The University of Kentucky became involved in STUNT in 2019 and was run as a club team, but the Wildcats officially became the twenty-third varsity sport under athletics at UK for the 2021-2022 season! 

The team is led by head coach Blair Bergmann, assistant coach Catherine Ruslavage and student manager Claire Kolkman. 

Last year was the team’s first year competing and they are excited to build off that momentum and carry that into their second year. 

Coach Bergmann says, “Last year we did not have an off-season to fully prepare skills and routines for the season, so we are excited to have a full year to have the time to work and develop our skills to prepare us for competing in the spring.” 

For the 2022-2023 season, UK has a large roster with 21 returners and an added 28 rookies! The dynamic is unique and fun because the returners bring a lot of experience from last year while the new athletes are very talented and bring an abundance of new skills to the team! 

Last year some standouts on UK’s roster were Karley Kalchenbrenner and Izzy Holloway. Both women were huge assets to the team not only on the mat but also off the mat as leaders! 

“They are great teammates and push everyone to be better but individually they are natural competitors so they constantly are pushing themselves to be the best they can be,” said Coach Bergmann.

Fans can look forward to UK’s annual Blue/White Scrimmage at the beginning of February which will kickstart the beginning of their season! UK STUNT will also be hosting a couple of home games this year that fans will be able to attend in Lexington, Kentucky to watch the team compete. 

This season the teams’ goals are to be able to compete levels 1-8 in every routine; additionally, they hope to have multiple groups who can compete in the advanced upper levels consistently. They also hope to be able to continue and help spread the word and awareness of STUNT throughout the community!