Cheer and Tumbling teams Battle in the Bluff

The Battle in the Bluff cheer and tumbling event drew 1,600 spectators from Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas to watch 330 athletes compete.

The event, which had a total of 17 teams, was organized by Poplar Bluff Cheer & Tumbling and took place Jan. 14 at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff.

“This is the first time we had it, but seeing the success we had I think it will be an annual event,” said Kenneth Cochran, known better as Coach K. “We’ll be hosting it every January, the second weekend. It was stressful, but it was probably some of the most fun I could have asked for.”

The coach said their biggest sponsor was Lucas Edington of Mossy Oak Properties Mozark Realty. “We have probably close to 100 sponsors. All of the sponsors were really happy with the day overall,” he added.

Among the out-of-town teams were the Sikeston All Starz, Athletes Plus Cheerleading Training Center of Cape Girardeau, and Natural State Fitness, Cheer and Tumble of Manila, Arkansas.

The divisions and winners were as follows:

Tiny Prep 1.1 — Tiny Diamonds from NSF Cheer

Mini Prep 1.1 — Kaboom from Athletes Plus

Youth Prep 1.1 — Intensity from Athletes Plus

Mini Elite 1 ­— Pink Diamonds from NSF Cheer

Junior Elite 1 — Comets from PB Cheer & Tumbling - Infiniti All-Stars

Youth Elite 2 — White Diamonds from NSF Cheer

Junior Elite 2 — Ignite from Athletes Plus

Senior Elite 2 — Nitro from Athletes Plus

Senior Open Coed 4 — Super Novas from PB Cheer & Tumbling — Infiniti All-Stars

The competitors ranged in age from 4 years old to the oldest competitor, who was Cochran.

“We have a Senior Open team, which is for retired athletes to see if they’ve still got it and I’m 27 years old,” said Cochran, who has been coaching for 12 years.

“I cheered one year at Ole Miss and I used coaching to fund my first year,” he said. “While I was there, I fell in love with coaching itself. I ended up moving to Memphis and I coached there for two years. I moved back to Missouri and I’ve owned my own program for the last seven years. For the last five years, we’ve had a gym in Poplar Bluff.”

Cochran credited his fiancee Miranda Cook setting everything up. “I would not have done this if she not convinced me.”

He continued, “I would make sure we thank all of our parents at the program because they really helped us set it up and then thank all of our sponsors, I would give the main shout out to Mossy Oak properties and Lucas Edington.”

The Coach K is the founder and co-owner of PBC&T. He is a former Ole Miss cheerleader and UCA Staff member. He started coaching in 2010 while cheering at SEMO Elite FC. He has coached for various All-Star, school and collegiate level programs.

Cook also co-owner and manager at PBC&T. She is a former power tumbler and began her career with coaching tumbling and gymnastics in 2017. She transitioned to coaching cheer in 2018.