Last weekend, Penn State men's gymnast Tommy Ramos cheered his team on the sidelines as it defeated Temple.

This weekend the sophomore was one of the keys to the No. 8 Nittany Lions' win against No. 4 Michigan as he won the rings competition with a score of 9.450.

The Lions went on to defeat their Big Ten rival 209.400-206.450 in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday night to remain undefeated at 3-0 (1-0 Big Ten).

Ramos' strong performance did not come as a shock to Penn State men's gymnastics coach Randy Jepson.

"Tommy just did a great job for us," Jepson said. "He's been developing and getting better and better. He put his whole routine together."

The Lions have had strong performances all year from their underclassmen, and Jepson feels that things are finally coming together.

After a sloppy performance in the team's win against Temple, Jepson said that this win showed him what his team was all about and that this win was important to the team's success for the rest of the year.

"The win gave these young guys a lot of confidence," Jepson said. "It was a shot in the arm for the team, and I think now we are starting to get good."

Freshman Casey Sandy won his third straight all-around competition with a 54.00, three points ahead of the next closest gymnast.

Along the way to the all-around title, Sandy finished first in the pommel horse and finished second or third in every other event.

"Casey once again did a great job," Jepson said. "He's been very solid all year."

The Lions are first in the country in the pommel horse and, with performances by Sandy (9.200) and junior Justin Miklos (8.950), they easily took the event that is becoming one of the strenght's of the team this weekend.

In the end, the team won five out of the six events from the Wolverines and were close to taking others.

Senior captain Chad Buczek tied for first in the floor exercise with a 9.100, winning for the second week in a row.

Jepson said that it took a combined team effort to beat Michigan.

"I've been trying to get a handle on this team all season," Jepson said.

"The guys finally pulled together, and they just fed off each other all night.The win was big. We won by three, but we could have won by six. We just blew Michigan out of their gym."