Midwest Showdown
Date & Times (CT)	Fri., Feb. 28: vs. Missouri Valley College (2:00 p.m.), vs. Purdue Northwest (3:30 p.m.)  Sat., March 1: vs. Michigan State (10:00 a.m.), vs. Purdue Northwest (1:00 p.m.)
Location	Lexington, Kentucky
Site	Memorial Coliseum | University of Kentucky
Admission	Free - Clear Bag Policy
Watch	Vimeo
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SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State STUNT (1-7) heads to Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky for its third tournament in the program's inaugural season. The Bears will compete in the Midwest Showdown starting with two games on Friday against NAIA No. 3-ranked Missouri Valley College and Division II No. 16 Purdue Northwest. Their tournament will end on Saturday with a rematch from earlier in the season with Club Division No. 3-ranked Michigan State and another bout against Purdue Northwest. All games of the tournament can be viewed on Vimeo.

The full tournament schedule can be found here.

Bears Tournament Schedule
Friday, Feb. 28
2:00 p.m. vs. Missouri Valley College
3:30 p.m. vs. Purdue Northwest

Saturday, March 1
10:00 a.m. vs. Michigan State
1:00 p.m. vs. Purdue Northwest

On The Mat

• The Bears earned their first win in program history on Feb. 15 at its last tournament at Oklahoma Baptist where they defeated Drury, 12-11. The Bears shut out the Panthers in the jumps and tumbling quarter and also earned one more point in the pyramids and tosses quarter.

• Missouri State is one of three new Division I members to sponsor STUNT in 2025 along with Northern Kentucky and Mercyhurst, which made the jump from DII this year.

• MoState was ranked No. 5 at the DI level by collegestunt.org in its first season rankings released on Wednesday. It slots ahead of Northern Kentucky, which also entered DI in STUNT this season.

• The inaugural Bears STUNT team boasts a roster of 22 student-athletes with 14 coming from Missouri. The roster also includes players from Arkansas (1), Kansas (2), Illinois (2) Oklahoma (2), and Wisconsin (1).

Head Coach Kennedy Wingbermuehle

• Missouri State STUNT head coach Kennedy Wingbermuehle was named the team's inaugural head coach on Feb. 27, 2024.

• She was the head coach at Central Methodist for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, where the Eagles entered the 2025 season as the No. 3-ranked NAIA team. 

• Wingbermuehle was the captain of the Oklahoma State cheer team and part of the 2021 NCA National Championship Team in the large coed division. She was also a member of Oklahoma State's STUNT team, earning Division I STUNT Athlete of the Year honors for a program that won seven straight national titles.

Scouting the Competition

• Missouri State opens the Midwest Showdown against Missouri Valley College (0-3). The Vikings began their season this past weekend at Burg Center where the Bears originally started their campaign. Missouri Valley went 0-3 with losses to Texas, Hope International and a one-point loss to George Fox. The Vikings are the No. 3-ranked team in the NAIA Division.

• The Bears will play DII No. 16 Purdue Northwest (3-2) to end both days at the Midwest Showdown. The Pride started their season by going 2-2 at Angela Athletic Complex at St. Mary's College (Ind.) with wins over Quincy and Lewis University. Purdue Northwest is coming off a home win over Lewis in an eight-round game last Saturday.

• Missouri State will go toe-to-toe with Club Division No. 3 Michigan State (2-2) for the second time this season after matching up at the end of its first tournament at Dallas Baptist. The Spartans swept the Bears on Feb. 8, which was Michigan State's last outing. 

Mid-America West Conference

• Missouri State STUNT competes in the Mid-America West Conference, a Division I STUNT conference that consists of Central Arkansas, Kentucky, Mercyhurst, Missouri State, Northern Kentucky, Trevecca Nazarene and UT Martin.

• All seven MAWC teams will be seeded for the double-elimination Mid-America West Tournament starting on April 4-5 at the Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.