The No. 6 Penn State men’s gymnastics team will begin its postseason this weekend at the 2026 Big Ten Championships, which will be hosted by Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. The competition starts Friday, April 3, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. Saturday’s individual finals are also scheduled for an 8 p.m. start and will air on BTN.
This event is significant as it marks the start of the postseason for Penn State after a strong regular season performance. The Nittany Lions finished their last campaign with a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships and are aiming to build on that success.
Last year, Penn State secured silver at the conference championships using consistent routines and sent seven gymnasts to compete in individual finals across thirteen routines. Four athletes earned podium finishes, including Josh Karnes who claimed his second straight parallel bars title.
Recently, Penn State ended its regular season with a close loss to No. 5 Ohio State but captured four event titles during that meet. This year’s roster features four College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Regular Season All-Americans: Luke Esparo, Akseli Karsikas, Landon Simpson, and Matt Underhill—the most since 2024 for the program.
Freshman Shaun Smith was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by conference officials this week and is also a two-time Freshman of the Week honoree this season. Junior Landon Simpson was recognized as Penn State’s representative on the Sportsmanship Award team.
The coaching staff includes head coach Randy Jepson in his thirty-fifth season alongside associate head coach Tony Beck and assistant coach Carlos Vazquez—who received CGA’s Honor Coach Award this year—and they were collectively named CGA Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
Penn State entered this season ranked seventh nationally according to preseason polls from coaches and returned nine athletes from last year’s squad that posted a strong showing both in conference play and nationally.
