Men's Gymnastics Falls To #1 Penn State :: Owls lose on the road to defending national champions

Jan. 27, 2008

STATE COLLEGE - The #9 Temple men's gymnastics team fell on the road to the defending national champion #1 Penn State men's gymnastics squad 353.350-337.350 from State College on Saturday evening.

In a tough road contest against the talented Nittany Lions, the Owls (4-1) lost in all six events for the evening. Casey Sandy led the Lions by capturing titles in three of the four events.

"Although I'm still not satisfied with our overall performance, as we had just over 50% hit routines, there is still time to bring our execution level up quite a bit," said coach Turoff. "We're hampered by a few injuries to key guys this past month. If they get back in the lineup in the next few weeks, there will be a good jump in our team score".

For the Cherry and White, Junior Luke Vexler led the individual performers at the event. Vexler finished third in the all-around (84.350), fourth in the pommel horse (14.500), fifth in the rings (13.950) and second in the horizontal bars (14.600). Sophomore Tyler Croteau, the reigning ECAC Rookie of the Week, finished with fourth in the floor exercise with a score of 14.800.

The Cherry and White will look to rebound next weekend when they host Ohio State and Navy from McGonigle Hall. Action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.