2019 B1G Champions: The Penn State Nittany Lions (Quick Recap)
Three teams ended the regular season as B1G Champions. Not a single one of them got to raise the trophy that, at the end of the day, means the most to everyone. That duty went to a team that NOBODY expected. It went to the newly-minted 2019 B1G champion, Penn State Nittany Lions.
Tonight inside of Carver-Hawkeye Arena was pure chaos. As with any other meet with six teams competing at once, it was tough to tell just who was rising above the rest. Three rotations in you began to think “maybe this comes down to Illinois and Michigan.”
What you weren’t paying attention to was the fact that Randy Jepson’s Nittany Lions were simply plugging away. Their night began with what should’ve been a clear-as-day sign that this team was feeling it. A 69.65 on parallel bars was highlighted by incredible performances from Wyatt Tyndall (14.65) and Sam Zakutney (14.5).
From there, Penn State continued on, making minimal mistakes and getting great production from the front-ends of their lineup with guys like Jack Baldwin (13.4 – PH) and Nick Mock (13.5) stepping up to propel their team forward. And, of course, one can NOT forget the fight that pommel horse phenom and 2x NCAA champion, Stephen Nedoroscik, showed to not only stay on the event, but earn a 14.95.
A final rotation came down to what looked like either Illinois (HB), Penn State (SR) or Michigan (FX) coming out on top.
At the end of the evening, as PSU raised that B1G trophy there were tears and there were many, many hugs. It was raw emotion coming from a team that believed all along, even when the majority of the country and those around them didn’t.
None of that matters now, they’re the champions.