West Virginia Heads to Iowa State for First Big 12 Road Meet
February 05, 2026 10:49 AM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team heads back on the road for a Big 12 Conference matchup at Iowa State on Friday, Feb. 6. Competition at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Evan Wessling, Natalie Horowitz and Delaney Peterson on the call. Live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
Iowa State holds a 17-7 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams. West Virginia and Iowa State last met in the 2025 Big 12 Championship in West Valley City, Utah. ISU took sixth place with a 195.775 team total, while WVU finished in seventh with a 194.875. West Virginia and Iowa State also met in a dual meet during the regular season last year. The Cyclones claimed a 195.375-194.175 victory in Morgantown on Feb. 9.
Friday's matchup marks the first of two scheduled competitions between the Mountaineers and Cyclones this season. The two teams will face off in the 2026 Big 12 Championship in West Valley City, Utah, on March 21. Iowa State enters Friday's competition with a 2-7 overall record and a 0-2 mark in the Big 12 so far in 2026. ISU is coming off a 192.55-196.525 loss to conference foe Denver on Feb. 1.
West Virginia's vault lineup currently ranks No. 28 nationally in the Road to Nationals rankings, boasting a 48.9 average on the event this year. The vault lineup owns a season high of 49.025, a total it has reached twice this season. Elsewhere, WVU ranks No. 49 overall, No. 47 on bars, No. 62 on beam and No. 51 on floor.
Individually, sophomore Karleigh DiCello ranks No. 13 in the Big 12 Conference with a 9.788 average on vault. DiCello is followed by classmates Emerson Smith and Sophia Rice in a tie for No. 20 with 9.775 averages. Junior Amber Lowe is No. 12 in the conference on bars (9.775). On floor, junior Jurnee Lane ranks No. 5 in the league and No. 11 in the southeast region with a 9.875 average. Freshman Kayla Smith ranks No. 10 in the conference with a 38.794 average on all-around this year.
Last time out, West Virginia posted a season-high 195.875 team score to earn a quad meet victory over Pitt, Kent State and Cornell on Jan. 30 inside Hope Coliseum in Morgantown. The Mountaineers used their first 195.0+ score of the season to tally three wins in the meet, which marked their first outright quad meet win since 2023. In the final team standings, Kent State finished in second with a 195.1, Pitt placed third with a 194.775 and Cornell took fourth place with a 193.275.
WVU recorded scores of 48.775 on vault, 48.875 on uneven bars, 49.025 on balance beam and 49.2 on floor exercise. On all-around, Kayla Smith put together an impressive performance on all four events, scoring a career-high 39.125 for her first 39.0+ all-around score and a win on the event. DiCello topped the podium for the second straight week on vault, while classmate Emerson Smith tied for second. Kayla Smith topped the floor podium, and junior Jurnee Lane followed in a tie for second.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Evan Wessling, Natalie Horowitz and Delaney Peterson on the call. Live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
Iowa State holds a 17-7 advantage in the all-time series between the two teams. West Virginia and Iowa State last met in the 2025 Big 12 Championship in West Valley City, Utah. ISU took sixth place with a 195.775 team total, while WVU finished in seventh with a 194.875. West Virginia and Iowa State also met in a dual meet during the regular season last year. The Cyclones claimed a 195.375-194.175 victory in Morgantown on Feb. 9.
Friday's matchup marks the first of two scheduled competitions between the Mountaineers and Cyclones this season. The two teams will face off in the 2026 Big 12 Championship in West Valley City, Utah, on March 21. Iowa State enters Friday's competition with a 2-7 overall record and a 0-2 mark in the Big 12 so far in 2026. ISU is coming off a 192.55-196.525 loss to conference foe Denver on Feb. 1.
West Virginia's vault lineup currently ranks No. 28 nationally in the Road to Nationals rankings, boasting a 48.9 average on the event this year. The vault lineup owns a season high of 49.025, a total it has reached twice this season. Elsewhere, WVU ranks No. 49 overall, No. 47 on bars, No. 62 on beam and No. 51 on floor.
Individually, sophomore Karleigh DiCello ranks No. 13 in the Big 12 Conference with a 9.788 average on vault. DiCello is followed by classmates Emerson Smith and Sophia Rice in a tie for No. 20 with 9.775 averages. Junior Amber Lowe is No. 12 in the conference on bars (9.775). On floor, junior Jurnee Lane ranks No. 5 in the league and No. 11 in the southeast region with a 9.875 average. Freshman Kayla Smith ranks No. 10 in the conference with a 38.794 average on all-around this year.
Last time out, West Virginia posted a season-high 195.875 team score to earn a quad meet victory over Pitt, Kent State and Cornell on Jan. 30 inside Hope Coliseum in Morgantown. The Mountaineers used their first 195.0+ score of the season to tally three wins in the meet, which marked their first outright quad meet win since 2023. In the final team standings, Kent State finished in second with a 195.1, Pitt placed third with a 194.775 and Cornell took fourth place with a 193.275.
WVU recorded scores of 48.775 on vault, 48.875 on uneven bars, 49.025 on balance beam and 49.2 on floor exercise. On all-around, Kayla Smith put together an impressive performance on all four events, scoring a career-high 39.125 for her first 39.0+ all-around score and a win on the event. DiCello topped the podium for the second straight week on vault, while classmate Emerson Smith tied for second. Kayla Smith topped the floor podium, and junior Jurnee Lane followed in a tie for second.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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