UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 26, 2005 ¡ª No. 4 Penn State dropped a 222.075-215.500 decision to No. 2 Ohio State Saturday night in men¡¯s gymnastics at Rec Hall. The defending national champions were without 2004 NCAA all-around champion Luis Vargas for the night as he was competing at the American Cup for his native Puerto Rico.

Penn State got off to a slow start on the floor exercise and couldn¡¯t catch the Buckeyes after that. Senior captain Steve Tobin (Cherry Hill, N.J.) was the Lions¡¯ only top three finisher in either of the first two rotations and earned a 9.150 on the floor.

The Lions caught a bit more momentum in the third and fourth rotations, taking first in the vault on a career-high 9.600 from Chad Buczek (Bridgewater, Mass.). Teammate Santiago Lopez (Cibola del mar, Mexico) tied for third with a 9.350. On rings, Penn State¡¯s Tommy Ramos (Guaynabo, P.R.) was part of a three-way tie for second with a 9.600. Nevertheless, Ohio State still led 148.500-144.650 after a rings win by Randy Monahan with a 9.700 and a pair of 9.600s to compliment it on the apparatus.

Ohio State just kept rolling through its final two rotations, finishing with a 222.075. Willie Ito scored a 9.800 to lead the Buckeyes on the high bar, while Penn State¡¯s Matt Bowman (Houston, Texas) and OSU¡¯s Randy Monahan tied for second with a 9.550. Bowman¡¯s 9.550 tied his career high set last week. D.J. Bucher took first on parallel bars to finish the night, scoring a 9.725. Tobin was the only Nittany Lion to place, scoring an 8.800.

Penn State¡¯s Derek Helsby (Orlando, Fla.) won the all-around with a 52.925.

Penn State hosts Japan on Tuesday, March 1, at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall in its final home meet of the season. The international competition will be the first held at Penn State in over 20 years and will provide Lion fans with the last glimpse of the defending national champion squad before they hit the road for the remainder of the season.

 FLOOR EXERCISE 1. Randy Monahan (OSU) 9.550 2. Cody Trobaugh (OSU) 9.350 3. Steve Tobin (PSU) 9.150 Grant Osborne (OSU) 9.150 POMMEL HORSE 1. Ron Ferris (OSU) 9.475 2. D.J. Bucher (OSU) 9.300 3. Grant Osborne (OSU) 9.250 RINGS 1. Randy Monahan (OSU) 9.725 2. Tommy Ramos (PSU) 9.600 D.J. Bucher (OSU) 9.600 Cody Trobaugh (OSU) 9.600 VAULT 1. Chad Buczek (PSU) 9.600 2. Randy Monahan (OSU) 9.500 3. Santiago Lopez (PSU) 9.350 Pej Ebrahimi (OSU) 9.350 PARALLEL BARS 1. D.J. Bucher (OSU) 9.725 2. Nic Searcy (OSU) 9.300 3. Steve Tobin (PSU) 8.800 HORIZONTAL BARS 1. Willie Ito (OSU) 9.800 2. Randy Monahan (OSU) 9.550 Matt Bowman (PSU) 9.550 ALL-AROUND 1. Derek Helsby (PSU) 52.925