Blust becomes a Buckeye

TIFFIN - Columbian High School senior Mia Blust is ready to be a Buckeye. Blust signed with The Ohio State University as an incoming member of the cheer squad for the 2025-2026 school year Friday. She will be part of the sideline squad for football, basketball and volleyball games, as well as a flyer on the co-ed team, which competes at UCA nationals. The path to signing day, she said, "has been a pretty long journey." She always has been a cheerleader for her school team and in sophomore year, Blust decided she wanted to cheer at a collegiate level. To reach the collegiate cheer, Blust began traveling two days a week to Columbus for coed stunt and tumbling training, and two days a week to Cleveland to participate on an all-star team. The high number of reps at that training proved to be "a big help" with recruitment efforts, she said. "My tumbling really helped me stand out." She also began to "travel all over the U.S." to participate in college camps. In 2024, Blust visited both the University of Kentucky and The Ohio State University for recruiting, which showed her what a day in her life as a student-athlete would be at each school. She attended a private practice with the OSU and Kentucky cheer teams and was on the field with the squads during a home football game at each stadium. She immediately knew that Ohio State was her choice. She plans to study kinesiology there and become an orthopedic surgeon. While the past three years have involved substantial time away from home and family, in addition to intense training, Blust said, "it's all been worth it." Her family, she said, has been "so supportive," and is "so happy for me" as she takes her next education and cheer step. She is the daughter of Danielle and Cory Blust of Tiffin. Her mom, in particular, "was definitely a big part of this journey," Blust said, helping facilitate many of the details involved in her training and travel. Blust is grateful for all the support she has received through the years, and the people who have been a part of her journey have been her favorite part of the experience. She especially enjoyed helping with mini cheer camps and loved working with the kids.. Bill Beaston, Tiffin Columbian's athletic director, said the last cheerleader from the school to cheer at the D1 level was Audrey Hepp, who attends the University of Louisville.