Wheeling, W. Va. – After a playoff restructuring gave the Wheeling Men's Rugby team (3-1) a first round bye in the Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) playoffs. They begin their run in the semifinal round as they head to Chicago to battle their playoff rival Iowa Central Community College. The two teams have had some big postseason matchups over the last three seasons and will look for another strong matchup in this round.
The Cardinals have been out of action for the past three weeks, after Trine forfeited their final regular season match back on October 11th. Since then, the Cardinals have been trying to recoup and are looking to comeback healthy. Their last match came back on October 5th when they hit the road to face Thomas More. Early on, the Cardinal offense was clicking on all cylinders, scoring the first try of the night and the riding that to a 19-5 halftime lead. The Cardinal offense continued to score coming out of the second half, extending their lead to 26-8 before Thomas More began their battle back in the game. They would score the final 12 points of the game, and got to within six points of the Cardinals. In the end, Wheeling was able to hold on for the 26-20 win.
Leading the way for the Cardinals throughout the season has been sophomore Alex Nyamunda. Nyamunda earned a Scholastic All-American award last season, and is translating that into on-field success this season. He leads the Cardinals with five tries this season, scoring all five of those tries in conference play. His biggest effort would come against Rio Grande, when he scored three tries in a game to tie for the team lead. The effort was a new career-high for the sophomore and he sued thagInto the next match. He would score a pair of tries against Thomas More, bringing his season total to five. As he continues through the postseason, Nyamunda looks to continue to be a leader for the Cardinals as they chase down a championship.
In the kicking game, the Cardinals have relied on Shadreck Mandaza throughout the season. Mandaza has been perfect in both conversion kicks and penalty kicks during the season, going 12-12 on conversions and 3-3 on penalties. Mandaza was the star of the National Championship run during 7's season, winning the CRC 7's Tournament MVP. He looks to be a leader for the Cardinals once again in this year's postseason. With a lot of the same players from last year's team back this season, the Cardinals will have aor of experience heading into the tournament. Aaron Juma led the way last postseason, scoring five tries including the game-winner in the BRRC Championship against Principia. He looks to be a leader once again this season, as the Cardinals chase down another BRRC Championships.
With the tournament readjustment the Cardinals will only have to play two games to get to the BRRC Championships. As they head to Chicago for the semifinals, they will be playing on the same pitch where they hoisted the trophy a season ago. They will begin the run as the #1 seed in the East, the same position they held a season ago. The rest of the tournament will be played at Neutral Site matches so the Cardinals will look to continue their success on the road. Friday's match will also have a big stage, with the two teams being featured on NCR's Friday a Night Lights. It will be the final feature game of the Friday Night Lights series and will put Wheeling Rugby in front of a National Audience.
The Matchups
The Cardinals and Titrons are meeting for the fifth time in program history with the Cardinals leading the all-time series at 4-0. Of the four previous matches, two of those have been in 15's and one has been a postseason matchup. Wheeling has averaged 27.75 points per game in the all-time series and look to continue that success in the 2024 BRRC Tournament.
Their last 15's matchup came on October 15th, 2022 in a game that Wheeling would win 38-26. Aaron Juma would lead the Cardinal's scoring effort, putting up two tries in the contest and totaling 10 points. Former Cardinal Krishna Kwenda, Simo Haddar, and Chief Chipfumbu each scored tries in the game to wrap up the Cardinal offense.
The Details
Kick-off for Friday night's game is scheduled for 6 PM in Chicago, Illinois. You can watch the game live on the Rugby Network as part of their Friday Night Lights Series.
