Wheeling, W. Va. – The home portion of the schedule wrapped up for the Wheeling Acrobatics and Tumbling team (2-3, 1-2) Sunday. They welcomed in West Virginia State for dual meet action, and picked up their first Mountain East Conference (MEC) win of the season. They honored their group of five seniors who helped build the program from the ground up with their second straight 200-point performance of the season.
The Cardinals would win each of the six events they competed in, with the Tumbling event once again shining through on the mat. It was another big day for sophomore Gabriella Jantz, who picked up her second 9.00 or better score of the season in the six-element Pass. She would put up a score of 9.025, finishing as the second highest scoring heat or the event. Kaicey Angelle was the other top individual performer in the tumbling, taking on the Open Pass. The freshman put together a score of 8.475 as she continues to make an impact during her freshman season. The final individual pass came from Gianna Bjorn, who rounded out the day in the Aerial Pass. She finished with a score of 8.000 out of a start value of 8.650. The three individual tumblers for the Cardinals have been the leaders of the team's success this season and all but helped them secure the victory.
The highest scoring heat of the day came in the Compulsory event in the Toss Heat. The Cardinals would set a program record, scoring a 9.300 off a start value of 10.000. The Cardinals would supplement that with an 8.550 in the Pyramid Heat, building off their success from Canisius. Wheeling rounded out the Compulsory Event with the Acro Heat (7.550) and the Tumbling Heat (4.350). Wheeling would start strong with a 30.05-21.85 win and carried that momentum into the first heat of the Acro Event. It would come in the 5-Element Acro, where the team finished with their second 9.000 score of the day, scoring exactly 9.000. They rounded out the event with a 6.850 in the 6-Element, and a 6.950 in the 7-Element. It was a slim margin of victory for the Cardinals, with a 22.80-20.10. Wheeling's total score would come to 52.85 with one event to go before halftime.
It would be one of the Cardinal's strongest events of the season so far, the Pyramid Event, and the Cardinals built on their success. They set two new season-highs , starting with the Inversion Pyramid. They would art the tone with a season-best 9.20, off a start value of 9?600 to get the event started. It was the first of two 9.00 scores for the Cardinals, with the other coming in the team's Open Pyramid. It was their highest score of the event, with the Cardinal's putting up a 9.450 out of a start value of 10.00. It would be another program record for the Cardinals, and they went into halftime leading 78.70-67.45. Coming off the break, Wheeling was able to keep the Momentum going in the Toss event, coming out strong in the 450 Salto Toss. The team put together a score of 8.100 off a start value of 8.80, surrendering just just .700 points in the event. They finished with identical 7.400 scores in each of the final two heats and totaled 22.90 points in the event.
In the team portion of the tumbling event, the Cardinals would compete in both the duo and trio passes, with each scoring 7.00 or better. It started with the duo pass, featuring Shannon Farrow and Courtney Hurst. The two put together a score of 6.00 and two of the Cardinal's three individual tumblers would be featured in the trio pass. Bjorn and Jantz were joined by Kaicey Angelle in the trio event, and the threesome put together the highest team tumbling score of the event. They put up a score of 7.400 out of a start value of 8.75 to send it into the individual events. Wrapping up the day was the team event, with the Cardinals entering with a start value of 92.20. they finished with a score of 65.700. it got them over the 200-point mark for the second consecutive event and gave them their first MEC win of the season.
The Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team returns to action on Saturday, March 28th, when they compete against Kutztown at 2 PM.
