Huskers Nail Four Titles in Win over Penn State

College Park, Pa.- The No. 3 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team collected the 399.550-398.000 win over No. 4 Penn State Saturday afternoon. The Huskers took four of the six titles as a unit on pommel horse, vault, and high bar to highlight their first dual match of the season.

Luke James record the first individual career-best of the meet with a 12.60 on floor. Nathan York scored a career high on rings (13.50), while Chris Hiser (14.05), Donte McKinney (14.80) and Luke James (14.35) all collected career-highs on vault, tallying a total of five career-bests for the Big Red.

Floor

The Huskers jumpstarted the meet on floor led by Captain Taylor Christopulos with an impressive 14.30, claiming his second floor title of the season and just one-tenth shy of his career-high. Chris Hiser totaled a 13.30 and Moritz Mueller showed a 12.95. Luke James posted a career high (12.60) and Toby Liang wrapped up the Huskers’ floor scores with an 11.60.

Pommel Horse

NU totaled 66.900, just 0.05 off the Nebraska pommel horse record to beat (69.950). Cooper Giles’ score of 14.00 won the event title with Taylor Christopulos establishing a season’s-best score of 13.60 for second place. In third, Nathan York showed a career-best score of 13.50. James Friedman’s score was also a season best at 13.45 landing him in fourth, and Travis Wong rounded out the Huskers showing a 12.35.

Rings

Nebraska rallied on still rings, with Chris Hiser and Asher Cohen tying for sixth, finishing with a score of 13.35 each. Teammates James Friedman (13.10), Moritz Mueller (13.05), and Travis Wong (12.85) followed for the Cornhuskers.

Vault

Nebraska scored an electric season-high of 71.800 on vault with all five gymnasts scoring at least a 14.00. Donte McKinney led Nebraska with a 14.80, clinching the event title and topping his career-best. Luke James and Chris Hiser’s career-highs of 14.35 and 14.05 highlighted the event along with Zac Tiderman’s 14.30, a season-best. Taylor Christopulos anchored the event in fourth place for NU (14.30).

Parallel Bars

The Big Red was led by one of their captains, Taylor Christopulos, landing in third (13.20) on the event. James Friedman (13.05) and Asher Cohen (12.70) were fourth and sixth, respectively, and were followed by teammates Joey Pepe (12.55) and Travis Wong (12.30) on parallel bars.

High Bar

On their final event of the dual match, Zac Tiderman soared to 13.95 to snag the high bar title for Nebraska with Donte McKinney capitalizing in second (13.65) and Taylor Christopulos in fourth (13.55). In sixth, Toby Liang (12.90) and Joey Pepe (12.25) also in the rotation.

Up Next

The Huskers head home to Lincoln for their season-opener against Michigan next Saturday, Feb. 4. The meet will begin at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Bob Devaney Center with a live video stream for B1G+ subscribers. Fans can follow @NebraskaMensGym on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for live updates during the meet.