No. 18 Wolfpack gymnastics falls flat in Berkeley against No. 20 Golden Bears

Jakob Halbur, Managing Editor • Jan 25, 2026

Sophomore Syniya Thomas does a somersault on the beam during the annual Red vs. White Exhibition at Reynolds Coliseum on Saturday, December 21, 2025. For the exhibition, the gymnastics team was divided into two teams that competed in the uneven bars, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. The Red Team triumphed over the White Team with a final score of 11-9.

With the impending winter storm lingering over the Triangle, NC State gymnastics packed its bags early and headed out west towards sunny California and a date with the California Golden Bears. Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, it fell behind early and was outscored on every event, ultimately falling 195.575 to 196.050.

NC State (1-2, 1-1 ACC) began its night on bars as it was looking for its first win against Cal (6-2, 2-0 ACC) in over 20 years. Coming into the meet ranked 20th nationally on this apparatus, the Pack posted a 48.875 tonight with junior Elle Hadrick leading the way, scoring a 9.875. Hadrick has been one of the most consistent gymnasts for NC State early in the season as she once again found herself atop the event leaderboard tying for first with Cal’s Annalise Newman-Achee.

The action for Wolfpack then shifted towards the vault where it currently finds with a 12th place national ranking on the event. Sophomores Syniya Thomas and Ava Myers led the way for the Pack on vault each scoring a 9.825 and putting them in a tie for third place alongside Cal’s Jayden Silvers.

Although vault tends to be a consistently high-scoring rotation for NC State many of its usual stars on the event, including junior Ashley Knight, fell flat ultimately leading to a season-low team score of 48.900.

NC State looked to rebound as it moved over to its best event of the season thus far, the floor exercise. Although it was able to eclipse the 49.000 threshold for the first time tonight, NC State’s team score of 49.075 marked yet another event season-low. Leading the way like they have for most of the season for the Pack were Thomas and Hadrick who scored a 9.850 and 9.825 respectively, good enough for a second and fourth place finish on the floor.

Moving over to the balance beam, the Wolfpack looked to put the first three rotations behind itself and finish the night strong. Alas, much to the chagrin of the team and its fans, NC State couldn’t seem to find its footing on its already statistically-worst event as three gymnasts posted scores under 9.800 leading to the worst rotational score of the night for the Pack at 48.725.

While NC State likely didn’t perform how it would have hoped from a team-perspective on the balance beam, individually, freshman Adasyn Tackett posted a career-high 9.850, which was enough for first place on the night.

NC State will look to redeem itself and secure its first road win of the season as it travels up to the Steel City for a meet against the Pittsburgh Panthers on Feb. 1. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.