The West Point Open might as well be known as the Penn State Open, because the Penn State men's gymnastics team won the event for the ninth year in a row.

The No. 7 Nittany Lions dominated the competition in Christl Arena, winning four of the six events on Friday night, giving the team a total score of 206.800, more than seven points higher than second-place Army.

With such ranked teams as Army, Temple and Navy, the field boasted some of the top teams on the East Coast.

Before the event, Penn State men's gymnastics coach Randy Jepson saw the open as an opportunity to showcase most of the team as opposed to a select few that are used in dual meets.

"We've always taken this meet as a great opportunity to see a lot of individuals compete,"

Jepson said in practice. "We can put more than just our regular team and put a couple of guys that are outside the lineup, which makes it a good chance to expand our depth."

Jepson must have been looking into a crystal ball because he knew that someone who does not regularly compete would step up, and for the second week in a row that person has been sophomore Tommy Ramos.

Ramos went on to finish first place in two events on the first night of competition with a 9.800 on the rings and an 8.950 on the high bar.

The two wins highlighted a second-place finish in the all-around competition that Jepson may have seen coming while watching him in practice.

"He just gets better week after week," Jepson said at practice.

Also contributing a first-place finish on Friday was freshman Casey Sandy on the pommel horse with juniors Justin Miklos and Matt Cohen finishing second in their individual events.

The Lions held a one-point lead over Army halfway into the meet but pulled away after the scare to win the team event.

Day 2 was highlighted by more Lions' victories in the individual portion of the Open.

Gymnasts had to qualify the day before to be eligible to compete for individual awards.

Penn State boasted a large lineup of athletes that competed on Day 2.

Ramos continued his stellar performances from the day before as he went on to win the rings, parallel bars and high-bar events.

Jepson had his team preparing all week differently than normal, which in the end aided the Lions in individual events.

"For the pommel horse, I had the guys do one runthrough at the beginning of practice," Jepson said.

"At the end of practice, I brought them back to the pommel horse, which helps to ready for the events."

That mode of practice helped the Lions finish first and second in the event with sophomore Derek Helsby finishing ahead of teammate Casey Sandy.

Sandy also managed a second-place finish on the high bar, and sophomore Santiago Lopez finished second in the vault and third in the parallel bars.

But the stories of the weekend were the dominance by Penn State for the ninth year in a row and Ramos' dominance as well.

"We can get a lot of guys competitive experience," Jepson said before the event. "That really helps down the road."

With only one gymnast graduating this year, senior Chad Buczek, the West Point Open may have to consider the name change for years to come.