Wheeling, W. Va. - With the 15's National Champion being crowned this past weekend, National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) announced its finalists for the Division I National Player of the Year award. For the first time in program history, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team has an honoree on the list, after they advanced to the Quarterfinal round of the NCR DI National Playoffs. Junior Flanker Alex Nyamunda was announced as one of five nominees for the award after finishing a historic season for the Wheeling Men's Rugby team.
Nyamunda played in each of the team's 10 games during the season, and was the Cardinal's leading try scorer with 16 on the season. He would set a new career-high during the season, while also setting his career high with 80 points to finish second on the team. He would start his season out with a bang, scoring four tries against IUP in the opener, and finished the year with multi-try efforts in five of the team's 10 games played. He would make history in just the third week of the season, setting the career 15's try record at 23 and continued to build on that number throughout the year. By season's end, the junior set the new high water mark at 31, making him the only Cardinal in the program's varsity history to go over the 30 career try mark. As the season went on, he would continue rewriting those history books, scoring three tries in the NCR Quarterfinal to help him set the 15's single-season try record fo 16, breaking the previous record that stood for the last 13 seasons.
Along with his leadership on the pitch, Nyamunda has consistently been one of the top performers in the classroom for the Cardinals. In 2024, he was named to the NCR's Scholastic All-American list and, following the 2024 15's season, he was named an NCR All-American for the first time in his career. He has scored double-digit tries in back-to-back 15's seasons for the Cardinals. Last season, as a member of the Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC), Nyamunda would win All-Conference honors during both 15's and 7's season, being one of three honorees in the spring and one of five honorees in the fall. During the 2024-2025 season, Nyamunda combined to score 30 tries accounting for 152 team points throughout the 15's and 7's season. He is already on pace to break that number after a strong 15's season, and looks to continue to be a leader for the program as they look for a 7's repeat.
In total, five players from across NCR DI Men's Rugby were nominated for the NCR DI Player of the Year. Nyamunda is one of three players from the Atlantic Rugby Conference (ARC) to be nominated, joining players from Brown and Queens University of Charlotte. The winner of the NCR DI Player of the Year Award will be announced at the annual Collegiate Rugby All Stars National Shield Challenge Weekend, running January 17th – 18th at Silverbacks Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team is making their 2026 All-Star preparations as they continue to prepare for the 2026 7's season.
