The Weekly All-Around

Week 10, 2025

Historic Day in State College

In an instant-classic competition, Penn State defeated Nebraska 329.050-328.850 and clinched a share of the Big 10 Regular-Season Championship! This narrow victory brought the Nittany Lions to a 3-1 conference-record on the season and their first-ever regular-season B1G Title. Aside from the outcome, the actual competition this weekend was simply incredible. Penn State and Nebraska both certainly brought their best routines, and both teams secured season-high totals by over three points. The newly-slotted #3 and #4 nationally-ranked teams proved how evenly matched they are, setting up for an intense battle at their Conference Championships, and a battle for the podium at the NCAA Championships.

This 329.050 from Penn State is a massive deal - It’s the highest score of the entire season by a team not named Oklahoma. Even Stanford or Michigan haven’t put together a competition quite like this. Now, it was obviously at their home venue and on a Senior Day, but numbers this high are never worth overlooking. In week 10, Penn State earned the outright highest Team Floor score of the season with a 55.550, led in-part by Josh Karnes’ 14.150. 

Karnes is an athlete worth serious attention over the next few months and years to come. He has accolades such as All-American or All-Big Ten honors, but now he seems to have taken that next step forward. Maybe a true coming out party will happen at an individual elite competition, but the new B1G Champion will continue to thrill the NCAA for the rest of the season. As it appears now, Karnes has the potential to win a National Title on Parallel Bars and High Bar. With these two world-class routines, and two more great routines on pommel horse and floor, Josh Karnes is an early contender for a new-face on Team USA come LA 2028.

Richard-less Michigan Impress

Another team to display a season-high in Week 10 were the Michigan Wolverines! Entering the week ranked #7, this Michigan team was a true underdog set to face rival #3 Ohio State. However, in typical Senior Day fashion, Michigan earned the victory and set their new peak with a 328.100, though notably still behind Penn State and Nebraska. 

This 328.100, while impressive by itself, becomes even more impressive when considering the fact that Michigan gets to add a Paris Olympian and World All-Around medalist. While he has competed at a few competitions this year, Frederick Richard was not in any lineups in Week 10. While you have to imagine he’ll compete at the biggest meets of the year, it’s still a shock to not see Richard representing his University at this point in the season. Nonetheless, Paul Juda and the balanced team around him conquered the Buckeyes and have now climbed to #5 nationally. The #1 Parallel Bars team in the country hopes to defeat Nebraska in week 11 to clinch a tie with Penn State for the 2025 Big Ten Regular Season Title. 

Nissen-Emery Finalists Announced

The Nissen-Emery award is essentially the NCAA men’s gymnastics version of a Heisman Trophy or MVP award, though it is only available for 4th-year (minimum) student-athletes. The highest honor in collegiate gymnastics since 1966 is not only awarded for athletic excellence, but sportsmanship and academic prowess as well. All three Paris Olympians who were eligible to win a Nissen-Emery award - Stephen Nedoroscik, Brody Malone, and Paul Juda - did so in their respective years, along with 2020 Olympians Sam Mikulak, Shane Wiskus, and Yul Moldauer. Last year’s winner was Stanford’s Colt Walker.

The names on the ballot in 2025 are: 

• Taylor Burkhart | Stanford

• Taylor Christopulos | Nebraska

• Emre Dodanli | Oklahoma 

• Patrick Hoopes | Air Force 

• Josh Karnes | Penn State

• Kameron Nelson | Ohio State

• Khoi Young | Stanford

...

Written by Aiden Whitehead

Principal Staff Writer for TURN

About Aiden

Hello gymnastics fans! I’m Aiden and I’m super excited to join the team at TURN as the 'Principal Staff Writer'. I began competing gymnastics at the age of six and immediately fell in love with the sport. I am currently in the midst of my senior season as a competitor, serving my third year as a team captain for the Georgia United GymACT team. Last December, I graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management, with Sports Media Certification as well. I've already acquired a few years of media experience, working a variety of roles with GymACT, Virtius, and Neutral Deductions. In addition to competing, I am an active women’s team coach at Oconee Gymnastics Center, as well as the Technical Director of the Georgia Men’s Gymnastics Judging Association. Evidently — even though I am competing, coaching, and judging — I can never get enough of this sport, so I’m excited to take this new role as well!