Members of ACU’s Wildcat Wranglers allegedly “kidnapped” several Texas A&M “Yell Leaders” this week in an effort to improve their own school spirit performance.

Despite their commitment to ACU athletics, attendance at games still continued to fall flat, and internal discussions reportedly acknowledged that they were “not performing at the level they wanted to,” prompting a growing urgency to improve their approach to leading and sustaining crowd engagement.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the Wranglers traveled to College Station after concluding that A&M’s Yell Leaders were, in the words of one participant, “annoyingly elite at coordinated yelling.”

“We just wanted to learn,” said one Wrangler, who asked to remain anonymous. “You can only be so obnoxious until you start getting booed, and the Yell Leaders have truly mastered the art of being obnoxious.”

Witnesses report that the group approached the Yell Leaders under the pretense of asking for “quick tips,” before escalating the interaction into what officials later labeled “a highly assertive mentorship opportunity.” 

“They kept saying things like ‘teach us your ways’ and ‘this is for growth,’” said one Yell Leader. “Next thing I know, I’m in Abilene being asked to evaluate chant posture.”

Once on ACU campus, the Yell Leaders were reportedly placed in front of a small crowd and instructed to demonstrate proper technique, timing and “elite-level spirit intensity.” The Yell Leaders said that at this point, the Wranglers were acting irrational, twitching, talking fast and their pupils dilated.

“Bro was foaming at the mouth at this point,” the Yell Leader said, “begging for something like a ‘bigger stadium.’”

As of now, the Wranglers say they are committed to turning things around, with plans to implement their newly learned techniques and raise the standard of yelling campuswide.

As for the kidnapping, university officials have not announced any disciplinary action, though they clarified that future leadership development efforts should involve fewer road trips and significantly less accidental abduction.

Meanwhile, sources confirm the Wranglers are already scouting their next improvement strategy, which they insist will be strictly voluntary.