Wheeling, W. Va. – Throughout the fall and spring sports seasons, the Wheeling University Rugby team has been working hard both on and off the pitch. All that hard work is coming to a head this weekend when the team heads to New Orleans, Louisiana for the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) CRC 7's Tournament. Marked as "May Madness," the tournament welcomes some of the best teams across Division I Rugby to compete for a National Championship.
The Cardinals are no strangers to the National stage, having already competed in one NCR National Championship event this year. They battled Iowa County Community College in the first-ever NCR Rhino Rugby Bowl in December and came away with a 27-24 victory to earn the title. Throughout the 7's season, the team continued to build off that success as they competed in five 7's tournaments leading up to the Allegheny Rugby Union Conference Championships. Across those five tournaments, Wheeling went a combined 19-3 and won three of the five tournament championships. Their biggest effort came at the WVU Chicken 7's where they did not allow a point to their opponents on their way to sweeping the four games.
Throughout the season, several players have stepped up for the Cardinals, but leading the way has been freshman Chief Chipfumbu. He earned an NCR DI All-American Award back in February, before the start of 7's season, and has carried that success over into 7's play. He is a dynamic player who brings a lot of speed to the table and can pass the ball well to his other teammates. While he hasn't been racking up a whole lot of tries this season, he has been able to pick up plenty of assists as he passes the ball to his open teammates for scores.
Sometimes, the difference in one of these 7's matches come down to kicking and the Cardinals have had a pretty reliable conversion kicker in Ayoub Jalli. He has made over half of the conversion kicks he has attempted this season, including a 7-7 effort in one of the games during the WVU Chicken 7's. He has also done a nice job on the offensive side of the ball, scoring on several occasions throughout the spring as he leads the Wheeling offense. EJ Vidal has also started to sneak into the offensive gameplan and had a breakout performance at this year's WVU Chicken 7's. Wheeling will need to have all their offensive pieces clicking to have success and they are heating up at the right time.
Wheeling will enter the CRC 7's in the Premier Division, where they will open tournament play with a match against the #6 seeded Harvard Crimson. From there, wins and losses will determine their fate, but they are guaranteed to play at least five games across the weekend. At last year's CRC 7's event, Wheeling went 4-1 in their five matches and brought home the Champions Cup Bracket Championship. Their lone loss in that event came from Air Force in the second game of the bracket as they look to build off last year's success and come back stronger this year.
The Matchup
The opening round of the CRC 7's will mark the first-ever meeting between Wheeling and Harvard as they open the Premier Division. The Cardinals have had a strong 7's season so far, winning three of their five tournaments this season, including the Allegheny Rugby Union Conference Championship at the end of April. The Cardinals roll into the tournament having won each of their last five 7's matches as they look to keep the momentum rolling on the National Stage.
The Details
The opening kick-off for Wheeling's first match of the CRC 7's is scheduled for 5:34 PM central time. The game can be seen live on The Rugby Network.
