After Friday’s Prelims competition, the race at the top of the leaderboard was close — closer than it’s been at any DCI All-Age championship event since the division dawned in 2024.
The two-time defending DCI All-Age champions weren’t phased.
Reading Buccaneers fended off close competition, earning a top score of 96.200 at Saturday’s DCI All-Age World Championship Finals, and earning a “three-peat” in the DCI All-Age division.
“We always strive to work hard and and push ourselves; we don’t play it safe ever,” Buccaneers drum major Andrea Gwyn said. “Our shows are are really built to be pretty challenging and ambitious. We had some very new members, and I’m really proud of what we accomplished today.”
For the Buccaneers, who won all captions except Color Guard and Percussion, it may be somewhat of a familiar feeling — prior to joining DCI All-Age, the corps had earned 15 of the last 18 Drum Corps Associates titles — but with a focus on self-improvement, it remains a sweet and meaningful accomplishment.
“Each drum corps every year is so different, and the approach to that specific corps is different,” added artistic coordinator Nicholas Tavares. “You have to be flexible in terms of getting each group to where we want them to be.”
View scores and recap from the 2026 DCI All-Age World Championship Finals
1. Reading Buccaneers » 96.200
2. Hawthorne Caballeros » 95.650
3. Atlanta CV » 92.650
4. Bushwackers » 92.625
Buccaneers General Effect caption made a major difference in propelling the corps to its 2026 title. Caballeros, though, had plenty to say in the matter, scoring just 0.55 points behind the top spot and winning top caption marks for Percussion and Color Guard en route to its third-consecutive silver medal.
“We’re many miles away from Hawthorne, New Jersey, but we owned this field today,” Caballeros drum major Jenna N. Foley said.
One of the more eye-opening competitive movements in the All-Age division’s 2026 iteration, Atlanta CV unseated last year’s bronze medalist, Bushwackers, to take third Saturday afternoon.
The Georgia corps impressed in Music captions, and outscored its New Jersey opponent by just 0.025.
“We put in so much work to be where we are today,” Atlanta CV drum major Lydia Pletnicks said. “I think our most memorable moment was at the end when we could hear the screams on the field, and just how everyone was so excited to do what they love with their friends and have the most amazing time.”
Bushwackers, though, nearly erased Atlanta CV’s 0.425-point margin from Prelims in the race for bronze, and ranked ahead of the Georgia corps in General Effect. The two tied in overall Visual.
5. Cincinnati Tradition » 92.200
6. Hurricanes » 88.425
7. White Sabers » 86.700
8. Fusion Core » 85.125
For Cincinnati Tradition, 2026 is the corps’ third year in a row landing in the All-Age top five, and its second in a row breaking 90 points on the season; last year’s corps finished with a 90.950.
Rounding out the top six, Hurricanes earned a solid leading margin over the rest of the field, and nearly surpassed Cincinnati Tradition in Color Guard. White Sabers wrapped up seventh place, fending off Fusion Core thanks especially to strong General Effect scores.
Fusion Core was one of, if not the most competitively-improved All-Age competitor in 2026. The corps rose to eighth place from last year’s 12th-place finish in its second year since moving from New Jersey to Florida. Fusion Core scored ahead of White Sabers in Percussion and Music Analysis.
“I definitely teared up at the end. That was a good run,” drum major Ava Pigeon said. “We had such a great season, and all the memories just came flooding in at the end of our performance.”
Pigeon says that Fusion Core becoming more established in its new Florida locale and building interest within the community has been a difference maker for the corps this season.
“The word’s gotten out that there’s a new corps here in Florida,” Pigeon said.
9. Rogues Hollow Regiment » 85.025
10. Govenaires » 82.175
11. Northern Lights » 80.550
12. MBI » 79.625
Rogues Hollow Regiment took ninth place Saturday, while scoring as high as sixth in Percussion and nearly defeating Fusion Core — the two were separated by just one tenth of a point. Govenaires, meanwhile, made it back-to-back years in the overall Top 10, flying past last year’s season-ending score of 80.775.
“We have been having such a great time this season,” Govenaires drum major Sophia Fenske said. “I feel like every show, each year, we’re getting more and more members, more and more people excited to perform in Lucas Oil, and our shows just keep getting more and more fun.”
A historic season for Northern Lights — year two in All-Age competition and year one as a full All-Age member — saw the corps earn its first Finals appearance while leaving little doubt in the process.
Northern Lights rose all the way up to 11th from last year’s 13th-place slot, and shattered their first season’s final score of 76.425 by 4.125 points and breaking 80 for the first time.
“We’ve been working really hard to get to this moment, making our first appearance at Finals in corps history,” Northern Lights drum major Caleb Schultz said. “It means so much to our members, and the hard work we put in paid off for us this morning.”
Rounding out the All-Age Finals pool, MBI — which was also approved for full All-Age membership prior to this season — made it back-to-back Finals appearances, and outscored Northern Lights in Color Guard.
