A third meeting in 2024 between No. 4 Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling (4-3) and No. 1 Baylor (9-0) is now sealed. After the Ducks squeaked past No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor and the Bears defeated No. 8 Fairmont State on Thursday in their respective quarterfinals, I sat down with the Baylor Lariat’s A&T beat writer, Zachary Babajanof-Rustrian, to preview tonight’s NCATA semifinal. 

At stake is a place in the championship meet. But, on the line too is the Bears’ 35-meet winning streak as well as their stranglehold on the national championship. Oregon’s season hasn’t gone to plan — a 3-3 regular season included two losses to the Bears — but a victory over its rivals could change the national perception.

Owen’s three questions for Zach

What makes Baylor so dominant? I mean…it hasn’t lost a meet in forever and has eight-straight titles. That’s unheard of. Why have they been at the top for so long?

The team has a very crazy, chaotic energy however, whenever it’s time to perform the team knows they have to lock in and focus. Baylor has very strong student-athletes that have come from very various backgrounds and have used those backgrounds to help them in the sport. Junior top Jordan Gruendler comes from an acrobatic gymnastics gym and that has helped her with her pairing with senior base Bayley Humphrey. Athletes like that have helped elevate the team and have helped lead them to their wins and keep them on this win streak that they are on. While the Bears seem to be on this unstoppable run, with how much the sport has been growing it’s only time where a new team takes over and the competition just grows from there. 

How important is base Bayley Humphrey to what Baylor does? She’s a unit — but it’s maybe tough to tell exactly what it is that’s so vital to the Bears strategy.

The thing with Bayley is that she has a very strong connection with her partner Jordan Gruendler. The minute that they were paired together they came up with a bunch of crazy moves and tricks that have never been seen in the sport before. The tricks come from their backgrounds as gymnasts and they have been able to bring them to the sport of acrobatics and tumbling. One thing that people don’t know about Bayley is that she can also tumble, but why make her tumble with the strength that she has as a base. Bayley has helped bring the team out of COVID-19 and helped elevate the sport to what it is now and it will be interesting to see who will step out as the new power base once Bayley graduates in May. 

What do you make of this connection between Oregon and Baylor? There’s Fee Mulkey, obviously, but they’re so attached that it’s not a surprise that they share all of the titles there are.

The connection between Oregon and Baylor is very interesting but very competitive. Yes, Coach Fee came from Oregon and even recruited Taylor Susnara as the head coach. But I think when those two teams see that they’re facing each other they know they have to bring their best. The Bears and Ducks feel like they are going to be forever rivals in acrobatics and tumbling but they definitely bring out the best in each other. Everytime I sit down with Coach Fee, she’s always excited for that meet up and looks forward to what the squads will bring to the mat. The connection is unmatched and is a connection that will be going on for a long time. 

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Zach’s three questions for Owen

How has having Makena Carrion helped elevate the team? Helping score a perfect score in open pyramid and earning specialist of the week, it seems like she brings a lot to the team. 
Makena obviously brings something to the table in terms of skill — they did have that perfect-10 with her in the open pyramid, but she really advances the group with her experience and mentality. Oregon has 15 freshmen on the roster this year, and having a senior top has helped them learn what’s usually a new sport — at the very least a new style of movement. Head coach Taylor Susnara has talked a lot about being mentally strong throughout meets, too, and having veterans like Carrion on the squad is a huge part of that. She’s involved in most events, and is a presence on the sideline, too. Keep an eye out for her in the pyramid event, especially, and watch as she gets her teammates in the right headspace to compete.

Baylor and Oregon feel like forever rivals in this sport. How do you think that has helped grow this sport with both teams having athletes at the top of the sport? 

It’s been really amazing to watch this year — both times that these teams have faced off, it’s been in front of bigger-than-normal crowds on bigger television networks than usual. The connection that they have is a huge draw for fans (especially, I think, people who don’t watch acro that often). If you can’t pitch the action, pitch a rivalry as old as the sport itself. Acro is a cheerful, happy sport, but there’s a different energy  — a more competitive one — when these two schools meet. They’re more focused, looking for the victory, and I fully expect to see that again tonight with a slot in the final on the line.

Oregon has had some dominant wins but also some losses. How has the team kept their momentum heading into this important championship weekend?

It’s tough to quantify this year for Oregon. Yes, it ended the regular season 3-3, and it’s undeniable that that record wasn’t ideal. Taylor Susnara told me that they were targeting at least that No. 2 spot at the start of the year, and so to end up at No. 4 isn’t ideal (for one, they’re meeting Baylor in the semifinal and not the final).

However, the schedule was ridiculously difficult. Just six regular-season meets (Baylor had eight) featured the No. 1 Bears twice, No. 2 Quinnipiac once — those were all losses — and No. 6 Azusa Pacific and now-unranked (but then No. 9) Hawaii Pacific twice. No shade, but Baylor only faced four ranked teams, and only two of those were in the top 10. That’s the reason that Oregon ended up in the top eight at the end of the season — and why it’ll continue to pose an outsized threat.

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Three things to watch

• The toss event. The Bears haven’t performed too well in the toss event this season and Oregon always seems to have their number but in the meet against Fairmont State, Baylor looks to have improved so it’ll be interesting to see who pulls it out. Oregon swept the toss event yesterday against Mary Hardin-Baylor, but part of that was because of a rough fall in the Cru’s go-around. It’s especially important because it kicks off the second half — which Susnara has repeatedly called Oregon’s better one. If the Ducks can get a solid start there, it’ll be great for them — but a stumble could leave the door wide open for the Bears to march through.

• The freshmen. On both teams the freshmen have been stepping out and performing well. Whether it’s Baylor’s Payton Washington or Oregon’s Bella Swarthout both have helped elevate their respective team’s scores. Both have won Freshman of the Week this season for the NCATA so it’ll be interesting to see which one or if both have a standout performance. Washington will likely take a solo tumbling pass and feature as a top throughout, while Swarthout, a base, will be crucial through the pyramid and toss events.

• Start values. It’s been a focus for Oregon (and Baylor too, I’m sure) to push start values higher throughout the season. At this point, almost the entire first half and good chunks of the second half are 10.00 start values, and it’ll be noteworthy if and when Susnara or Mulkey decides to lower those values. The Ducks dropped their six-element acro from 10 to 9.900 yesterday for the first time all year and posted a 9.000 — watch to see if that one is back to normal or not.

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The semifinal between No. 4 Oregon and No. 1 Baylor is set to kick off at 4:00 P.M. PT (6:00 CT) tonight at Fairmont State University. Streaming options are available on ESPN+, and coverage from both the Daily Emerald and the Lariat will be posted throughout.