Boyds, MD. - The 2024 Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) National 7's Tournament kicked off on Friday as the Wheeling University Rugby team (28-3-1) opened tournament play. It was a big day for the Cardinals, who went 3-0 in their three matches, beating Fordham (36-0), Mount St. Mary's (31-12), and Indiana (29-5) as they move through the bracket. The three wins set them up for a chance to make history on Saturday as they move to the semifinals and look to bring home their first-ever National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) National Title in program history.
Game One: Wheeling 36, Fordham 0
The Cardinals offense has been a driving force for them throughout the spring 7's season and nothing changed as they headed to their first round matchup with Fordham. The Cardinals would kick the ball of to start and forced a turnover on the Ram's first possession. Alex Nyamunda would get the tournament started with his first try just minutes into the game and the conversion kick sailed through to make it a 7-0 Wheeling lead. On the very next possession, it was Simo Haddar using his speed to get around the edge and Wheeling was staked to a 12-0 lead. The final try of the day came from Shadreck Mandaza, who juked past a couple defenders to give the Cardinals a 17-0 lead at the halftime.
As they started the second half, the Cardinals would get their fourth try by a fourth different player as Aaron Juma took a pass from Michael Muleya and crossed the try line to make it a 24-0 game. Joe Iye would add his first try just minutes later and Mandaza would kick through the conversion to make it a 31-0 game. The final try of the day would come from Aaron Juma, as he took the pass from Lawula Bata and dove across the try line. When all was said and done, the Cardinals picked up their fifth straight shutout victory as they took down Fordham 36-0.
Leading the Cardinals in game one was Juma, who picked up the first multi-try effort of the day finishing with two tries and 10 points. The other four tries of the day would come from four different players as Shadreck Mandaza, Simo Haddar, Joe Iye, and Alex Nyamunda all got on the board throughout the day. The win moved them to the second round where they would take on Mount St. Mary's in a rematch of last year's Quarterfinal Round.
Game Two: Wheeling 31, Mount St. Mary's 12
As they headed into the second game of the day, things were personal for the Cardinals as they battled the team that knocked them out of National Title contention last season. After getting a stop on Mount St. Mary's first possession of the day, Aaron Juma kept his strong day going with the first try of the day to give Wheeling a 5-0 lead. Juma was right back at it on the next possession, using his legs to race 55 meters across the try line and he had the Cardinals out in front 10-0 after two possessions. The Cardinals would get one more try before the half was out as Shadrek Mandaza scored his first try of the game, making a man miss and a Joe Iye conversion kick made it 17-0 heading into the half.
That try would jump start Mandaza as on the first possession of the second half, he was right back at it. On a very similar play, Mandaza was able to make his men miss and used his speed to get across the try line and give Wheeling a 24-0 lead after another Iye conversion kick. However, Mount St. Mary's would inch closer, scoring back-to-back tries that cut the Cardinal lead to 24-12 with just over three minutes to play. The Cardinals needed a try to seal the deal, and got one as Joe Iye went long distance for his first try and Chief Chipfumbu kicked through the conversion kick. It would be enough to propel the Cardinals to the quarterfinals as they earned revenge with a 31-12 win.
In game two, the Cardinals would have two different players score multiple tries to lead the way. Aaron Juma pushed across two more tries, bringing his total to four tries through two matches in the tournament, equaling his total from last year. Shadreck Mandaza would have his first multi-try game of the tournament, adding two of his own and giving him three on the day. Joe Iye would score his second try of the day to round out the action and the Cardinals made it to the Quarterfinals for the second straight season.
Game Three: Wheeling 29, Indiana 5
The Cardinals defense would play a big role in their quarterfinal match as they picked up a stop to start the game and got the ball back about 20 meters out. Shadreck Mandaza picked up right where he left off in game two, making a pair of Indiana defenders miss to score the first try and give Wheeling a 5-0 lead. It was Mandaza who got in on the defensive effort on the next possession, forcing an Indiana fumble and then taking the ball coast-to-coast for the try as the Cardinals would go up 10-0 after two possessions. The Cardinals were looking for a big try before the half was over and they got one from Simo Haddar, who used his speed to get across the try line and the conversion kick made it 17-0 Wheeling heading into halftime.
As they came out for the second half, it was Indiana who picked up the first score of the new half and cut the Cardinal lead to 17-5. However, Wheeling was not about to bow down as Joe Iye got them started with a big stiff arm before finding Aaron Juma, who dove across the try line to make it a 22-5 game heading into the final minutes of play. It would be one more Wheeling try that ended up making the difference as Krishna Kwenda would go long distance. He got a pitch from Chief Chipfumbu and took it the rest of the way as the Cardinals took a 29-5 lead before eventually winning by that score.
Shadreck Mandaza would lead the way in the quarterfinals, scoring a pair of tries to lead the effort with 10 points. It gave the freshman five tries on the day as he had two multi-try efforts on the day to help advance the Cardinals to the semifinal round. Aaron Juma would add his fifth try of the day to tie for the team lead with five of his own, while Joe Iye rounded out the day with his third try.
The Wheeling University Rugby team now prepares for the semifinal round of the CRC National 7's on Saturday when they take on Babson College at 4:51 PM. You can watch all the action live on The Rugby Network by clicking HERE.
