NCAA Iowa State cancels the remainder of the 2026 season

[cftmoonlight79]

I know there are posts, but I just read they canceled the rest of the season. Im hoping someone has the scoop on the whole back story here.

 

[irichluck21]

Yup.

This is huge and not in a good way. They have 18 gymnasts on the roster, so not fielding a full team is inexcusable. It sounds like the rumors that athletes do not want to be at ISU any longer and are going to use the transfer portal, thus not giving up a year of eligibility. Sucks for certain athletes that competed past the week 3 mark and have used up a year of eligibility. I wonder if they can petition NCAA to reinstate a year of eligibility since this was not anything of their doing and have no control over. I would hope they would grant this petition.

One thing for sure. There will be a new head coach in gymnastics for 2026-2027, unless Iowa State decides to disband the gymnastics team altogether.

Iowa State Cancels Remainder Of Gymnastics Season - Iowa State Athletics

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State University Athletics Department has canceled the remainder of the gymnastics season, school officials announced today.

cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State University Athletics Department has canceled the remainder of the gymnastics season, school officials announced today.

"After a careful and thoughtful review of the program over the last week, it became apparent that we do not have enough student-athletes available to safely compete, and thus have made the painful decision to cancel the remainder of our gymnastics season," Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student Services Shamaree Brown said. "The health, safety and overall welfare of our student-athletes is paramount, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they are able to safely train and compete at the highest level."

The Cyclones, 2-8 on the season, had remaining meets scheduled against Western Michigan (Feb. 13), Arizona State (Feb. 22), Arizona (Feb. 27), BYU (March 6) and Iowa (March 13) in addition to the March 21 Big 12 Gymnastics Championships.

Fans who hold tickets to any of the Cyclones' remaining home meets will receive information on the refund process from the ISU Athletics Ticket Office later this week.

 

[cftmoonlight79]

It sounds like they have a mutiny on their hands.

 

[Sasha]

Brutal for the athletes. Will those who want to finish their degree at Iowa State get to keep their scholarships if the team doesn't continue?

 

[RedBirdie]

Holy shit.

ETA: Ashley Miles hired a whole new assistant coaching staff this year. Miles has never acquitted herself well as a coach, and I always found this hire to be really odd because of her complete lack of NCAA coaching experience. And then rather than hire experienced NCAA assistants, she hires Ragan Smith, Jazmyn Estrella, and Mary Wise, who have a collective total of 3 seasons of paid NCAA coaching experience, plus two seasons of student coaching experience--one of those from 20 years ago in D3.

 

[Kara]

Wow! Has anything like this ever happened before?

 

[BB12]

Good on the gymnasts for taking a stand against the terrible coaching. The amount of athletes posting on their recruits accounts the past few day showed there are something much larger at play.

I am concerned that an ISU program wont exist next year. And if it does, it seems like almost every gymnast will be brand new.

 

[cuuf]

This is really about the worst possible outcome from a series of potential outcomes when they hired AMG. The sad part, the AD who made the inexcusable hire will have no accountability for the wake of devastation from their choice.

 

[OnoNoKomachi]

Wow! Has anything like this ever happened before?

I looked into this, and the answer is most likely not.

Teams have had seasons cancelled by the NCAA or by their own institutions for breaking rules or hazing. 2 or 3 Dlll football teams have cancelled because they had too many injuries, but I couldn't find anything that resembled what happened at Iowa. I would guess it is unprecedented at a D1 school.

 

[irichluck21]

Gymcastic rumors:

An entire class of athletes was suspended indefinitely.

Athletes have walked out on coaching staff during practice in protest.

 

[irichluck21]

https://brobible.com/sports/article...sy-cancel-injury-safety-transfer-coach-fired/

Iowa State has a gymnastics problem. The Cyclones recently decided to cancel the remainder of their season due to safety concerns.

It seems like there is more to the story than they are leading on.

There are a number of unanswered questions surrounding the gymnastics program in Ames. Head coach Ashley Miles Greig is unlikely to survive the controversy.

