No Near-Miss This Time as P-W Takes Back Title with Determined Dominance
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
March 6, 2026
MOUNT PLEASANT – After coming oh-so-close the past two years – and finishing second four times over the past six – longtime competitive cheer power Pewamo-Westphalia is back on top.
“The heartbreaking loss last year pushed all of us,” said Ava Simon, one of six seniors on P-W’s 22-girl roster this season. “We just had this fire burning under us ever since we stepped off the mat last year.”
Pewamo-Westphalia scorched the rest of the field at Friday’s Division 4 Finals at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena, posting the best score in all three rounds for a winning 776.34 – nearly 22 points better than runner-up and 2025 champion Hanover-Horton (754.36) – to claim its first title since 2019.
The Pirates were determined to end their recent trend of runner-up finishes, taking a commanding 7.2-point lead after a near-perfect first round, building it up to 17.8 points after Round 2 and then to a final margin of 21.98 points.
P-W coach Staci Myers, a former cheer standout who is now in her 19th year as head coach at her alma mater, said she never considered scaling back her team’s challenging Round 3 routine, even with the big lead.
“Our Round 3 is elite, and we’ve never had one quite like it here at P-W,” said Meyers, who is assisted by Olivia Nurenberg, Amber Martin, Amber Weber and Ramon Beaulieu – all of whom cheered for her at P-W.
“It’s hard and there are some unique things in there, but they step up and perform it flawlessly every time, and they did it again today.”
The Pirates, who have been remarkably consistent all season, posted their season-best score of 780.08 at their District. They were not quite as sharp in winning their Regional at 754.08, but went out with an impressive start-to-finish showing at CMU.
P-W drew plenty of energy from a raucous throng of blue-and-gold-clad fans, who packed their school’s designated section in the middle of the arena and also filled one of the end sections.
The Pirates do not pick captains, but Myers said the team has been led all season by its six seniors – Taryn Schafer, Karsyn Simmon, Karly Bierstetel, Leslie Bernal-Ponce, Brianna Feldpausch and Simon.
“It’s bittersweet right now because us seniors are so close, but we couldn’t have asked for a better ending,” said Bernal-Ponce.
The most drama came with the battle for second place, as Hanover-Horton edged Sanford Meridian (754.12). Hudson, which has won six of the last 10 Division 4 titles, took fourth at 743.32.
Meridian actually posted the second-best scores in Rounds 2 and 3, but still finished 24 hundredths of a point behind Hanover-Horton.
The Comets, who never even had made it to the Finals until 2024 (finishing sixth) before their stunning win last year, took second this time despite losing eight seniors off that championship team. They were hoping to duplicate last year’s accomplishment, when they took second to P-W at Regionals before flipping the script at the Finals, but the Pirates were just too strong.
“We had a little bit of rebuilding to do after last year, no question,” said veteran coach Sarah DuBois, who concluded her fifth year at Hanover-Horton. “But these girls stepped up and did it.”
Pewamo-Westphalia is also a very young team, as 14 of the 22 athletes on the roster were either freshmen or sophomores. The team had only two juniors, with one of them returning all-stater Brynn Feldpausch.
The return of 16 contributors off this championship team bodes well for the future at P-W, which has now won 10 cheer Finals titles.
Legendary coach Sherry Fedewa, who started the program in the 1990s, won six titles while Myers now has won four. The Pirates also have 14 second-place finishes.
“It’s a high bar, that’s for sure,” said Myers, a 2001 P-W graduate. “Our school has had success in a lot of sports and it’s contagious, and everyone wants to experience those feelings.
“We are going to get back to work and try to keep doing it.”
Rochester Returns to Top Spot in Division 1
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 4, 2016
GRAND RAPIDS – Susan Wood has had more elite teams than most during 35 seasons as Rochester’s cheer coach, including 13 MHSAA champions and five more that won state championships from the coaches association before competitive cheer became an MHSAA-sponsored sport in 1994.
Admittedly, this season’s team wasn’t her most talented. But few if any performed as well under pressure as these Falcons – and that became crucial Friday as Rochester pursued its first Division 1 title since 2009, but found itself locked in the cheer version of sudden death overtime.
