When Illinois came to University Park, it marked the second consecutive visit by a highly ranked men's gymnastics team -- but that was where the similarities ended.
And that's a good thing.
The No. 2 Penn State men's gymnastics team this time won the top-5 duel, winning convincingly against No. 5 Illinois, 220.150-205.250, at Rec Hall Saturday night.
The total team score was a season-high for the Nittany Lions.
"I am thrilled. It's been a long time, since the 2004 NCAAs that six of six hit on pommel horse," Penn State coach Randy Jepson said. "We didn't count a miss. They were spread out over six events."
Overall, the Lions posted season-high totals on the pommel horse, vault, parallel bars, and high bar. Individual team members won five of the six events, with junior Tommy Ramos finishing in first in rings, parallel bars and high bar.
The team total was almost five points higher than the previous high total this season. That score happened to be against Michigan -- the only team to beat Penn State this year.
Junior Derek Helsby had four season highs for the evening, with all of his scores at 9.25 or better. Helsby tied for first in the still rings and finished second on both the pommel horse and the high bar. His performance earned him the Gene Wettstone award, which is given to the meet's most outstanding performer.
"I was very pleased. I was waiting for a good performance for a long time," Helsby said. "I'm pretty happy all over."
While the Lions took the lead early against Michigan, only to fall short in the end, they not only took the lead early, but also widened the gap between themselves and the Illini throughout the night. In fact, Penn State increased its lead after each rotation.
Even before the meet got started, the Lions could sense that this week would be different.
"The guys came in more confident and it showed. They had a look in their eyes. Tonight we just had it," senior captain Matt Cohen said. "We knew we were going to win. We'll have the look in our eyes for the rest of the year."
Even the opposing Illini could sense that Penn State was on top of its game.
Illinois head coach Yoshi Hayasaki said that while his team is young and plagued by injuries, he knew it would be a tough task to top the Lions, especially because they were firing on all cylinders.
"We are not 100 percent healthy this season." Illinois coach Hayasaki said. "But hats off to Penn State. They made no mistakes."
Penn State's home stretch concludes next weekend, when conference rival No. 3 Ohio State comes to town at 7 p.m. Saturday night in Rec Hall. The meet also will have the women's sides of each school competing as well.
