Ekman propels gymmen to weekend wins

Great moments don't usually begin with a videotape, rather they end up there.

For Tobias Ekman, however, his transformation from a recruit on a video made for Penn State coach Randy Jepson into an actual Penn State gymnast, ended with a debut that would make anyone in Hollywood jealous.

Ekman scored a meet-best 9.6 on the high bar and placed second in the all-around competition helping lead the No. 5 Nittany Lions (2-0) to a home-opening win against No. 14 Massachusetts (0-2) and No. 15 Temple (1-1) Friday night at Rec Hall. The Lions, who last week nudged out a .725 win over Temple, led throughout the meet and finished with 226.625. Temple placed second with 218.625 and Massachusetts fell third with 216.550.

"They are a strong squad, and deep," said Temple coach Fred Turoff in his assessment of the Lions.

Strength and depth are what coaches train and recruit for. They are also the same qualities Ekman, who has competed for the Swedish national team, brings to the Lions.

"(It was) everything I expected and hoped for," Jepson said, describing Ekman's performance. "It was a great start for him."

Ron Roeder's performance was just as promising for a team competing without star Mike Dutka, who is ineligible due to academics. His 9.7 on the floor exercise was good for second place.

"Incredible," was assistant coach Lee Ricketts' description of Roeder's performance. "He's the hardest working gymnast."

All the work proved fruitful for Roeder, who earned the Gene Wettstone Award as the meet's outstanding gymnast.

"All around I felt really good," Roeder said.

The Lions' demonstrated the depth that Turoff spoke of by winning five of the six events.

On pommel horse and vault all six Lions earned at least a 9.0. Brandon Stefaniak's pommel horse routine electrified the crowd and earned a 9.75 from the judges.

"Having a strong pommel horse (team) really helps the performance," Ricketts said.

The vault became the showcase for Eddie Seng as he earned a 9.75 to edge out teammate Ted Johnson, who had finished second last week at the West Point Open, and his 9.55.

Roeder, with a score of 9.65 on rings, was then outdone by teammate Danny Beigel, who posted a 9.78.

"They're showing they can compete with the best of them," Jepson said of the juniors.

The older Lions aren't only helping with their scores, but also with grooming the freshmen, such as Adam Benas, Johnson and Josh Malecki.

Johnson has placed twice on vault, Malecki posted a 9.0 on horse and 9.15 on rings while Benas might be the strongest all-around freshmen. Benas had an eighth-place finish in his first collegiate meet at West Point and scored a 9.35 on the horizontal bar and 9.4 on both the vault and parallel bars.

Benas is quick to give credit to his teammates.

"Everybody on the team is a great help to me and encouraging me to keep going," he said.

Benas did struggle with the floor exercises, scoring just a 8.5, but he was not alone. It was the only event the Lions didn't win. Temple's Mike Moran won the event with a 9.75.

Moran won the all-around with a 56.45, followed by Ekman's 56.15 and third-place finisher Massachusetts' Stephen Pryor, who scored a 54.45.

Ekman's presence has already been felt by his teammates.

"Tobias made a big difference," Ricketts said. "He really helped the team."