100, which is a career high mark. Felleman also increased his score from the first day of competition, swinging to a 14.950 on the high bar to claim the title. Felleman notched his second top five finish of the night with a third-place finish on the vault (14.550). Duverglas recorded a season-high performance on the vault, winning his first individual title of the season by a score of 15.200.Competing in two events, sophomore Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) finished third on the rings (15.200), while also tying for fourth in the floor exercise with a score of 14.200. Redshirt freshman Leroy Clarke (Maplewood, N.J.) also posted a pair of top five performances, finishing third on the parallel bars (14.200) and fifth on the high bar (13.800).

Sophomore Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio), who finished third on the rings on the first day of competition, concluded the weekend with a second-place finish on the rings (15.250), while senior Preston Gall (Columbus, Ohio) also finished within the top five on the parallel bars with a score of 13.900, which was good for fourth place. 

Last Updated January 15, 2015