Frostburg, MD. – After having their originally scheduled Tri-Meet rescheduled back in February, the Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team (2-6, 1-4) made the trip to Frostburg, Maryland on Friday evening. They would compete against the host Frostburg State Bobcats and #4 Fairmont State, and put up a score of 203.900. It was the third time this season that the Cardinals had gone over the 200-point mark and, while they didn't qualify as a team for the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament, the Cardinals are hoping that some of their individual events will make the event final.
The top showing of the day would come in the Acro Event as the Cardinals took on the 5-Element Heat. The Cardinals would begin with a start value of 9.40, and would earn their first heat win of the season. They put up a score of 8.85, setting a new program record in the event and earning a win over #4 Fairmont State. It was their first heat win over a ranked opponent this year, and propelled them through the rest of the Acro event. They would score a 7.05 on a start value of 8.60 in the 6-Element Acro, and rounded out the event with a 6.85 on a start value of 9.30. As a team, the Cardinals would put up a score of 22.75, finishing just one point shy of #4 Fairmont State as they showed they can compete with one of the top Acrobatics & Tumbling programs in the country.
The other two Cardinal heat wins came in the Tumbling event, with Wheeling defeating Frostburg State in back-to-back events. The first of the two heat wins came via sophomore Gabriella Jantz in the 6-Element Pass. She would begin the heat with a start value of 9.75 and would put up a score of 8.90 in the event. She would beat out Frostburg State by 0.875 continuing her strong showing in the event throughout the season. The final heat win would come in the Open Pass, with freshman Laicey Angelle continuing her strong freshman season. She would end up scoring an 8.350 on a start value of 8.90, defeating the host Bobcats once again by a score of 0.125. The final individual pass would feature sophomore Giana Bjorn in the Aerial Pass, where she put up a score of 8.00 on a start value of 8. 60.
Prior to the individual pass wins, the second half began with Wheeling sitting at 79.35 points. They would open second half play in the Toss event, where they built their scores throughout the event. It started with the 450 Salto Toss, where the team scored a 6.90, before they added scores of 7.50 in the synchronized toss and 8.55 in the Open Toss. They totaled 22.95 points in the event before headinfinto the Tumbling, which has been their strongest event this season. Prior to the success of the individual passes, it was the duo pass that would produce the other score of 7.00 or higher. The team of Courtney Hurst and Laicey Angelle would score a 7.100, and propelled the team through the individual passes. Wheeling would score 44.250 points in Tumbling, and would round out the night with a 57.35 in the team event.
In the first half, the Cardinals got things started in the Compulsory event, with their highest score coming in the Pyramid Event. Wheeling would score an 8.75 out of a start value of 10.00, picking up one of two 7.00+ performances in the event. The other would follow in the Toss Heat, where they scored a 7.70 off a start value of 10.00. Following the success of the Acro event, the Cardinal Pyramid stood true to its name as one of their top performing events of the year. It was once again the Open Pyramid that stood out, with Wheeling starting at a value of 10.00. it would end up being the highest scoring event of the night for tbr Cardinals, with the team putting up a 9.50 to round out the event. Wheeling rounded things out with ab 8.70 in the Inversion Pyramid and an 8.45 in the Synchronized Pyramid.
The Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling now awaits to see if they qualify for the Event finals of the MEC Championships on Sunday, April 12th.