Why did Iowa State cancel its gymnastics season?​

The 2026 season got underway on Jan. 4. Iowa State competed in five meets so far this year with an overall record of 2-7.

• No. 7 Missouri — L
• No. 10 Iowa — L
• Illinois — L
• Illinois State — W
• New Hampshire — L
• Air Force — L
• Bridgeport — W
• No. 13 Utah — L
• No. 17 Denver — L

Although the Cyclones were not expected to be very good, nobody expected what happened next.




Friday’s home meet against West Virginia was suddenly canceled just a few hours before it was set to begin. Head coach Ashley Miles Greig cited a lack of athletes.

“At this time, we do not have enough student-athletes available to safely field a team against West Virginia, and regrettably must cancel this competition.”

And then, two days later, came the news that shook college gymnastics. Iowa State canceled the remainder of its gymnastics season with five meets still left on the schedule before the postseason.

“After a careful and thoughtful review of the program over the last week, it became apparent that we do not have enough student-athletes available to safely compete, and thus have made the painful decision to cancel the remainder of our gymnastics season,” Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student Services Shamaree Brown said. “The health, safety and overall welfare of our student-athletes is paramount, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they are able to safely train and compete at the highest level.”




The Cyclones list 18 athletes on their roster. Each team typically features a lineup of six gymnasts per event, but there were not enough gymnasts to go out and compete safely.

What is really going on?​

Iowa State continues to cite health, safety and overall welfare concerns for its decision to cancel first the meet against West Virginia and then the rest of the season. That is obviously valid.

You do not want to put the athletes at risk of an injury and/or catastrophic result.

However, there seems to be something deeper going on behind the scenes. Haylee Hardin, Peyton Nock and Noelle Adams are some of the best gymnasts on the team. They, among others like freshman Finley Weldon, recently started to post on their previously inactive recruiting accounts on social media. They even started to follow other coaches at other programs.



These accounts have been dark for months, if not years. The core contributors to the Cyclones team appear to be planning their exits.

And it’s not like this is a tiny program with zero history. Iowa State reached the Super Six with previous head coach KJ Kindler. It is far cry from an SEC powerhouse but winning is possible. It has been done.

Current head coach Ashley Miles Greig is firmly on the hot seat. If this many girls are planning to hit the portal, a large number of incoming recruits are also likely to run the other way.



How does she come back from this? I don’t know.

I would be surprised if the Cyclones do not make sweeping changes to their staff in the coming weeks. They need to make a big-splash hire to get their gym program back on track. Maybe… Simone Biles?!

 

[irichluck21]

If the program does not get cut and they hire a new head coach...whom do you think would be called up?

HC Kirsten Becker from Penn?
HC Monica Messalles from RIC?
HC Lisa Bowerman from TWU?
AC Myia Hambrick from Utah?
AC Kyla Ross from Arkansas?

These would be my top 5 picks in no particular order.

However Kyla Ross would be an Olympic name they would potentially invest in and could draw student athletes in. But would she want to leave Arkansas?

Monica Messalles is also an Olympian but from Spain. However, she competed division 2 at Bridgeport and coached Division 3 at RIC.

 

[RedBirdie]

Someone on reddit posted that some freshmen got caught drinking and were suspended. Parents got mad, called admin, the suspension got reduced, the rest of the team was pissed, walkouts and refusals ensued. No idea if that's actually what happened.

Regardless, Iowa State gymnasts looked terribly unprepared to be doing some of the skills they were attempting. The coaching staff looks to have failed their gymnasts.

 

[irichluck21]

I mean the suspension for drinking I agree with. It is against the rules and they wouldn't be the first team to do so.

Arizona suspended multiple gymnasts like 9-10 years ago (IIRC) for drinking and being drunk at practice the next morning. They ended up having to stay home for an away meet. The team went short handed and competed and only out 2 up on vault and I think 3 up on floor.

 

[cftmoonlight79]

If they broke the rules(I assume written rules) then I support the staff taking action. That is the story I heard as well. Maybe the punishment didnt fit the crime(as in too severe or too long of suspension) but again this should all be in writing.