The Basics
The Fairmont State acrobatics & tumbling team seeks its fourth consecutive Mountain East Conference Tournament title and will start its quest versus West Liberty in the semifinal round. The Falcons and Hilltoppers will meet at Bobcat Arena on Friday (April 14) at 5 p.m. The winner of the semifinal round will advance to the championship meet and will take on the winner between Frostburg State/Glenville State on Saturday (April 15) at 3 p.m.
 
How to Watch
Friday's meet between the Falcons and the Hilltoppers will be streamed on MEC TV. The individual event finals and the championship meet will also be broadcasted on MEC TV. Tickets for the meet are available and can be purchased at this link.
 
MEC Individual Event Finals
The Falcons qualified for 13 individual event heats and will compete in the individual finals on Saturday (April 15) at 11 a.m. Qualifiers for individual event finals are selected based on the top three scores in each heat during the acro, pyramid, toss and tumbling events throughout the season. Qualifying scores must come from conference meets. Ties are not broken when selecting qualifiers.
 
2023 MEC Individual Event Finals Qualifiers
Five-Element Acro: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State
Six-Element Acro: Frostburg State, Glenville State, West Liberty
Seven-Element Acro: Frostburg State, Glenville State, West Liberty

Inversion Pyramid: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State
Synchronized Pyramid: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, West Liberty
Open Pyramid: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State

450 Salto Toss: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State
Synchronized Toss: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State
Open Toss: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State

Duo Tumbling: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, Glenville State
Trio Tumbling: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, West Liberty
Quad Tumbling: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, West Liberty
Aerial Tumbling: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, West Liberty
Six-Element Tumbling: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, West Liberty
Open Tumbling: Fairmont State, Frostburg State, West Liberty
 
Qualifying Heats (By Institution)
Frostburg State – 15
Fairmont State – 13
Glenville State – 9
West Liberty – 8
 
 

 
NCATA National Rankings
The Falcons checked in at No. 7 in the third NCATA National rankings released on Wednesday.
 
NCATA Championship Rankings #3 (April 12, 2023)
1. Baylor University
2. University of Oregon
3. Azusa Pacific University
4. Quinnipiac University
5. Gannon University
6. Frostburg State University
7. Fairmont State University
8. Limestone University
9. Hawai'i Pacific University
10. Belmont Abbey College
 

• Top 8 teams will qualify for the NCATA National Championship Tournament
• Results as of 4-9-23 considered in this week's rankings
• The 2023 NCATA Championship Bracket will be announced on Monday, April 17

 
 
Fighting Falcons Facts

• Fairmont State has posted an 8-1 record in the regular season and has scored an average of 264.141 points per meet. The Falcons' season-high meet total came versus Frostburg State on March 18 with 271.915 points.
• Six Falcons received All-MEC postseason awards, with Peyton Barnes being voted Specialist of the Year. Emily Brock, Brionni Dowson, Katey Koehl, Izaria Mcwhorter-Martin and Taylor Openlander joined Barnes on all-conference teams.
• Koehl has won MEC Athlete of the Week two times this season (Feb. 14 & March 28).
• Alexa Wilson has been recognized by the NCATA as an Honorable Mention for Freshman of the Week twice this season. Wilson is a graduate of Fairmont Senior High School.
• Last season, Fairmont State defeated West Liberty, 254.530-249.620 in the conference semifinals before edging Frostburg State 256.695-255.550 in the conference championship meet to claim its third-straight MEC Tournament crown.
• Danielle Cutri is in her third season in charge of the Fairmont State acrobatics & tumbling team. Cutri was enshrined in the Fairmont State Athletics Hall of Fame in September of 2022 and is one of two four-time NCATA All-Americans. Cutri was selected as MEC Coach of the Year in 2021.

 
Scouting West Liberty
After going 3-2 in MEC competition, the Hilltoppers earned the No. 3 seed in the MEC Tournament. WLU secured wins over Notre Dame (Ohio), Glenville State and Davis & Elkins and dropped matches to Frostburg State & Fairmont State. The Hilltoppers have faced five NCATA nationally ranked teams this season and hold a 4-6 overall mark.
 
Kayla Gandy, Gillian Hartz and Abbey Swinderman were placed on the First Team-All MEC list while Abbey Horvath and Paige McGlothlin won Second Team All-MEC honors. Gandy, a sophomore from Washington, Pa., won MEC Athlete of the Week on March 2 when she scored an 8.85 out of 9.4 in heat one of the toss events and scored 9.35 out of 9.6 in her aerial tumbling pass versus Stevenson.
 
Fairmont State alumna Kelsey Kyle leads the West Liberty acrobatics & tumbling program. Kyle won MEC Specialist of the Year in 2019 and helped win four individual event titles for the Falcons in the MEC Championships.
 
