Mourning Those Who Contributed Much

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.”

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