Pittsburgh, PA. - The Wheeling University Rugby team (11-5, 3-2) finished as the 6th best team in the country during the fall 15's season, after making their first run to the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) DI National 15's Playoffs. They continued that momentum into the spring 7's season on Saturday as they competed in the 2023 PITT Dome 7's tournament in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals went a perfect 5-0 in their five games on the day and scored a combined 157 points across the five matches played as the offense showed how well they can play in a fast paced environment.
Game 1: Wheeling 31, Pitt 0
The first game of the day was all about offense as the Cardinals came out fast and furious in the first half, scoring 19 of their 31 points over the first seven minutes. Freshman Lawula Bata got things started with a try on the first possession and Chief Chipfumbu would convert the kick to put Wheeling up 7-0. Mohammad Haddar would get in on the action on the next possession with his first try of the day and the Cardinals would find themselves ahead 12-0. Wheeling would add one more try before the half was out, courtesy of Rua Karimazondo and Bata would return to make the kick to put Wheeling up 19-0 at the half.
Bata was back at it on the pitch for his second try of the day to start the second half and Aschcraf Boutzanfout would make his first conversion kick of the day to make it a 26-0 Wheeling advantage. The final try of the game for the Cardinals came from Haddar, who would end up missing the conversion kick. However, the Cardinals would go on to win by the final score of 31-0.
Mohamad Haddar and Lawula Bata would get their days started off strong with two tries each, while Karimazondo added his first try of the 7's season to round out the scoring. Chief Chipfumbu went 1-2 on converison kicks while Bata went 1-1 and Boutzanfout went 1-1 to round out the day.
Game 2: Wheeling 33, Michigan 7
In their second game of the day, the Cardinals began with a first as Jacob Deglow scored his first try of the 7's season and Boutzanfout made the ensuing kick to put Wheeling up 7-0. The Cardinals allowed their first try of the day on the next Michigan possession before going back to work to end the first half. The Cardinals went back to their big guys as Josh Blankenship pushed the ball across the try line and Boutzanfout once again made the conversion kick. The score sent Wheeling into halftime with a 14-7 lead and put together their biggest offensive half of the day so far in the second half.
Mohamad Haddar brought his try total for the day to three with the first score of the second half, and made his own conversion kick to make it a 21-7 game. Bata added his third try of the day as well, and missed his conversion kick as the Cardinals led 26-7. Haddar was at it again for his fourth try of the game and came through with his conversion kick to bring the game to its final score of 33-7.
With the win, Haddar was now leading the Cardinals with four tries on the day while Bata upped his try total to three. Jacob Deglow and Josh Blankenship would each get their first tries of the day to round out the offense. Boutzanfout had a big day kicking, improving his total to 3-3 on the day while Haddar added a 2-2 effort to move to 2-3 kicking on the day.
Game 3: Wheeling 21, University of Rio Grande 15
In what was their closest game of the day for the Cardinals, it would come down to the final play of game three as the Cardinals battled the University of Rio Grande. The Red Strom would get on the board first, to take a 5-0 lead, but the deficit wouldn't last long. Aaron Juma got in on the action for his first try of the 7's season and Haddar made the conversion kick to make it a 7-5 Wheeling lead. Haddar was the one to get across the try line on the next possession and hit a clutch conversion kick to send Wheeling into halftime up 14-5.
As the team came out for the second half, it was Rio Grande that had the momentum with two tries on two possessions, but missed conversion kicks on both made it a 15-14 game. The Cardinals had one more possession and needed to get either a conversion kick or a try to win the game. They would get the try they needed courtesy of Juma and the Haddar conversion kick would give Wheeling a 3-0 record heading into championship play.
Haddar added another try to his day, bringing his total to five while Aaron Juma added his first two tries of the 7's season. Haddar served as the main kicker for the Cardinals in the game, making all three kicks to improve his percentage to 5-6 on the day. With pool play over, the Cardinals moved on to the Championship bracket where they met Nazareth College in their semifinal match.
Game 4: Wheeling 29, Nazareth 14
The Cardinals began Championship play once again playing from behind as Nazareth got across the try line on their first possession and made the kick to take a 7-0 lead. Haddar got the scoring started for the Cardinals, as he scored his sixth try of the day but a missed conversion kick made it a 7-5 game. Nazareth added one more try before the half let out and the teams went into the locker room with the Cardinals trailing 14-5.
Wheeling needed a big second half and would get that from Haddar, who pushed across his second try of the game, bringing his total to seven, and made the conversion kick to make it a 14-12 game. Wheeling's defense would not allow another try the rest of the game and the offense took advantage. Aaron Juma added his third and fourth try of the day while Navin Couch rounded out the offense with his first try of the day. The Cardinals went 2-4 on second half conversion kicks and went on to win the game 29-14 to advance to the championship round.
Haddar would now have eight tries on the day and was 6-8 in conversion kicks on the day. Aaron Juma moved to second on the team with his third and fourth tries of the day while Couch scored his first try of the 7's season. Boutzanfout once again got to kicking for the Cardinals, bringing his average to 3-4 while Lawula Bata moved to 2-3 on the day. The Cardinals would then head into the Championship game against Notre Dame College
Game 5: Wheeling 43, Notre Dame College 0
The championship game featured two rivals from the 15's season as Wheeling took on Notre Dame College for the PITT 7's Championship. The Cardinals would score on nearly every try and Chief Chipfumbu got the day started with his first try of the day and Bata added the conversion kick to put Wheeling up 7-0. Rua Karimazondo scored his second try of the day on the second possession and another Bata kick put Wheeling up 14-0. Haddar would round out the half with his ninth try of the day and the Cardinals went into the half leading 19-0.
Haddar got into double digits with his first try of the second half and Aaron Juma added his sixth try of the day. However, two missed conversion kicks from Haddar made it a 29-0 Wheeling lead. The final tries would come from Bata, who converted the conversion kick, and Zach Ekey, who scored his first try, and one more Bata conversion kick would bring the final score to 43-0.
Haddar would finish the day with 10 tries for the Cardinals and added a 6-10 (60%) showing on conversion kicks. Juma would finish with six tries on the day while Bata finished thrid on the team with four tries on the day. Bata would also have a strong kicking performance, going 5-7 on the day while Boutzanfout finished at 3-4.
The Wheeling University Rugby team returns to 7's action on Saturday, March 11th, when they head to the Marlyand 7's. Before that, they will have their first Red Black Scrimmage on Friday, March 3rd, at Bishop Schmitt Field.
