Wheeling, W. Va. - During the fall season, the Wheeling University Rugby team made a run to the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 15's National Championship. As they head into the spring season, they once again have their eyes on a National Championship shot in 7's season. They kick off the spring season on Saturday, March 9th, when they head to the Terrapin 7's, beginning at 11:20 AM as they run through three pool games ahead of the knockout rounds.
During the spring 2023 season, the Wheeling University Rugby team had a strong showing, winning the Division I portion of all five tournaments that they played in. They finished the regular season 14-2 overall, with their only losses coming to Division II opponent East Carolina University and Division I opponent The University of Kentucky. They would end up being named the Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) regular season champions. For the fourth season in a row, the Cardinals would make their way to the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) 7's as the #1 seed out of the East Division and the #2 overall seed in the tournament. They would pick up shutout wins in each of their first two matchups, but ended up falling 7-5 to the eventual champions Mt. Saint Mary's to end their run.
As the Cardinals enter the 2024 season, the team brings back several of the core pieces that helped them along the national tournament run a season ago. Leading the way will be sophomore Aaron Juma, who was the Cardinal's leading scorer during last season's playoffs. Across the three postseason games, the sophomore scored four tries as he earned an NCR DI All-Tournament Team honor. Juma added to his 7's experience over the summer, playing with the Zimbabwe National team along with teammate Chief Chipfumbu. He looks to bring his experience from the group into 2024 as the team fights for their first ever National Championship.
Along with Juma, the team welcomes back several other prominent offensive players from the 15's season, including Rua Karimazondo and Alex Nyamunda. Both players played big roles during the Cardinal's run in the fall and stepped up when their team needed them most in the postseason. Karimazondo entered the postseason with no tries and added four during the run and assisted on the game winning try during the BRRC Championship game. In his first collegiate 15's season, Nyamunda also had a big showing, scoring six total tries with four of those being in postseason play. Karimazondo would earn NCR DI All-American honors for the first time in his career and both look to be contributors in the fall.
Just like in previous seasons, the Cardinals will be competing in five tournaments throughout the spring season, leading up to the CRC 7's at the end of April. They kick things off with back-to-back DI tournaments at the University of Maryland and Notre Dame before heading south for the Tropical 7's. When they return, they will take on one more regular season tournament before heading to Marian, Indiana for the 2024 BRRC 7's series championships Aprl 13th.
The Matchups
St. Mary's College of Maryland: The Cardinals and Falcons will be meeting for the first time in program history in the first game of the Terrapin 7's. It will be the first time that both teams have stepped on the pitch this spring as they are both looking to get out to a strong start. For the Cardinals, they hope to open the all-time series with a win to start their spring season.
The University of Delaware: The Cardinals and Ducks are meeting for the second time in program history, with the Cardinals leading the all-time series at 2-0. However, this will be the first meeting between the two teams since November 5th, 2016, and the first ever meeting in 7's play. Each of their two previous meetings came in 15's play, with the Cardinals winning the two meetings by scores of 65-12 and 29-20.
Clemson: The Cardinals and Tigers are meeting for the fourth time in program history, with Clemson leading the all-time series at 3-0. All three previous meetings have come in 7's play, with the Cardinals averaging 19 points per game in the all-time series. Their most recent matchup came back on March 26th, 2016, when the Cardinals fell 35-31. The Cardinals made a late push in that game, but were unable to overcome the Tigers.
The Details
The Cardinals begin their run in the Terrapin 7's at the University of Maryland on Saturday, March 9th, with their first game against St. Mary's College of Maryland with kick-off at 11:20 AM.
