Erie gymnast Josh Karnes earned All-American honors in April. Will he make Team USA in May?
Josh Karnes left the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championship Finals as an All-American.
The Erie High graduate, now a sophomore at Penn State, placed third in the parallel bars and seventh in vault, compiling a score of 82.964 to finish fourth in the all-around.
After four-plus years of physical struggles, this was Karnes’ chance to finally compete injury-free. The 19-year-old used the opportunity to vault his name back into the national conversation, and next week he’ll try to take it a step further when he vies for a spot on Team USA.
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“It feels really good,” Karnes said Monday. “I know I can place better; I definitely can. But last season I couldn’t show everyone who I really am. It’s a different feeling now. People always knew I was good, but because of all the injuries and everything, it was hard to back that up.”
Karnes helped power the Nittany Lions to a fifth-place team finish April 15 in the NCAA Finals at PSU’s Rec Hall. This marked the end of a sophomore campaign that saw him win the Big Ten championship on parallel bars and twice win the conference’s gymnast of the week.
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How Karnes overcame injuries, adversity
Karnes, who won several national titles as an Erie youth gymnast, reached the national finals on parallel bars and high bar as a freshman. He was held back by an assortment of injuries, however, which carried over from his high school years and bled into his sophomore year at Penn State.
A change of training style, plus assistance from trainer Jessi Neitzel, helped Karnes’ health progress as the 2023 postseason neared. The week before an early-February meet at Illinois, Karnes reached a turning point in his recovery, resting to alleviate a spine issue that limited his mobility.
From there, he was off and running, winning Big Ten gymnast of the week Feb. 11 and March 13.
“(Neitzel) came up with different exercises and treatments that really helped me. My coaches knew I would need to change my training plan a lot, so they worked with me to change my schedule and not over-train,” Karnes said. “Some things you have to push past, they said, and I did.”
What's next for Karnes?
Next year, Karnes will aim to win the Big Ten and NCAAs all-around. First, however, he’ll depart for Colorado Springs, Colorado, to audition for the Pan American Championships and the World University Games.
Karnes has worn “USA” across his chest before — he competed at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games, where he won a gold medal with the United States despite withdrawing from the competition because of injury. He’ll train for two days in Colorado Springs before competing May 7.
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The Senior Pan American Championships are May 26-28 in Medellin, Colombia, and the World University Games will be Aug. 2-5 in Chengu, China.
“It felt really good to get through this season and be able to compete all-around both days in a row," Karnes said. "I did have struggles at the beginning of the year; every week it felt like something came up with my body. It was hard to stay consistent with my training, but it worked out in the end.”
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie High grad, Penn State gymnast Karnes earns All-American honors
