Wheeling, W. Va. - Crossover season is right around the corner for the Wheeling University Athletic Department, with the fall sports heading into their final run while the winter sports are just beginning. On Tuesday, the department announced their weekly High Flyer of the Week honors and a sport from each season was honored. Wheeling University Wrestler Gavin Harper earned the Male High Flyer of the Week award, while Wheeling University Volleyball player Megan Platt took home the Female High Flyer of the Week honors.
The past week of action began on Tuesday as Wheeling Volleyball welcomed in Fairmont State to kick-off the final slate of Mountain East Conference (MEC) North action. The Cardinals would battle across four sets, but fell 3-1 to start the week as they looked to bounce back. Wednesday would see doubleheader Soccer action, with both Men's and Women's Soccer traveling to Frostburg State and falling by the final score of 2-0. Halloween night would see a pair of Cardinal match-ups, with Wheeling Men's Rugby starting things on the road. They would take on Belmont Abbey in their final Allegheny Rugby Conference (ARC) regular season match-up, and fell 45-3. Wheeling Volleyball would earn a bounce back win on their home floor, taking down Charleston 3-0 in the nightcap, putting themselves as the front runner to host the MEC Volleyball Championships.
The weekend schedule began with the kick-off of Wheeling Wrestling's 2025-2026 season as they headed to the Mount Union Invitational. Wheeling would end up with three wrestlers placing in the top four of their weight class, while the team took 7th out of 14 teams with 117.5 points. The weekend wrapped up at home with three straight senior day celebrations, beginning with Wheeling Football's Saturday match-up with Concord. The Cardinals came out on top 26-21, bouncing back from a loss to ranked Frostburg State a week ago. Sunday would see another soccer doubleheader, with both teams honoring their class of 2026 seniors. The Men's Soccer team would fall to Salem 3-2, while the women's soccer team fell to Point Park 1-0 to round out the week's action.
Gavin Harper would take home the first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of his season after a strong debut at the Mount Union Invitational. The redshirt junior would finish 4-0 on the day, earning pins in each of his four matches on the day. He would pin each of his opponents in four minutes or less, with his fastest pin coming in the Quarterfinal round, where he pinned John Carroll's Christian Bernazar in 1:43. As he moved to the championship match, he would take on Muskingum's Scotty Edwards and battled for nearly four minutes before earning the pin in 3:55. Harper showed why he was ranked #13 in the nation as a heavyweight in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and looks to continue building on that success throughout the season.
Megan Platt is also earning her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award this season, leading the Cardinal's back line defensive effort. Platt has played some of her best defensive volleyball of the season over her last four matches, and continued that trend this past week. She finished with 42 digs across the two matches, while holding a 1.000 hitting percentage, knocking down a kill on her only attack, while adding three assists. Platt's biggest effort came in the four-set effort against Fairmont State, where she finished with 21 digs while adding her only kill of the week and three assists. Since stepping into the libero role once again back on October 24th, Platt has picked up 74 digs and is averaging 4.93 digs/set during that time.
Gavin Harper is the first Wheeling Wrestler to win High Flyer of the Week honors this season, while Megan Platt is the second Wheeling Volleyball player to earn honors. Platt joins teammate Mara McDougal in earning honors, while Harper set the early season tone for the Wheeling Wrestling team. Last week, the Cardinals honored Wheeling Football's Jefferson Bretanys-Desca and Wheeling Women's Rugby's Bella Gullatta with the honors.
The next Wheeling University athletic event is scheduled for Tuesday, November 4th, when the Wheeling Volleyball team takes on Frostburg State with first serve at 7 PM.
