Wheeling, W. Va. - With just 17 days left until the 2026 season, the Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team is getting ready to take the mat for their second varsity season. On Monday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their annual preseason Acrobatics & Tumbling Poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches. After making their first-ever appearance at the MEC Acrobatics & Tumbling event finals, the Cardinals took the #6 spot in the poll, earning 12 points in the annual vote.
The young Cardinal team would embark on their first varsity season in 2025, with a roster of 23 women to begin the program. They competed in their first official event on February 2nd, 2025 against West Liberty, and put up a respectable 185.170 points. They would end up dropping that first match, but put up two scores of 8.0 or higher to start the program. They would get their first individual event win in their second meet against Fairmont State, when former Cardinal Keala McCurry won the five-element Tumbling event, but they would still be looking for the first team win. That would come just two events later on March 10th, when the Cardinals defeated West Virginia State 215.255-203.555. They would finish the regular season 2-6 overall and 1-5 in MEC play, while their Trio Pass tumbling team rounded out the year with a third place finish at the MEC Event Finals.
While still a young roster entering the 2026 season, the Cardinals now have a season of competition under their belt that they can build off. With 10 athletes returning from last year's roster, including each of the three who competed in last year's trio pass at the event finals, the Cardinals have plenty of experience to build off of. Leading the way are two of the three individual tumblers for the Cardinals last season in Gianna Bjorn and Gabriella Jantz, with both playing major roles in the tumbling events. Along with the returning core, Head Coach Alexis Kelly has also brought in a recruiting class of nine athletes ready to make their mark on the program. Their backgrounds come from a variety of sports, including both gymnastics and cheerleading, and they look to translate those skills to the competition mat.
Leading the way in the 2026 MEC Acrobatics & Tumbling preseason poll are the defending MEC Acrobatics & Tumbling champions Fairmont State University. The Falcons received six first place votes and a total of 36 points from the voting committee. Sitting right behind them was Glenville State, receiving one first place vote and 31 points, while Frostburg State added 26 points to round out the top three. The full 2026 MEC Acrobatics & Tumbling preseason poll is listed below:
1. Fairmont State - (6) 36
2. Glenville State - (1) 31
3. Frostburg State - 26
4. West Liberty - 19
5. Kutztown - 16
6. Wheeling - 12
7. West Virginia State - 7
The Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team begins their 2026 season on Thursday, February 12th, when they compete at the Glenville State tri-meet at 6 PM.
