BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo State acrobatics & tumbling team continued to build the foundation in their second year of competition with improvements in every event and nearly every heat. Head Coach Alia Stark and her squad are ready to kick-off year three action as they will open their season on Sunday at Canisius.
 
The 2025 season featured a pair of wins for the Bengals against Calvin where they scored 184.810 and Adrian with a final score of 182.145. Later in the season, the team scored a program record 197.550 in a matchup with #12 Duquesne.
Stark's team improved in all six events (compulsory, acro, pyramid, toss, tumbling, and team) and set program records in 12 heats within those events. The Bengals finished sixth overall at the NCATA Division III Tournament.
 
Individually, earning a spot on the NCATA All-Tournament Team was Adrienne Gardner (Fairfield, CA/St. Patrick-St. Vincent) on the First Team and Jackie Heyden (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) on the Second Team. Also having a strong season was Emma Ball (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and Lucy Ingro (Newfane, NY/Newfane) who were staples with Gardner and Heyden in the tumbling events for the Bengals.
 
Stark's team also showed success in 2025 in the classroom with seven earning a spot on the NCATA Academic Honor Roll. Ball, Heyden, Ingro, Emma Hill (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem), November Maziarz (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West), Julia Purpura (Cheektowaga, NY/Cleveland Hill), and Bri Rohrer (Cheektowaga, NY/Depew) were all recognized for posting a 3.30 cumulative GPA.
 
This season also saw a huge step for the sport in general. The NCAA voted to establish acrobatics & tumbling for NCAA Championship status across all three divisions. The first NCAA Championship will be held in the spring of 2027.
 
Overall, it was another step forward for the acrobatics & tumbling program. Heading into year three of competition in 2026, Stark and her squad will look to continue to grow the sport and build on their successful second season in action.