After an exciting night during semifinal two, the Oklahoma Sooners are advancing to the national final once again in the hopes to go back-to-back in these championships.
Putting up the highest score out of both semifinals with a 198.300, Oklahoma showed its strength and all that it was capable of even after facing some major challenges just this week leading up to the semifinals. Head coach KJ Kindler shared, “We have really faced some adversity this past week…Missing Addison [Fatta] due to a hand injury that happened earlier on in the week…Yesterday we also had an injury in practice, a pretty serious one in Kelsey Slade, who is a huge heart on our team, and it was hard for our team to see. We have had a few things thrown into the mix today, and adversity can make you rise and I do think their teammates rose today.”
Even missing one of their key athletes in three lineups, the Sooners were able to put up one of their best performances of the season due to the consistency they pride themselves on and strive for in each competition. “Consistency wins. If we can be in the ballpark of who we are as gymnasts, and we see around the same scores on each event, just being close [to those numbers] is enough,” Kindler said. “When I look at [today’s] scores, vault was the outlier today with a 49.750, which was freakishly amazing…We made a last-minute change to the lineups today too and moved Kiera [Wells] to the leadoff spot, and that seemed to have worked pretty well for her [coming away as the event national champion].”
Wells is the second Sooner to win a national title from the leadoff position, joining former Sooner Audrey Davis who won the title on beam. Wells speaks to that moment, that vault score holding up the entire night, saying, “I had the mindset anything can happen and I was out there to do it for my team, not just myself.”
With Wells being in a spot that was a last-minute decision, 2026 all-around national champion Faith Torrez was also placed in positions tonight she didn’t think were possible just a couple weeks ago. Having not vaulted since early February and competing on floor for the first time this season at the semifinal, Torrez said, “If you asked me two weeks ago if you thought I would be in this position doing floor, I would probably laugh at you. I had no intention of doing [floor], but to have everything play out like it did, I’m really grateful for that.”
Kindler is notorious for ‘defrosting her athletes,’ like former Sooners Maggie Nichols and Olivia Trautman, who always peaked at the right time. Now, Torrez is added to that list, with the first time she competed all-around this season winning her the all-around national title. However, Kindler shared that this was a goal Torrez came up with by herself. “She defrosted herself, I did not defrost her,” Kindler said. “I was definitely a leading force [in her coming back to floor] but she came to me and said ‘I have a golden buzzer beater question for you: What if I started training on floor?’ The fact that it came from inside her, I was more willing to go with it.”
No matter the challenges the Sooners have faced throughout the season, Oklahoma is ready to bring its best to four on the floor, acknowledging how big this moment is. “At this level of competition the pressure they feel is immense, every athlete wants to make it to the last night,” said Kindler. “Everyone wants to do their best in this moment, and sometimes that pressure can eat you up a little bit.”
With the final four consisting of three SEC teams and the Sooners having faced LSU and Florida at the SEC championship, they know the level of competition both teams bring and the performance it will take to come out on top. “The SEC is challenging week in and out,” Kindler said. “I expect more of the same [performances from LSU and Florida] on Saturday, but I would also be remiss if I didn’t recognize what Minnesota did tonight…They are equally as dangerous as Florida and LSU and we expect a fight to the finish.”
Moving into Saturday, the Sooners are doing what has worked for them all season, focusing on what is ahead of them, rather than trying to have the same competition they had at the semifinal. “We aren’t planning on replicating today; Saturday is a new day,” said Kindler. “Our consistency is key for us, and if we can be close to who we are, we’ll have a great night.”
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Article by Julianna Roland
