Cincinnati, OH. - The Wheeling University Rugby team (23-6) continued their preparations for the 2023 CRC 7's National Championship over the weekend at the Wolfhound 7's in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team claimed their fourth 7's tournament championship of the season with another perfect 4-0 day on the pitch. The team scored a combined 101 points across the four games and, during their 7's season, have a combined record of 17-1 through 18 games played in the spring. 

Game One: Wheeling 36, IUP 0 

As the Cardinals entered tournament play, they would go through their first tournament without leaders Chief Chipfumbu and Aaron Juma. The Cardinals wouldn't miss a beat as Mohamed Haddar took control from the opening possession, continuing his strong 7's campaign. He pushed across the first two tries of the game on the first two possessions, but a pair of misses in the kicking game would put Wheeling ahead 10-0. On the final possession before the half, Mike Muleya would get the ball in his hands and added one extra try before the half let out. Achraf Boutzanfout would miss the ensuing conversion kick and the Cardinals headed into halftime with a 15-0 lead. 

The second half had a much similar start to the first half, with Haddar once again pushing across the first try of the half. He would convert on his first conversion kick of the day and the Cardinals extended their lead to 22-0. After dealing with injuries early in 7's season. Joe Iye returned to the lineup and would push across his first try of the spring and a Boutzanfout kick would make it 29-0 Wheeling. Muleya would have his best game of the spring so far, pushing across his second try of the day to round out the scoring and a Boutzanfout kick would bring the game to its final of 36-0. 

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Mohamed Haddar, who scored three tries on the day and went 1-3 in the kicking game. Michael Muleya added two tries of his own and Joseph Iye rounded out the scorers with a try. Achraf Boutzanfout was the other kicker for the Cardinals, going 2-3 on three tries. 

Game Two: Wheeling 22, Iowa Central 0 

In the second game of the day, the Cardinals met with newfound rival Iowa Central Community College for the first time in 7's play. Once again, the Cardinal's defense was strong, holding the Tartans off the board as they let their offense go to work. Michael Muleya continued his strong tournament run, scoring the first try of the day before a missed Boutzanfout kick made it a 5-0 Cardinals lead. After Wheeling failed to score on the second possession, Haddar would get the ball back on the third possession and pushed it across the try line. He also converted his first conversion kick of the day, and the Cardinals went into the locker room ahead 12-0. 

In the second half, Larry Old would be the one to get the scoring started, pushing across his first try of the tournament. Haddar missed on the conversion kick and the score would sit at 17-0 with Iowa Central still in the game. The Cardinals defense would secure the victory with a pair of big stops to complete the second shutout of the day. Tino Ajay would round out the scoring with his first try of the day, but another missed conversion kick brought the game to its final score of 22-0. 

Four different Cardinals scored tries in game two with Mohamed Haddar (4), Mike Muleya (3), Larry Old, and Tino Ajay all getting in on the action. Haddar made one of his two conversion kicks to bring his total to 2-5 on the day while Boutfanzout missed two kicks to move to 2-5 himself. 

Game Three: Wheeling 10, Thomas More 5 

It was another rematch of Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) opponents in game three as Wheeling looked for revenge from the fall when they met Thomas More. This was the lowest scoring affair of the day as both defenses played big roles on the pitch. The only score of the first half came as time was winding down for the Cardinals on their final possession of the first half. Josh Blankenship powered his way across the try line to get Wheeling on the board just seconds before halftime. A missed conversion kick sent the Cardinals into the locker room with a 5-0 lead as they looked to generate more offense. 

However, coming out of halftime, it was the Saints who got on the board as they scored their first try of the afternoon and missed the conversion kick to tie the game at 5-5. After back-to-back stops by both teams Wheeling was looking for one more advantage on their final possession of the day. They would move the ball down the field and another Cardinal would score their first try of the day. Navin Couch would be the beneficiary, scoring near the end of the second half to make it a 10-5 game. A missed kick from Boutzanfout ended the day and the Cardinals squeezed by with a 10-5 victory. 

Josh Blankenship and Navin Couch led the scoring efforts, with each scoring their first tries of the day to lead the offense. The Cardinals did not convert a conversion kick on the day as Haddar and Boutfanzout each moved to 2-6 in the kicking game. With one more game on the day, the Cardinals were looking to secure the most points in the tournament to earn the championship. 

Game Four: Wheeling 33, Rio Grande 5 

After a down game in the third game of the day, the offense came back with a vengeance in the final game, getting over the 30-point mark for the second time on the day. Joe Iye would get the scoring started on the first possession of the game and a Haddar conversion kick had Wheeling out in front 7-0. On the second possession, it was Tino Ajay who made the run across the try line and Boutfanzout who made the kick as the Cardinals extended their lead to 14-0. Rio Grande would push across one try before the half let out and Wheeling took a 14-5 lead into halftime. 

The second half began with Mohamed Haddar's first try since the second game of the day, but he would miss the conversion kick to move the Wheeling led to 19-5. Jose Oltra would get in on the action for the next possession, scoring his first try of the game and Boutzanfout made the kick to make it a 26-5 Wheeling lead. The final try of the night went back to Iye as the Cardinals scored on all three second half possessions. Boutfanzout ended things with another conversion kick and the Cardinals would go on to win the game 33-5, finishing with 101 combined points to earn the championship. 

Joe Iye led the way in the final game, scoring two tries and bringing his tournament total to three across the four games. Haddar would add his fifth try of the day to lead the way for the Cardinals while Tino Ajay brought his tournament total to two. Jose Oltra rounded things out with his lone score of the tournament to help the Cardinals secure the victory. Haddar finished the day going 1-2 on conversion kicks and finished the tournament 3-7. Boutfanzout was the Cardinal's leading kicker, aking 3-3 in the final game and finishing the tournament 5-9 in conversion kicks. 

The Cardinals have one more 7's tournament left in the regular season before heading to the CRC 7's at the end of April. They will head to the BRRC 7's, hosted by Adrian College, in two weeks as their final tune-up before the National Championship event.