Ashland University STUNT team making a name for itself on way to national tournament
Ashland University’s STUNT team will be making its first national tournament appearance April 27-29 at the University of Texas at Dallas beginning against … what’s that? You don’t know what STUNT is?
Don’t worry you’re not alone.
“It’s still so new that a lot of people have no clue what it is,” said Denise Farnsworth, AU’s STUNT head coach since the university started it during the 2019-20 academic year. “It’s so easy to understand once you see it in person, but it’s hard to explain. Once people see it, they say, ‘That makes sense.’”
STUNT is a new female sport that incorporates skills derived from cheerleading with head-to-head games between teams that execute routines in various categories – partner stunts, jumps and tumbling, pyramids and tosses, and team routines.
Because they have gotten a lot of questions about the new sport, senior Kaylee Reed said she and her teammates have just asked people to come watch when they have had a home game – and that has been the best way to answer any questions.
“The more people came to watch us, the more they fell in love with the sport,” Reed said with a big smile before a practice last week inside Conard Fieldhouse.
That has especially been true this season as the Eagles have posted a 13-4 record on way to being seeded fourth in the seven-team, double-elimination 2023 STUNT National Championship for NCAA Division II and III and club teams. The Eagles will start against No. 5 seed Concordia Irvine (6-5) from California at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. Central Time in Dallas) Thursday, April 27.
The biggest home appearance came March 31 and April 1 with the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championships in Kates Gymnasium that the Eagles won with victories over Hiram in the championship match (22-3) and Ursuline (22-0) to open the four-team tourney, which also included Tiffin.
It was the first collegiate conference tournament for STUNT in the country.
“I’m proud of the fact that Ashland University and the GMAC are national leaders in supporting STUNT,” said Al King, AU director of athletics. “Our name has spread and when people talk about STUNT and how to start a program, one of the first people they call is Denise.
“Next year, our conference will add Malone, Walsh and Trevecca Nazarene,” King added. “It’s well known that (AU President Carlos) Campo has championed the cause of STUNT. His support has given STUNT a huge boost nationally.”
Campo helped get STUNT approved as a Division II sport, said Farnsworth, who started researching the sport when she came to AU as its head cheer and dance coach six years ago.
“When I started here I wanted a competitive team,” said Farnsworth, who spent two seasons dancing and cheering for Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew and was a varsity cheerleader at Tiffin University.
Because the NCAA was looking at STUNT for sport status at the time, Farnsworth said she and King decided to give it a try instead of competitive cheering.
“When Al and I were planning for it, we wanted to be one of the first STUNT teams in Ohio because that’s exciting,” Farnsworth said.
After getting through COVID, AU had its first STUNT game on April 17, 2021 – a 13-7 win at Tiffin. In its first full season in 2022, the Eagles went 9-3, including a 16-0 win over Ursuline in its first home game.
In addition to Farnsworth, the program has an assistant coach (former AU cheerleader Brandy Marquette) paid by the university and two other assistants paid through team fundraisers (Ryley Poling and Austin Cook).
Recruiting hasn’t been a problem, according to Farnsorth, who had about 40 girls start with this year’s team in the fall.
“It has a new following, and young women are just drawn to it,” added Farnsworth, who has 32 players on her roster that she splits the funding she receives for scholarships with - some of the players getting as much as $10,000.
One of the team’s best players, junior Lily Boldman, admitted she didn’t know much about STUNT until she started looking at colleges for cheering.
“I looked at a bunch of schools, but when I heard Ashland had STUNT, I was up for trying something new,” said Boldman, who cheered at Huron High School. “I like pushing myself and gaining new skills and doing things I never thought I would do, especially having a background in sideline cheer. I love the competitive aspect of STUNT.”
That competitive aspect was what drew Reed to joining AU’s STUNT team as a sophomore when she saw the program asking for participants on social media.
While she had done some cheering growing up, Reed played basketball and softball in high school in nearby Northwestern.
“I love to compete with my team,” said Reed, who made the GMAC all-tournament team along with sophomore Alyssa McLaughlin and Boldman, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and 2023 GMAC STUNT Athlete of the Year.
Reed, Boldman and the rest of the team also love to show people who don’t know much about the sport how competitive it is and how much fun it can be to watch.
“It has the background of cheerleading, but has a competitive aspect because we get to play games,” Reed said. “We play four quarters and there’s a halftime. People really don’t understand the makeup of it until they watch it.”
The first quarter is partner stunts, the second is pyramids and tosses, the third is jumps and tumbling and the fourth quarter combines them all in what is called team routine.
Pretty much everyone on AU’s team competes in some way. The most who compete at one time is 16 during the second quarter of pyramids and tosses.
“After people come to a game, they want to come back,” Boldman said.
That’s why STUNT home games have attracted hundreds of people this season, Farnsworth said.
Farnsworth and the rest of the team have appreciated the support and are happy to see it rewarded with an appearance at the national tournament.
“We have been putting in a lot of hard work since August, so it’s nice to see it pay off,” Reed said.
To watch the Eagles at the national tournament, go online to: https://www.flocheer.com