Last Meet Versus West Liberty
The Fairmont State (8-1, 4-1 in Mountain East Conference meets) acrobatics & tumbling team defeated West Liberty (3-6, 2-2 MEC) in the last regular season meet on Sunday (April 2) at the Academic Sports & Recreation Complex in West Liberty, W.Va.
 
The Falcons began the meet with a 35.75-34.40 win in the Compulsory Event. A number of Fairmont State athletes contributed to a 9.55 out of 10 possible points in the pyramid heat including Katey Koehl, Reghan Mollohan, Brylee Knotts, Brionni Dowson, Emily Brock, Kaylee Rehak, Madeline Walker, Olivia Daniels, Hope Kiszka, Magdeline Gigliotti, Izaria McWhorter-Martin, Elizabeth Maurer and Peyton Barnes. The toss team contributed a 9.30 as part of the Fairmont State opening round victory.
 
The 5 element Acro team of Koehl, Rylee Vinson, Brock and Maurer scored a 9.30 out of 9.95 possible points. The 7 element team of Sophia Del Greco, Zara Christophe, Barnes, Knotts and Walker posted an impressive 9.60. WLU claimed the Acro heat, 27.60-27.55.
 
The Falcons bounced back in the Pyramid Heat and won 28.70-27.60 to close out the half. Each routine scored north of a 9.00 and the open pyramid team of McWhorter-Martin, Barnes, Koehl, Dowson, Mollohan and Knotts turned in a 9.85 out of 10.00 to finish the first half for the Fighting Falcons. Fairmont State held a 92.00-89.60 at the end of the first.
 
Fairmont State kept the momentum rolling in the toss event. The open toss team of Taylor Openlander, Dowson, Mollohan, Kassidy Price, Barnes and Daniels fired a 9.00 out of 9.40 points to lead FSU to a 26.00-23.95 win. In the tumbling event, Giavana Poyner and Del Greco teamed up in the duo pass for a 9.00 out of 9.60 possible points.
 
The Falcons shined in the individual passes. Poyner completed the aerial pass for a 9.450 out of 9.70 points. Openlander scored a 9.275 out of 9.80 in the 6 element and Koehl completed the tumbling round with a 9.275 out of 10.00. Fairmont State won the tumbling event, 52.350-52.125. The Fighting Falcons capped off the meet with a 91.31 score in the team event and eclipsed the 260 mark for the seventh time this season.
 
Scouting Frostburg State
The No. 1 seed Frostburg State won the MEC Regular Season title after going 5-0 in conference competition. The Bobcats defeated Fairmont State in a close match back in March, 272.410-271.915. The two matches Frostburg State has dropped have been to top-5 nationally ranked teams (Baylor & Quinnipiac).
 
Frostburg State's squad features the 2023 MEC Athlete of the Year, Abbie Baker. Baker was named the NCATA National Athlete of the Week on March 22 and competes in 12 heats and team event for the Bobcats. Isabella Monegelluzzo was voted as the Freshman of the Year after helping Frostburg State average 9.70 or higher in six different heats as a base. Navah Marierose and Laiken Spahr won First Team All-MEC while Kaitlin Bolton was featured on the Second Team All-MEC.
 
Katie Nunley repeated as MEC Coach of the Year after guiding the Bobcats to a perfect regular season record in conference play and an 8-2 overall record. Frostburg State won its first-ever MEC Regular Season Championship and are sixth in the NCATA rankings.
 
Last Meet Versus Frostburg State
The No. 7 Fairmont State (5-1, 3-1 in Mountain East Conference play) acrobatics & tumbling team set a season-high 271.915 points but fell at home versus No. 12 Frostburg State (6-0, 4-0) on Saturday (March 18) at Joe Retton Arena in Fairmont, W.Va.
 
The meet kicked off with a highly competitive Compulsory Event. The Falcons edged Frostburg State in the Acro Heat and won 9.20-9.15. The Bobcats fired back by outscoring Fairmont State 9.85-9.80 in the Pyramid Heat. The Falcons claimed the Toss Heat with an impressive 9.90 score and won the Tumbling heat with a mark of 8.50. At the end of the first round, Fairmont State led 37.40-36.50.
 
The Falcons stayed in front in the Acro event. The 5-element team of Katy Koehl, Rylee Vinson, Emily Brock and Elizabeth Maurer scored a 9.40. The 7-element squad of Sophia Del Greco, Zara Christophe, Peyton Barnes, Brylee Knotts and Madeline Walker posted a 9.50. Fairmont State won the Acro heat, 27.80-27.65.
 
The Pyramid event was another close contest. The Falcons came out on top in the Inversion pyramid, 9.70-9.60. Frostburg State won both the Synchronized pyramid (9.85-9.75) and the Open pyramid (9.95-9.85) and edged the Falcons (29.40-29.30) in the Pyramid event. Fairmont State held a 94.50-93.55 lead at the break.
 
