With the lead after three rotations, it seemed like the No. 4 Penn State men's gymnastics team was on its way to defending its Big Ten crown. However, on the next rotation, the Nittany Lions headed to the high bar and that's when the momentum shifted.

From then on, the No. 1 University of Illinois men's gymnastics team took control of the meet with an eye-opening 38.400 score on the pommel horse, ruining the Lions' bid for a repeat team championship.

While the Lions' season-high score of 220.100 was not enough to overcome host Illinois' school-record 221.975 points and three event wins, there were many high points for the Lions throughout the weekend.

"The guys did a great job all the way through the meet," Penn State men's gymnastics head coach Randy Jepson said. "We only had 12 misses throughout the entire meet and Illinois hit well throughout the weekend. If we do our job and hit, then we will be right there."

Team Finals

Kevin Tan was once again a focal point in the Lions' success, finishing third in the all-around with a 54.450 -- the senior's highest finish ever in Big Ten championship competition. Tan's all-around tally included a first-place finish on the still rings with a 9.875, the Lions' highest score of the night, and a tie for 8th and 9th on the parallel bars and high bar, respectively.

"Kevin has four Big Ten titles now, and he was just really impressive and solid throughout the weekend," Jepson said.

"He just led us throughout the entire meet and his rings routine was simply unbelievable."

Chad Buczek and Luis Vargas also finished high in the all-around scoring, placing fourth and sixth, respectively. Buczek's first-place score and career-high 9.500 on the vault during the team finals qualified him for the individual event finals on Saturday.

He also qualified on the still rings and parallel bars. Vargas made the event finals on the parallel bars and the high bar after placing second and fifth, respectively.

Senior captain Duke Van Vleet advanced to the event finals of the parallel bars, while fellow senior Zack Roeder made the finals in floor exercise and pommel horse. Juniors Ludwig Kern and Steve Tobin both made event finals on vault, and Tobin also advanced to the finals on floor.

Individual Event Finals

The highly-decorated Tan once again led the way for the Lions during the event finals on Saturday night. He claimed his third consecutive Big Ten championship on the still rings. Tan also claimed the first parallel bars title of his career.

Van Vleet medaled on the parallel bars with a third-place score of 8.900.

Vargas garnered the second All-Big Ten selection of his career, finishing third on the high bar. Tobin improved on his 2003 seventh-place vault finish to capture the silver medal at this year's Big Tens.

The Lions' only hope for a medal on pommel horse rested on Roeder's shoulders, but he finished fifth. Roeder also placed eighth in the floor, behind Tobin's sixth-place finish.

Despite having the highest vault score entering the event finals, Buczek finished sixth behind Michigan's repeat champion Andrew DiGiore. Buzcek also finished fourth on rings and fifth on parallel bars.

"Overall, we are right on target for NCAAs," Jepson said. "We are peaking at the right time and are healthy ... We're back in Illinois in 10 days and in a different arena, which works in our favor. The guys are really ambitious right now and they all believe they can win."