Gymmen to begin Big Ten season against high-caliber Michigan, Iowa

With seven Big Ten teams ranked in the top 20, there is no obvious favorite for the conference championship, but teams could get a good idea after this weekend.

The Big Ten season gets under way for the Penn State men's gymnastics team at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Michigan's Cliff Keen Arena. The Lions will face No. 2 Iowa in addition to the No. 11 Wolverines.

Iowa, led by former Penn State All-American and assistant coach Tom Dunn, finished third in last year's NCAA Championships.

"They're tough," Penn State coach Randy Jepson said. "They're really good. They're deep. They don't have one weak event."

Jepson's words are proven by the results from last weekend's Windy City Invitational in Chicago.

Iowa finished first with a 228.05, while Hawkeyes Chris Camiscioli (57.45) and Todd Strada (56.70) grabbed first and second place in the all-around.

"We've started off better than any team I've coached," said Dunn, now in his 18th season at Iowa.

Michigan, meanwhile, finished fourth, just 2.05 behind Ohio State. That's not a bad performance considering the Buckeyes are ranked No. 3 in the nation.

"This is the best team they've had in years," said Jepson.

The Wolverines are coached by second-year man Kurt Golder, who was an assistant to Dunn at Iowa before taking over in Ann Arbor. Golder's appointment as head man in Iowa might be the biggest challenge Dunn has had to overcome in the past two years.

- Randy Jepson, Penn State men's gymnastics coach

The Michigan "gang" also includes sophomore co-captain Jose "LaLo" Haro, who finished sixth in the all-around with a 55.35 last week at the Windy City Invitational, showing the skills he used last year to earn a selection to the All-Big Ten squad.

Penn State, meanwhile, will be looking for more of the same as last week's home-opening win against Temple and Massachusetts.

"We've really improved our consistency," said Jepson, comparing the season-opening win at West Point to last weekend's win at Rec Hall.

The Lions will also be dealing with injuries. Captain Roy Malka is bothered by a sore right shoulder and a left heel bruise. The heel bruise kept him from competing last week in the vault and floor routines and played a role in his horizontal bar routine since he was unable to practice dismounting during the week.

Such problems are "the little nagging things" Jepson said his team has been considering this week in practice.

Injuries will be just one of many things the Lions have to dwell on throughout the next two months leading up to the Big Ten Championships on Mar. 20-21 at Michigan.

"It's going to be a dog fight the whole season," Jepson said. "Week in and week out."