Penn State men’s gymnastics finished fourth in the team competition at the 2026 NC Championship Regional on Apr. 18, missing out on advancing to the national championship round. The event took place in Champaign, Illinois, and saw the Nittany Lions maintain their position after the first rotation but fall short of qualifying as a team.
Despite not advancing as a team, Penn State will send five individual gymnasts to compete for NCAA medals across 16 routines. Kellen Ryan and Landon Simpson qualified on all apparatuses due to their top three finishes in the All-Around category. Akseli Karsikas earned spots in the finals for still rings and high bar, while Ritam Malik and Shaun Smith will compete individually on still rings and vault respectively.
Head coach Randy Jepson said, “We had a solid night until the end. We had a couple misses on the last rotation, but the guys fought valiantly. We knew it was going to be an uphill road with only six routines returning from last season’s NCAAs plus half our lineup out due to injury and illness. I was proud of the way the guys pulled together. They were focused, but we just didn’t have enough tonight. Hats off to the other competitors. We look forward to going tomorrow with the individual qualifiers we have.”
Throughout Friday’s meet, Brayden Erickson led Penn State on floor exercise with a score of 13.366 for twelfth place overall; Simpson followed closely behind with a score of 13.333 for thirteenth place in that event. On pommel horse, Simpson again led PSU with another twelfth-place finish scoring 13.266.
Karsikas delivered Penn State’s first top ten result by placing ninth overall on rings with a score of 13.266; he also topped PSU’s performance on parallel bars though finishing seventeenth (13.133). On vault, Simpson achieved eighth place (13.900) while Ryan followed in ninth (13.866). Ryan also led Penn State on high bar by scoring 13.066 for twelfth place.
The five individual qualifiers from Penn State are set to compete again Saturday evening at Champaign’s State Farm Center beginning at 7 p.m., aiming for NCAA medals.
