Indianapolis, IN. - On Saturday, the Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) Tournament began as the teams converged on Indianapolis, Indiana for first round action. The Wheeling University Rugby team (3-2) entered as the #1 seed in the BRRC East and battled #4 cheated Aquinas College. After falling behind early, the Cardinals offense went to work outscoring Aquinas 29-3 over the final 16 minutes of play as they won 29-11 and advanced to the BRRC Semi-finals on October 28th.

Early on, a few Cardinal mistakes set up offensive opportunities as Aquinas took the lead. In the second minute they kicked through a penalty kick that made it 3-0 in favor of the Saints. After the Cardinals were stopped on their first offensive possession, Aquinas would get across try line eight minutes later to extend their lead to 8-0. A missed conversion kick kept it at 8 point game and the Cardinals would get things going in the 16th minute. They we're able to move the ball down the field before freshman Alex Nyamunda broke through the same defense and across the try line to make it in 8-5 match. Chief Chipfimbu would come on to attempt the conversion kick and kicked it through to make it a one-point game at 8-7.

As the first half moved on, both teams came up with big stops on the defensive side as they tried to limit their opponents. Aquinas would be next on the board in the 24th minute as another Cardinal penalty set up another penalty kick opportunity. They kicked it through the upright and extended their lead to 11-7 with just under 15 minutes to go before the halftime break. Wheeling was able to get across the try line One more time before the break as they went to their star from last year's postseason run. Aaron Juma would break away in a 32nd minute, scoring his first postseason try of 2023 to get the Cardinals to within one point.

Chipfimbu came on once again to attempt the conversion kick and would send it through to give Wheeling the lead at 12-11.
That score would hold heading into the halftime break as the Cardinals looked to build on their first lead of the afternoon. It didn't take them long to keep things going in the second half, as in the 48th minute Nyamunda found the try line for the second time on the day and a missed conversion kick would keep it at a 17-11 Wheeling lead. The Cardinals defense made their presents felt early and often as they were able to shut out the Saints over the final 40 minutes of play. The offense just kept going as Juma scored his second try of the day in the 60th minute and on their final possession of the evening, Lawula Bata pushed across his first try of the night. Chipfumbu would split the final two conversion kicks as Wheeling went on to win 29-11 to advance to the semifinals.

Lean away for the Cardinals we're a pair of multi-try scores in Alex Nyamunda and Aaron Juma. For Nyamunda It was the first multi-try game of his collegiate career as he scored his second and third tries of his collegiate career. For Juma, it was the 4th consecutive postseason game between both 15's and 7's season that he has scored at least one try in a match. The final Cardinal try on the day came courtesy of Lawula Bata, who scored the second try of his 15's season to round out the action. Chief Chipfimbu served as the primary conversion kick taker for the Cardinals for the first time this season, and finish the day 2-2 on those opportunities. The Cardinals are now set for a home playoff game in the semifinals of the BRRC tournament as they look to advance to the conference championship game in November.

The Wheeling University Rugby team Returns to action on Saturday, October 28th, for the semifinal round of the BRRC tournament when they host Marion College with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 PM.