Ava Hooten wins Wisconsin USA Gymnastics All-Around Championship
All-Around State Champion ... Ava Hooten, 15-year-old daughter of Adam and Jennifer Hooten of Waterville, proudly displays the medals she won at the 2022 USA Gymnastics Optional State Competition held in Elkhorn, WI March 26-27. Hooten’s hardware includes the gold medal she was awarded as the Level 9 Junior B All-Around Champion, another gold medal earned as the Floor Exercise State Champion, and a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the Balance Beam competition. Submitted photo.
TNT Gymnastics traveled with 11 gymnasts to Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn, WI March 26-27 for the 2022 Wisconsin USA Gymnastics (USAG) Optional State Competition. TNT Gymnastics collected a total of 11 individual State Championship titles in various events at the competition between six of those TNT gymnasts.
Ava Hooten, 15-year-old daughter of Adam and Jennifer Hooten of Waterville and a freshman at Waukon High School, became the 2022 USAG Wisconsin State Level 9 Junior B All-Around Champion, scoring a 36.225 All-Around score. In addition, she also became the State Champion in the Floor Exercise with a strong 9.475 score, took third place on the Balance Beam with an 8.95 and took fourth place in both the vault, with a score of 9.125, and the uneven bars, with an 8.675.
The Level 9 team became the 2022 Level 9 WI State Runner-up and consists of Jillian Adam and Whitney Steldt of Fennimore, WI, Lorisa Shatrawka of Barneveld, WI, Kaylee Bachman of Monona, Ava Hooten of Waukon, and a sixth member, Jade Troxel of Gays Mills, WI, who was unable to compete due to illness.
The Level 9 team trains under head coach Danielle Mueller at both the Richland Center, WI and Prairie du Chien, WI TNT Gymnastics locations. Mueller said that means Hooten spends about as much time on the road traveling to and from practice as she does training for the sport she’s so passionate about.
“Ava Hooten is the epitome of dedication and resiliency,” Mueller shared. “She’s had a rough road since the shut-down in March 2020. Prior to this season, her last competition was in February 2020, just prior to the end of the 2020 season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In December of 2020 she underwent elbow surgery, so we decided once she was back on her feet we’d try to compete in Beam and Floor with all no-handed skills for a competition in March 2021, but the night before that competition she broke a toe and it took her out of that competition, as well as the rest of the 2021 season. She suffered another freak injury in August 2021 to her foot, which gave her more time to up her uneven bar difficulty but still was frustrating, to say the least.
“Doing everything we could - aside from wrapping her in bubble wrap - we’ve managed to keep her healthy and happy this season, and had a successful end of the regular season at that. I am so excited, happy and incredibly proud of Ava - she could have easily given up, but she refused to take that road.
She’s an extremely hard worker, humble and respectful, and I cannot wait to see where the rest of the season takes her.”
Hooten has also qualified for the 2022 Region IV Championships in Minneapolis, MN April 22-24, along with her four other teammates. There they will compete against top gymnasts from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Nebraska to try and qualify for the Level 9 Western Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah May 5-8, needing to place in the top seven and reach an all-around score of 34.0 to qualify.
Those interested can follow TNT Gymnastics on Facebook or via the team’s website at www.tntgymnasticswi.com to keep up with its travels, videos and class offerings over the next two months.
