Wheeling, W. Va. – For the first time in 2026, the Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team brought their skills inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Sunday. It was the first time that the Cardinals matched up with a NCAA DI program when they welcomed in Canisius in dual meet action. Wheeling was able to eclipse the 200-point mark for the first time this season and raised their team score for the third straight event as they fell to the Griffins 233.625-205.025.
Leading the way was the Tumbling Event, where the Cardinals picked up their second event win of the season. The highest mark of the event came from sophomore Gabriella Jantz, who competed in the 6-Element Pass. She would end up setting a new career high with a score of 9.300 to earn the heat win. It was the third time this season that Jantz competed in the event and the first time that she went over the 9.00 mark. It was one of four heat wins In the tumbling event, with two of those coming in individual passes. The other individual heat win came courtesy of Laicey Angelle in the Open Pass. The freshman has been taking on the challenge all season long and for the second straight event, hit a score of 8.425. the final heat win of the Tumbling Event came from the duo pass, headlined by Angelle and Courtney Hurst. The duo posted a score of 7.00, beating out Canisius by 0.5 points.
The trio pass would be the final team heat win, with Gianna Bjorn, Jantz, and Savannah Polous taking the mat. The trio put together a strong run, putting up a score of 7.500 to best Canisius's mark of 6.550. The final two heats of the tumbling event would be the quad pass and the six-element. Bjorn would compete in the six-element and was locked in a tight battle with Canisius's Eva Bernard. Bjorn's score of 7.950 was just . 025 off of the mark set by Bernard, keeping the Cardinals in front in the event score. The quad pass would be the final heat of the tumbling event, putting together a score of 5.050 to round out the day. It was enough to lead the Cardinals to a 45.275-43.925 win in the Tumbling event, keeping the Griffins within striking distance heading to the team event. It was Wheeling's second straight meet with an event win as they continue their growth on the mat.
Wheeling competed right along with the Griffins throughout the afternoon, starting in the Compulsory event. It was a strong Pyramid and Toss that led the way for the Cardinals, with both heats producing a score of 8.00 or better. The Pyramid would be their top scoring heat, with a score of 8.90, followed by the Toss heat at 8.650. The Griffins would end up taking the event by a score of 35.20-27 heading into the Acro event. The Cardinals kicked things off strong, picking up their first heat win of the day in the 5-Element Heat. They would put up a score of 8.650, picking up a 0.2 point win over Canisius to start things off. Wheeling put up one more 6.0+ performance in the event, scoring 6.400 in the 7-Element, but the Griffins finished strong on their way to a 25.70-20.60 win. The first half wrapped up with the Pyramid Event, which has been the Cardinal's strongest event this season.
They showed why right away in the Inversion Pyramid, where they put up a score of 9.150. It was good for their second heat win of the day, as well as their largest by a margin of 1.200. Wheeling would finish strong, with a score of 8.550 in the Open Pyramid, but it wasn't enough to hold off Canisius. The Griffins won the event 26.15-25.65 to carry the lead into halftime at 87.05-73.25. After the teams broke for halftime, they came back out for the Toss Event, where the Cardinals matched the Griffin's score twice. The first match came in the 450 Salto Toss, where both teams scored a 7.750, and the second was in the Open Toss, with the team's having matching scores of 8.550. However, the difference came in the Synchronized toss as Canisius won the event 24.20-23.85. The day wrapped up with the team event, where Wheeling put together a score of 62.650 to get them over the 200-point mark.
The Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team returns to action on Sunday, March 15th when they host West Virginia State at 2 PM.