The Falcons led reigning champion Grandville by 24 hundredths of a point heading into Round 3. Neither team could afford the slightest error during their final routine. And, as if the scenario needed additional buildup, the two top contenders were scheduled to perform at the end of the rotation – Grandville seventh of eight teams and Rochester to finish the night.
Grandville had scored the top Round 3 in Michigan this season. But Rochester equaled that score at the DeltaPlex, posting a 322 to edge the Bulldogs by a point and a half in the round and finish with an overall 792.40-790.66 advantage to earn not only that first title in seven seasons, but also finish a run that saw the Falcons win all of their events in 2015-16.
“I don’t like to know the scores going into Round 3. I just know that my team has to do what we’ve done in the past and what we do in practice, and just put it on the mat,” Rochester senior Breonna Weaver said. “I knew we were ahead. I didn’t know how much. But I don’t like to know because I want to do what I can do regardless of where we stand.”
“When we get to a competition, we just focus on ourselves. We don’t care about any other team. We’re just so driven on doing exactly what we do at practice and living in the moment … and I just love this team for it.”
Rochester has five more MHSAA championships than any other team, although Breckenridge and Gibraltar Carlson are favored to make that margin four again during Saturday’s remaining competitions.
The Grandville/Rochester matchup was a throwback to last year – when the Bulldogs led by 26 hundredths of a point heading into Round 3 and won the title by a margin of 1.46 points. Combined, the last two seasons also have been a throwback to the beginnings of competitive cheer as an MHSAA sport – every Class A and then Division 1 championship from 1994-2009 was won by either Rochester or Grandville.
Only four schools total have won a championship in the largest-school division during the 23 seasons of the tournament. But those other three all had won at least once since Rochester’s most recent title.
“We’ve had some talented kids, but everyone’s getting more talented. And any little flaw and your hopes are washed away,” Wood said. “I never wanted to be a has been. I didn’t want anyone to think that because we weren’t winning, we were all done winning.
“This team was really unique. We lost 15 seniors last year, so this summer, wow, our skills were really rough. ... (But) we kept winning. Usually you have some bad days. But they worked really hard to improve their skills."
Wood went on to explain that her athletes have a “performance edge” that allows them to transfer what they practice to competition even under the most stressful situations – like Friday’s, in front of a crowd so loud her cheerleaders couldn’t hear each other on the mat, and with Grandville and eventual third-place Sterling Heights Stevenson sure to deliver strong Round 3 routines as well.
All three hit, but Rochester with just enough extra to finish the run.
“We just talked about going out there and having fun, and giving it all we’ve got,” said Grandville coach Julie Smith-Boyd, who also finished her 35th season. “We number our teams, so this is number 35. Next year it’s different. Different girls, a whole different scenario.
“They’re just so … gritty, clutch. I think the Round 2 was probably the best Round 2 we’ve ever done, I mean, in many, many years.”
Rochester posted a 237.90 in Round 1 to lead Grandville by two tenths of a point and East Kentwood by fourth tenths. Rochester also had the high score in Round 2 of 232.50 – a mere four hundredths of a point higher than Grandville’s.
The Falcons’ final score of 792.40 was the highest posted in any division this season. Sterling Heights Stevenson, which posted the second-highest Round 3 on Friday of 321.20, rode that score from fifth into third place and to a season-best overall score of 788.10.
As Grandville has its tradition of numbering teams, Rochester has a tradition of welcoming visitors to practice with a special salute. After improving from not even making the MHSAA Finals two seasons ago, this group certainly earned their future welcome and place in Falcons history.
“After seven years, we finally brought it home,” Rochester senior Gabby Leo said. “It’s an amazing feeling, because whenever I go back to visit our team, they’ll yell, “State champs in the house.” It’s just … chills.
“We remember those (past) girls. They’re like our idols.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Rochester competes during Friday’s Division 1 Final at the Grand Rapids DeltaPlex. (Middle) Grandville finishes a routine on the way to placing as runner-up.