Wheeling, W. Va. - After enjoying the comforts of their home mat for their first two meets in program history, the Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team (0-2, 0-2) hits the road for the first time in program history. They will be competing in their first-ever tri-meet as they take on Frostburg State and Glenville State at Glenville State on Wednesday at 6 PM. The Cardinals look to take their skills to the road as they continue building their program in their inaugural season.
Last time out, the Cardinals hosted the #6 team in the country in Fairmont State, and put together a few strong performances. The biggest event of the night would be the Compulsory event, where the Cardinals put together two program record performances. They put together a total team score of 28.200 across the four heats and trailed by 10 after one event. As the night went on, the Cardinals continued to have low margins in their events, trailing by five points or fewer in three of the five events in which they competed. Their highest scoring event would be the Tumbling, where they put up 39.425 points, including their first-ever event win in the five-element pass. However, with some injuries on the roster, the team was not able to compete in the final Team Event and would end up falling to the Falcons 261.790-137.525.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Keala McCurry, who would earn that first-ever individual event win in the five-element Tumbling Pass. With a start value of 8.60, McCurry received just 0.35 points worth of deductions to put up an 8.250 in the heat. It was enough to beat Fairmont State, who scored 7.925 points on a start value of 10, to earn the Cardinals their first-ever individual heat victory. McCurry was also a part of the two highest team scoring events of the night, the Compulsory Pyramid and the Compulsory Toss. She started out in the Pyramid, serving as one of two tops as the team earned a score of 9.050. In the very next heat, McCurry would go up for the Compulsory Toss, flipping into the arms of her bases for a 9.200 score.
The other top performers for the Cardinals were the team's two freshmen Giana Bjorn and Gabriella Jantz. Bjorn served as the other top during the Compulsory Toss event, helping McCurry and the team earn the 9.200 score. Bjorn and McCurry joined Jantz in the tumbling event tri pass, where the trio scored a 7.350 after posting a start value of 8.00. Both Bjorn and Jantz also competed in solo events on the day, with Bjorn competing in the six-element Tumbling Pass while Jantz took on the seven-element Tumbling Pass. Jantz would have a strong showing in the seven-element, scoring a 7.800 off a start value of 8.00, while Bjorn added a 7.125 in the six-element pass, sitting just a point lower than her score from the first meet of the year.
As the Cardinals embark on their first road meet as a program, they also continue their run through conference play. Between their first two meets, the Cardinals have improved their scores in each event they competed in and look to continue building on that success as the season goes on. They have another tall task in their first tri-meet of the season, taking on the defending MEC Champions Frostburg State as well as a Glenville State team that made it to the MEC Tournament a season ago. With a young team that is still learning the ropes of the sport, the Cardinals are looking to continually improve as the season goes on, raising both their total scores as well as their point values.
The Opponents
Glenville State: The Pioneers are one of the more established programs in the conference, entering their ninth season in 2025. Like the Cardinals, they have competed in two meets this season, defeating West Liberty 244.560-232.960, and falling to Fairmont State last time out by 20 points. Last season, the Pioneers would make the MEC Tournament as the #3 seed, where they fell to Frostburg State in the first round. They are hosting their first event of the 2025 season as they look to get back to the MEC Tournament.
Frostburg State: The Bobcats have a target on their backs entering the 2025 season, coming in as the defending MEC Champions. They currently sit ranked as the #9 team in the country, and have gone 7-3 through their first 10 meets of the season. The Bobcats are entering their seventh season as a program in 2025 and they have made the MEC Championship match each of the last three seasons, going 2-1 in those events and winning back-to-back conference titles.
The Details
First events for Wednesday's tri-meet are scheduled to begin at 6 PM inside the Waco Center on the campus of Glenville State University. You can watch the meet live by clicking HERE.
