Gymnastics Opens Home Slate with Beauty and the Beast Meet, Plays Host to No. 15 Denver
January 23, 2026 03:39 PM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens its 2026 home slate against No. 15 Denver as part of the Beauty and the Beast meet with the WVU wrestling team on Saturday, Jan. 24. Both teams will compete simultaneously inside Hope Coliseum in Morgantown, beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
The Beauty and the Beast meet returns to Hope Coliseum on Saturday for the second time in the last three seasons. Prior to the meet, the Mountaineer Fan Fest will take place on the Coliseum concourse from 3-4 p.m. The Mountaineer Fan Fest brings together several WVU teams and student-athletes in one place for a fun afternoon of games and activities.
It's also a Gold Rush, and all fans are encouraged to wear gold to support the Mountaineers. There will be a gold shaker giveaway to the first 1,000 fans, and a commemorative Beauty and the Beast poster also will be given out to fans.
Tickets for the match can be purchased in advance through WVUGAME.com for $14, as one ticket will admit fans to both events. On-site, game day pricing will be $16 for adults and $12 for youth (ages 18 and under). Group tickets for parties of 10 or more will be available for $10 per person.
Gymnastics season tickets for all four home meets also are still available at WVUGAME.com until the start of the meet on Saturday. Season ticket pricing is set for $35, and all season tickets will be sold as general admission only. Visit WVUGAME.com to lock in your seats before it's too late.
Michael Minnich and Erica Williams will have the call of Saturday's meet on ESPN+. Live stats also are available at WVUsports.com.
Denver leads the all-time series against the Mountaineers, 18-5. The two teams last met in the 2025 Big 12 Championship in West Valley City, Utah. DU took third place with a 196.4 team total, while WVU finished in seventh with a 194.875. WVU and Denver also met in a dual meet on Jan. 26, in Denver, Colorado, where the Pioneers claimed a 196.4-194.875 win.
Saturday's matchup marks the first of two scheduled competitions between the Mountaineers and Pioneers this season. The two teams will face one another in the 2026 Big 12 Championship, hosted in West Valley City, Utah, on March 21.
Last time out, WVU posted a final team score of 192.025 to finish in second place in a tri meet at Kent State with Fisk inside the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center in Kent, Ohio on Jan. 18. Kent State finished in first place with a team score of 194.925, followed by the Mountaineers in second place. Fisk rounded out the competition in third with a 188.975. West Virginia totaled team scores of 48.775 on vault, 48.425 on bars, 46.55 on beam and a 48.275 on floor.
On all-around, freshman Kayla Smith reached a new career high with a 38.825 total on all four events. Her score put her in first place in the final event standings, marking her first career event win. Junior Amber Lowe tallied a second-place finish on bars to earn her first podium finish of the season.
Following the first weekend of competition, the Mountaineers debuted at No. 15 in the Road to Nationals vault rankings, after posting a 49.025 in the season opener on Jan. 9. The lineup now ranks No. 29 nationally, No. 5 in the Big 12 and No. 7 in the southeast region on the event. Elsewhere, WVU ranks No. 54 overall, No. 47 on bars and No. 52 on floor. Individually, sophomore Sophia Rice ranks No. 9 in the conference with a 9.813 average on vault
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