Wheeling, W. Va. - during 15 season, the Wheeling University rugby team made history in their first year as a National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Division 1 program. As they head into spring, they look to keep that success going as they open their 7's season at the 2023 Pitt Dome 7's. Tournament. The field will feature some of the top Division I 7's teams from around the area as the Cardinals prepare for another run at the CRC 7's.
In 2022, the Wheeling Rugby program had one of their top 7's seasons in program history finishing with a record of 20-4 during the regular season. They would qualify for the Allegheny Rugby Union (ARU) conference championships and would run the table winning all four matches to claim the ARU championship. With a conference championship under their belt, the team made their second trip to the CRC 7'S As they tried to chase down a national championship. Things started out well with wins against Harvard and St. Bonaventura, but the team was knocked out of the championship bracket With a loss to Lindenwood. They would bounce back, beating Penn State in their first consolation bracket match but it wasn't enough as a loss to Indiana. They would finish as the 6th best team in the country and are looking to get back to that level again in 2023.
Several of the stars from the Cardinals 15 season run will be back for 7's season. Leading the way will be freshman Aaron Juma, who was the Cardinals leading scorer in the fall. Juma join the team for their third regular season game and would total 14 tries, scoring in six of the seven games that he participated in. He also had three multi-try games, with his biggest being a three try effort against Adrian College to end the regular season. Juma brings a Strong combination of speed and power to the pitch and he uses both to move the ball down the field. For his efforts, Juma earned an NCR division 1 First team All-America award after scoring 70 points during the season. He was the second Division 1 All American in program history and he will be a driving force to the team's offense this spring.
Joining Juma Will be a combination of sophomore Chief Chipfumbu and freshman Lawula Bata. Chipfumbu earned a first team All-America award last season and, even though he was dealing with injury throughout the fall, was still a big part of Wheeling's offense. He scored two tries during 15 season and assisted on several others as he serves as the leader of the offense. Bata got off to a hot start with four tries across the first two contests, and finished second on the team with 11 tries during the fall. Highlighting those tries was a highlight reel worthy play against Adrian College where Bata kick the ball to himself before speeding across the try line. Both players will be looking to make that same impact during the spring on this national championship run.
The spring 7's season we'll see the team participate in five tournaments from February to April. Unfortunately, none of those tournaments will be at home, but the team is still doing two intersquad scrimmages where they will get to play in front of their home fans. Of those five tournaments, two will be official Big Rivers rugby conference (BRRC) events at the team continues their inaugural season as a member of the conference. After a slow start to the fall, the Cardinals were able to come back and finish strong being named the #6 15's team in the country. They looked at build off that momentum this spring and get back to the top of the NCR division 1 standings.
Tournament Details
The Pitt Dome 7's season will be hosted by the University of Pittsburgh and features a full day of 7's Rugby action. The Cardinals will play in three pool matches in the morning and will have the rest of their schedule determined by their performance in those three games. They kick the day off at 9:45 against the host Pitt before battling Michigan at 11:20, followed by the University of Rio Grande at 12:40. From there, the team will be placed in their championship position, with a total of at least four guaranteed games throughout the day.
The Matchups
Pitt: The Cardinals and Panthers are meeting for the third time in program history on Saturday, with all three of those meetings coming during 7's season. Both of those meetings came at this same event a year ago, where the Cardinals went 2-0 against the Panthers. They are averaging 31 points across those two games and are looking for similar success this time around. In their most recent meeting, Wheeling took home a 24-12 victory where Mohammad Haddar Lee the way with a pair of tries.
Michigan: The Cardinals and Wolverines meet for the fourth time in program history, with Michigan leading the all-time series with a record of 2-1. Only one of those meetings has come during 7's season and the Cardinals won that only meeting back in 2016. The Cardinals would win that meeting 76-14 with the other two 15's meetings going to Michigan by scores of 25-14 and 30-28.
The University of Rio Grande: The Cardinals and Red Storm are meeting for the first time in program history on Saturday. The Red Storm will also be opening their 7's season after going 4-2 in six 15's season games. They had wind over WVU and Marshall as well as two wins against Kent State.
The Details
The PITT 7's tournament is set to kick-off on Saturday at 9 AM with Wheeling beginning their day at 9:45 AM. Stay tuned to wucardinals.com all day for updates and a full recap of the day's events.
