Wheeling, W. Va. – After coming on the scene for the first time in 2025, the Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team was looking to continue to build in 2026. It was a season full of new PR's, program records, and another trip to the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Event Finals. They were able to match their win total from a season ago, but improved on both their start values and their conference win percentage while continuing to build their roster.
The 2026 season would start on the road for the Cardinals, with the team battling nationally ranked Glenville State and Bluefield State in their opening meet. Wheeling would split the day, falling to Glenville State before taking down Bluefield State, and picking up their earliest win in program history. After falling to West Liberty in the final game of the three-game season opening road trip, the Cardinals would come home to face Canisius in their first ever NCAA DI match-up. They would battle with the Griffins, but fell 233.625-205.025, putting together their smallest margin of defeat so far. It was the first of three straight 200+ point scores for the Cardinals, with a win over West Virginia State included in that run. They would end the team portion of the season dropping a tri-meet to Frostburg State and Fairmont State, and rounded out the year with their Tumbling Trio Pass qualifying for the MEC Event finals and taking third in the competition.
While it was a big year on the mat, it was also a year of individual success for the Cardinals. Wheeling made history with the first two All-MEC award winners in program history. Ashleigh Aston and Gabby Jantz would each earn Second Team All-MEC honors. Jantz would help lead the trio pass at the MEC Event finals, and was one of the team's leading tops/tumblers throughout the season. Wheeling's best event of the year was the Tumbling event, and Jantz played a part in two heats, the trio pass and the six-Element. While she helped lead the Trio Pass to the event finals, she also took the six-element to new heights during the year. She would set the new program record in the event, scoring a 9.300 against Canisius, and put together three 9.00+ scores or better in the event. She looks to continue to be a leader for the Cardinals on the mat as the program continues to grow.
The other All-MEC honoree was Ashleigh Aston, who helped play a big role in the Pyramid Event. Coming into the season, Head Coach Alexis Kelly was excited for the team's growth in the Pyramid, and they proved he r confidence correct. Aston would serve as the main base for all three heats, and helped the Cardinals finish with a scoring average of 8.00 or better in two of the three heats. Their top heat would be the Open Pyramid, where they averaged 9.150, setting a new program record for season average. Rounding out the individual success was sophomore Gianna Bjorn, who joined Jantz in the trio pass. She would also be an individual tumbler for the team, taking the lead in the Aerial event. She would average a 7.994 for the event on the year, while also being a part of the 450 Salto Toss group that averaged a 7.74 on the year.
The Wheeling Acrobatics and Tumbling team now heads into the off-season as they look to grow towards the 2027 campaign.
