The 2023 NCATA Championship is being held at West Liberty University in West Liberty, West Virginia. Today was the day of the quarterfinals, and the last quarterfinal of the day was between the Gannon University Golden Knights and the Quinnipiac University Bobcats.

The No. five seed Gannon University traveled from Erie, Pennsylvania, and had an overall record of 6-2 on their season. The No. four seed Quinnipiac University traveled from Hamden, Connecticut, and had a record of 5-1, so this matchup was predicted to be a close one.

The Golden Knights started off very strong in the four heats of the Compulsory Event with a score of 37.800, receiving a 9.925 on the toss heat. Quinnipiac didn’t let Gannon creep away with an early lead as the Bobcats kept up and had a strong Compulsory showing, as well.

At the end of the Compulsory Event, the Golden Knights lead the Bobcats by only .175 with a score of 37.800 to 37.625.

The first heat of the Acro Event from Quinnipiac was their best out of the three heats of Acro. Junior MiaRose King showed off her strength and flexibility as she completed several difficult skills, including a press handstand. King was based by juniors Melanie Reed and Chloe White. The Bobcats received a 9.75 out of 10 on this heat of the Acro Event.

Gannon had a great Acro Event, as well, but did not let Quinnipiac take the lead. The Bobcats were able to cut the Golden Knights’ lead to only .025. The Bobcats won the Acro Event with a score of 28.700 for the Bobcats and 28.550 for the Golden Knights.

With one event won by each team, the Pyramid Event was a crucial event to win as it would give the winning team a momentum swing going into the second half of events. Both teams knew they had to put up some high scores, but it was Gannon that came out with the advantage going into halftime.

The three scores from the Golden Knights within the Pyramid Event were all higher than 9.775. These high scores gave them an event total of 29.425 and Quinnipiac received an event total of 29.225, which would give Gannon a .225 lead.

“I think we’re doing okay,” said head coach Mary Ann Powers. “You’re going to see a stronger second half from us ⎼ that has been one of the better halves from us.”

Gannon came out strong from halftime as they put up some high scores in the Toss Event and extended their lead. The Golden Knights also had an advantage in this event regarding start values, as they would have a possible overall score of 30.000 while Quinnipiac only had the possibility of a 29.700.

The overall scores from the Toss Event were 28.575 from Gannon and 28.050 from Quinnipiac. Going into the Tumbling Event, the Bobcats were still able to keep Gannon’s lead to under a point.

The Tumbling Event is Quinnipiac’s best event, and they showed this through their passes. In the Aeriel Pass Heat, junior Farrah Chernov received a 9.825 out of 10. In the Open Pass Heat, first-year Katherine Carter received a 9.875 out of 10, helping the Bobcats take the Tumbling Event.

The Bobcats received a 56.875 while the Golden Knights received a 55.825. This meant that Quinnipiac was able to take the overall lead by just .300. It all came down to the sixth and final event, the Team Event.

Going into this event, the Bobcats had the advantage of having the lead as well as having a higher start value than the Golden Knights by .450.

Gannon struggled slightly in the Team Event. They had a fall in one of their elements and an athlete stepped off of the mat on a tumbling pass, which is a deduction. They received a score of 90.330.

Quinnipiac ended on a strong note only making minor mistakes. They received a score of 93.370, which allowed them to win the Team Event and win the overall meet.

With the final score being 273.845 to 270.505, the Quinnipiac Bobcats move onto tomorrow night’s semi-final matchup against No. one seed Baylor University at 7:00 p.m. This meet will be live streamed on ESPN+ for viewers to watch.