Wheeling, W. Va. - The final full week of October wrapped up for the Wheeling Athletics Department as the race to the Mountain East Conference (MEC) playoffs is in full swing. The department announced their weekly High Flyer of the Week honors on Tuesday, and it was a pair of career-best efforts that earned this week's awards. Wheeling Football player Jefferson Bretanys-Desca was named the Male High Flyer of the Week, while Women's Rugby player Bella Gullatta earned the Female High Flyer of the Week award.
After an off day to start the week on Monday, the Wheeling Volleyball team would tip off the week at Ursuline, where they earned a 3-0 sweep in non-conference play. The first home event would come Wednesday, with Wheeling Men's and Women's Soccer playing in doubleheader action. The men kicked things off against Davis & Elkins, scoring first in what was a 2-1 loss, and the women followed with offense blazing in a 10-0 win over Salem. It was a big weekend of action, and it would be Volleyball once again starting things off with the first of a back-to-back weekend. They would take down Concord 3-1 on Friday and followed that with a 3-1 win on Saturday against Glenville State. Saturday would kick-off with the second MEC Championship event of the season, as Wheeling Cross Country headed to Oglebay Park. Both teams would finish 10th in their respective races as they rounded out their conference schedules.
The Wheeling Rugby teams were up next as both traveled to St. Bonaventure, with the women beating the Bonnies 136-3 and the men falling 50-25. The Wheeling Football team continued their home schedule against ranked Frostburg State and fell 31-13 to move to 3-2 in conference play. The final home event of the week saw the Wheeling Men's and Women's Swimming teams take their home pool for the first time in 2025-2026. Both teams would sweep Chatham and Bethany, with the men winning by scores of 164-31 and 168-4 and the women winning by scores of 137-49 and 137-7. The department held their second annual Trunk or Treat event on Sunday before Women's Rugby beat The University of Cincinnati 102-7. Rounding out the weekend was the Wheeling Women's Soccer team, who went on the road, falling to Fairmont State 4-0.
Bella Gullatta is taking home her second Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award honor this season after a record setting effort over the weekend. Between the two matches, the senior finished with 62 points, scoring four tries and finishing 22-23 on conversion kicks to round out the weekend. Her biggest game would come against St. Bonaventure, where she set the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) single-game scoring record with 56 points. Each of her four tries were scored against the Bonnies, with three of those coming in the second half. However, it was her work in the kicking game that stood above the rest, where she finished 19-20, making 95% of her kicks on the day. With the effort. Gullatta has now scored 148 points this season, getting across the try line six times and going 48-65 (73.8%) on conversions. The senior looks to continue leading the team as they fight to defend their National Title from their inaugural season.
Jefferson Bretanys-Desca is earning his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award, continuing his tear on the defensive side of the ball. He set a new career-high in the effort against Frostburg State, picking up 14.0 total tackles, four solo and 10 assisted, while adding 0.5 tackle for loss, 0.5 sack, a pass break-up, and an interception. He had the most tackles of any player across the conference this past week, and broke his old career high by adding one tackle to his ledger. He enters the team's week nine matchup against Concord leading the conference with 83 tackles this season, and is moving his way into the Cardinal record books. He needs seven more tackles to set the single-season tackle record, held by former Cardinal Jack Parry, and will look to continue racking up the tackles in the final two games.
Bretanys-Desca is the fifth Wheeling Football player to earn High Flyer of the Week honors, while Gullatta is earning her second award to bring Wheeling Women's Rugby's total to three. Bretanys-Desca joins teammates Landon Lutz, Leonard Sherrod III, Steven Mitchell, and Ade Olanegan in earning honors, while Gullatta joins teammate Alexis Dallas in having been honored this season. Last week, the Cardinals honored Wheeling Football player Landon Lutz and Wheeling Women's Rugby player Alexis Dallas.
The next Wheeling University athletic event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 28th, when the Wheeling Volleyball team battles Fairmont State with first serve at 7 PM.
