Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Rugby team brought 7's action to Bishop Schmitt field on Saturday when they hosted the Nail City 7's tournament. They put on a display on the offensive side of the ball and ended up winning the tournament going a perfect 5-0 in their matches. They took on the Citadel in the finals and won handedly in a 38-7 game that gave them their second 7's tournament win of the season.

Game One: Wheeling 38, Alderson Broaddus 0

The Cardinals kicked off the Nail City 7's tournament with the first match of the day as they took on a team that Wheeling is familiar with in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) in Alderson Broaddus. It took Wheeling just under two minutes to get the first try of the game as Navin Couch took a pass from Ayoub Jalli to make it 7-0 Cardinals. After making the pass to help score the first try, Jalli got in on the scoring action himself with two straight tries and Wheeling led 19-0 in the first half. One more try would be put on the board courtesy of Simo Haddar and Wheeling went into halftime leading 24-0.

In the second half, Wheeling didn't let up as Chief Chipfumbu used his speed to get in on the action, scoring the first try of the second half to make it a 31-0 game. It looked like Chipfumbu was bound for his second try of the day, but he ended up flipping the ball to EJ Vidal, who scored the final try of the day to make it 36-0. Ayoub Jalli made the final conversion kick and Wheeling went on to win the game 38-0.

Jalli would lead the scoring effort with two tries in that first game and made three conversion kicks on the day. Wheeling would also get tries from Navin Couch, Simo Haddar, Chief Chipfumbu, and EJ Vidal to end the first match scoring.

Game Two: Wheeling 36, Robert Morris 7

Quick offense would be the name of the game for Wheeling throughout the tournament and game two was no different. Ayoub Jalli scored his third try of the tournament to start things off and added the conversion kick to make it 7-0. Just a few minutes later, the Cardinals were back at it with Jacob Deglow getting in on the scoring action to make it a 14-0 game. Vidal added his second try of the day and Alec Thomas found the goal line as Wheeling went into halftime once again leading 24-0.

The Colonials got on the board to start the second half as Wheeling allowed their first points of the match and the score sat at 24-7. A few minutes later Wheeling got the ball to Michael Muleya who scored his first try of the day to make it 31-7. The final try of game two was scored by Larry Old, his first try of the game and that would bring things to the 36-7 final score.

Six different Cardinals scored tries in game two with Ayoub Jalli (3), Jacob Deglow, EJ Vidal (2), Alec Thomas, Michael Muleya, and Larry Old all scoring in the game.

Game Three: Wheeling 36, Frostburg 0

The Cardinals were off to their fastest start of the day so far when Chief Chipfumbu found the goal line in just 30 seconds and the ensuing conversion kick gave Wheeling a 7-0 lead. The Cardinals would add two more tries courtesy of Deglow and Alec Thomas and Wheeling built a 19-0 lead. The final try of the first half would come courtesy of Ayoub Jalli, his fourth of the day, and Wheeling led 24-0 at halftime for the third straight game. 

Simo Haddar got the second half offense going scoring the first two tries of the half, and converting on a conversion kick to bring the score to 36-0 with two minutes left to play. Rati Ramishvilli would get his first try of the day in the final minute of the game bringing things to its final score of 36-0. It was the third straight game where they hit the 36 point mark as they began tournament play with a win.

The Cardinals got tries from Chief Chipfumbu (2), Jacob Deglow (2), Alec Thomas (2), Ayoub Jalli (4), two from Simo Haddar (3), and Rati Ramishvilli as they advanced to the Nail City 7's semifinals.

Wheeling 29, Christendom 12

Game four was the closest game of the day, but Wheeling was once again on the board early scoring in the first 45 seconds of the game. Simo Haddar scored his fourth try of the day to get things started and gave Wheeling a 5-0 lead. There would only be one more try scored as Michael Muleya converted his second try of the day, but Wheeling went into halftime only up 10 after the missed conversion kick, there lowest halftime score of the day.

Ayoub Jalli got the second half scoring started with his team leading fifth try of the day and made the conversion kick to make it a 17-0 game. Christendom would not go down without a fight as they added another try to make it 17-7 before Haddar snuck in with his fourth try of the day, first of the game to make it 22-7. Christendom and Wheeling would swap the final two tries of the game and Wheeling held on to win 29-12.

With the win, Wheeling was a perfect 4-0 on the day and was headed to their second 7's tournament championship game of the season. They would go against a tough Citadel team that was also perfect in what would be an epic showdown.

Game Five: Wheeling 36, The Citadel 7

In the final game of the day, the Cardinals stuck to their game plan of scoring early, getting on the board just :45 into the game. Ayoub Jalli got his team on the board with that first try of the game. Simo Haddar added two first half tries and Alec Thomas scored his third try of the game all in the first four minutes of the game. Chief Chipfumbu added the final try of the first half and Wheeling had their biggest halftime lead of the tournament at 33-0.

The Cardinals scored just one try in the second half, coming courtesy of Rati Ramishvilli that bolstered their lead to 38-0 with just over a minute to play. The Citadel did score one more try in the game, but that was all they could muster as Wheeling held on for the 38-7 win. They allowed no more than two tries in any of the five games they played and bounced back nicely after a tough showing at Notre Dame in their previous tournament.

Overall, Head Coach Mike Geibel was pleased with his team's play and believes things are coming together as the season moves on.

"I was really happy with the way the guys played today. Things are starting to come together. To play the way they did, even without our captain Stan Giani, and Rua Karimazondo and Noam Taurin all currently out and working back from injuries, is really a testament to the depth and skill in our squad. I was especially impressed with Michael Muleya. He has been rehabbing an injury he sustained at the NCR All Stars and this was his first competition of the semester. He was a huge asset on both sides of the ball and I think the team would agree was our MVP today."

The Wheeling University Rugby team is back in action next Saturday, April 9th, when they head to the WVU 7's at 9 AM.