Wheeling, W. Va. - It has been a strong 7's season so far for the Wheeling University Rugby team as they broke the program record for wins in a season and have won three of their five 7's tournaments this season. They look to put their talents on display again on Saturday when they head to the Allegheny Rugby Union Conference Championships hosted by Clarion University. The Cardinals will have three different matches leading up to the Division I Championship game at 4 PM as they try to further make their case for the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Collegiate 7's Playoffs in late May.
The Rugby team was off last week and last took to the pitch on Saturday, April 16th at the Tropical 7's event in Tampa, Florida. Day one of the event saw them go 2-1 in their three games, with wins against The University of Florida and the University of Cincinnati, as they headed into the semifinals the next day. In their first game, they knocked off the Upright Rogues and Tsunami Fits and fell to the Southeast Bears to end day two 2-1. While they didn't win the conference championship, they were able to finish the tournament going 4-2 in their six games played as they push on down the season.
The Cardinals have been led this season by sophomore Ayoub Jalli, who has led the way both in tries and conversion kicks this season. In the WVU "Chicken 7's", he was second on the team with five tries, but had the most success on conversion kicks. He made all seven of his kicks in the Championship game and totaled 17 conversion kicks on the day. Jalli totaled 59 points at the Chicken 7's and continues to be a leader on the pitch for the team.
Two guys who have gotten in on the action more as of late have been freshman Stanley Giani and sophomore EJ Vidal. Giani led the team at the WVU Chicken 7's with a career-high six tries on the day as the Cardinals picked up their third tournament win. Vidal had his first multi-tri game of the season during the tournament and totaled three tries on the afternoon over the four games. Both players have been essential parts of the Wheeling offense and will play big roles as Wheeling tries to take home their conference championship.
In total, the Cardinals will play four games on Saturday at Clarion, with the first three games being guaranteed. They will take on WVU, Alderson Broaddus, and Kutztown before seeing if they make the Division I Conference Championship later that afternoon. With no conference tournament last season due to COVID-19, the team is looking for their first Allegheny Rugby Union Conference Championship in program history.
The Matchups
WVU: Saturday will mark the ninth all-time meeting between the Cardinals and Mountaineers with Wheeling leading the all-time series going 7-1. They have met a couple times already this season, once during 15's season and once during 7's season with Wheeling winning both of those games. They last met at the WVU Chicken 7's in a game that Wheeling won 47-0 on their way to shutting out the four games of the tournament. Rati Ramishvilli led the team with two tries while four other Cardinals added one try.
Alderson Broaddus: Saturday will mark the fifth all-time matchup between the Cardinals and Battlers with the Cardinals winning each of the first five games in the series. This will be their fourth meeting of the season, meeting once in 10's play and once in 7's play. The Cardinals have won all three of those games this season, allowing just seven total points. Their last meeting was at the Nail City 7's when Wheeling scored a 38-0 win over the Battlers on their way to beating the Nail City 7's
Kutztown: The Cardinals and Bears are meeting for the seventh time in school history on Saturday as Wheeling has gone just 1-5 in those previous meetings. It will be the team's first match since October of 2018 when they two met up in 15's play and their first 7's match ever. Wheeling's only win in the all-time series came back on October 8th, 2016, when they won 33-20.
The Details
The 2022 Allegheny Rugby Union Conference Championships are set to begin Saturday at 10 AM.
