Despite being penalized for four under-rotated jumps in the free skate, Jason Brown of Highland Park won his first senior-level international competition Friday, the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany.
Brown, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, was first in both the Nebelhorn short program and free skate.
He topped a field that became significantly weaker when 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Denis Ten of Kazakhstan withdrew with the flu.
Brown had 237.17 points to 228.48 for runner-up Michael Brezina of the Czech Republic.
Brown had finished second at Nebelhorn last year. He was ninth at the Olympics.
Reigning U.S. champion Gracie Gold was third in Friday’s short program after falling on her opening jump, a triple lutz. That mistake was the difference in leaving her behind 4.9 points behind Alena Leonova and 3.12 back Elizaveta Tukhtamysheva, both Russians, going into the Saturday free skate.
Both Brown and Gold are scheduled to compete at Skate America, the first Grand Prix event of the season, Oct. 24-26 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.