Del Greco, Koehl, Izaria McWhorter-Martin, Knotts, Alexa Wilson and Barnes racked up 9.70 out of 9.90 possible points in the 450 Salto event to start the Toss event. The synchronized toss team scored a 9.25 to keep the Falcons in front. Frostburg State managed to record a perfect score in the Open heat with a 9.90 and won the Toss event, 28.30-28.15.
 
In the Tumbling event, Giavana Poyner and Del Greco logged a 9.05 in the duo pass. Taylor Openlander, Koehl and Christophe teamed up and fired an 8.90 in the trio pass. Smith, Brock, Vinson and Maurer totaled an 8.50 in the quad pass. In the individual passes, Poyner produced a 9.60 in the aerial pass, while Christophe scored a 9.35 in the 6-element routine. Koehl concluded the Tumbling event with a 9.575 in the open pass and the Falcons held a slight lead over Frostburg State going into the team event.
 
The Bobcats' final score in the team event was 95.21. The Falcons followed with a 94.29. When the scores were tallied, Frostburg State was declared the winner and finished with 272.410 points while the Falcons totaled 271.915 points in the tight MEC competition.
 
Scouting Glenville State
After finishing the 2022 campaign with a 1-5 record, the Pioneers improved to 5-3 in 2023. GSU went 2-3 in conference meets and qualified in the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed.
 
Freshman Savannah Duckworth and Madisyn Hahn won First Team All-MEC recognition for the Pioneers. GSU had three athletes (Mackenzie Bathe, Ashton Lowe and Abigail McDermott, claim Second Team All-MEC recognition.
 
First-year head coach Taylor Broadwater leads Glenville State. Broadwater launched her a&t coaching career as an assistant coach at West Virginia Wesleyan before returning to her alma mater as the head coach of GSU.
 
Last Meet Versus Glenville State
The Fairmont State acrobatics and tumbling team (2-0) opened the season with a pair of wins versus Glenville State (1-1) and Notre Dame College (0-2) in a tri-meet on Sunday (Feb. 12) at Joe Retton Arena. The Fighting Falcons totaled 266.30 points, which was the highest point total in an opening meet since 2020.
 
Fairmont State tallied 37.70 points in the Compulsory Event. The acro heat unit earned a score of 9.25 to start the meet.  The pyramid heat group of Katey Koehl, Reghan Mollohan, Brylee Knotts, Brionni Dowson, Emily Brock, Kaylee Rehak, Madeline Walker, Olivia Daniels, Hope Kiszka, Magdeline Gigliotti, Izaria McWhorter-Martin, Elizabeth Mauerer and Peyton Barnes delivered a 9.90 out of 10.00 possible points in the pyramid heat. The toss heat fired a 9.70 and the tumbling heat team scored a 8.85 and the Fighting Falcons finished with 37.70 after the first event.
 
Koehl, Rylee Vinson, Brock and Maurer scored a 9.30 in the 5 element to start the Acro event. The 6 element team finished with 9.10 and the 7 element group of Sophia Del Greco, Zara Christophe, Barnes, Knotts and Walker achieved a score of 9.50 to give Fairmont State a 27.90 in the Acro event.
 
In the Pyramid event, the Fighting Falcons started by earning a 9.25 in the Inversion pyramid event. The synchronized pyramid scored a 9.55 and the open pyramid team finished the first half with a score of 9.75. Fairmont State totaled 94.15 points in the first half.
 
The 450 salto team of Del Greco, Koehl, McWhorter-Martin, Knotts, Alexa Wilson and Barnes started the second half with a 9.10. The synch team finished with a 9.00 and the open toss squad of Vinson, Brock, Natalie Moore, Rehak, Maurer and Barnes totaled an 8.95 out of 9.00 possible points. Fairmont State compiled 27.05 points in the Toss event.
 
Giavana Poyner and Brock competed in the duo pass and added 8.750 to the Fighting Falcons' score. Del Greco, Koehl and Christophe teamed up for a score of 8.850 in the trio pass and Smith, Moore Vinson and Gigliotti penned a score of 8.550 in the quad pass. In the solo events, Koehl completed the aerial pass with a score of 9.450. Christophe totaled 9.300 in the 6 element and Poyner finished the tumbling event with a 9.400 routine in the open pass. The Fighting Falcons won the Tumbling event and scored 54.300 points.
 
The meet was capped off by the team event, and Fairmont State scored 90.80 in the team event to conclude the meet. Fairmont State finished with 266.300 points, while Glenville State compiled 257.130 and Notre Dame College finished with 179.670 points in the first meet in NDC program history.