Wheeling, W. Va. - The postseason stretch is officially on as the Wheeling University Athletic Department's fall sports teams make their pushes for their respective conference and national tournaments. On Tuesday, the department announced their weekly High Flyer of the Week awards, and it was a pair of big game performances that would bring home this week's honor. Wheeling University Football player Landon Lutz earned the Male High Flyer of the Week award, while Wheeling Women's Rugby player Alexis Dallas took home Female High Flyer of the Week honors.
The previous week of action kicked off with the first Volleyball edition of "The Battle for Wheeling" as the Cardinals traveled to the Hilltop. Wheeling would be swept 3-0 and looked to bounce back with two home matches later in the week. Wednesday would see the first home soccer doubleheader of the season, as the Women fell to West Virginia Wesleyan 3-0 and the men fell by the same score to round out the night. That same day, the Wheeling Men's and Women's Swimming teams traveled to Washington & Jefferson College for their second tri-meet of the season. Both teams would come out with a sweep, with the men beating W&J 125-91 and Bethany 143-6 while the women earned a 129.5-76.5 win over W&J and a 139-11 win over Bethany.
As the weekend began, the Wheeling Women's Rugby team was home for a special Friday night lights battle with Navy. The Cardinals fell behind early, but battled back to earn a 37-14 win to start the home schedule. Wheeling Volleyball would play at home in the nightcap, and were swept by West Virginia Wesleyan 3-0. Volleyball was back on their home court on Saturday as they hosted Davis & Elkins, and bounced back with a 3-0 win over the Senators. Wheeling Football would hit the road to play West Virginia State, where they picked up a come from behind 24-20 win to move to 3-1 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. The weekend wrapped up with both soccer teams playing on the road, with Women's Soccer falling in a 1-0 battle with Glenville State, while the Men's Soccer team fell to Point Park 2-1.
Landon Lutz earns his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award, and second of his career, as he led Wheeling Football to their 24-20 come from behind win against West Virginia State. The redshirt junior would combine for 245 all-purpose yards on the day, and played a role in all three Cardinal touchdowns in the effort. He would complete over 50% of his passes on the day, going 20-36 while throwing for 196 yards and a touchdown, while adding eight carries for 49 yards and a touchdown. He would throw the game-winning score when he set up at 2nd and 8 from the Yellow Jacket 37-yard line and connected with Solo Love for the touchdown. He and Ade Olanegan have been splitting reps at quarterback throughout the year for the Cardinals and it was Lutz who shown through in Saturday's win.
Alexis Dallas is also earning her first High Flyer of the Week award this season, and the first of her career. She led the Cardinals on a big second half comeback against Navy, scoring both of her tries in the final 40-minutes of play in the effort. She would score the first try of the new half, picking the ball off the scrum and scampering towards the middle of the goal posts for the score. Her second try would come after a Navy response, as she helped the Cardinals gain some key insurance as they pushed their advantage to 34-14. With the effort, Dallas now leads the Cardinals with eight tries this season, and is well on her way to matching her mark of 17 tries a season ago. After being held off the board in the first three matches of the year, Dallas has come back with multiple tries in three straight games as she makes her presence known on offense down the stretch.
With the honors, Landon Lutz becomes the third football player to win High Flyer of the Week honors this season, while Dallas is the second women's rugby player to be honored. Lutz joins teammates Leonard Sherrod and Steven Mitchell in being honored, while Dallas joins Bella Gullatta in having earned Women's Rugby honors. Last week, the Cardinals recognized Wheeling Men's Golfer Zak Collins and Wheeling Women's Soccer player Deetya Satyal.
The next Wheeling University athletic event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 21st, when Wheeling Volleyball takes on Ursuline with first serve at 6 PM.
