Atlanta, GA. - The 2025 7's season opened up over the weekend as the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team traveled to Atlanta, Georgia for the Peach Cup 7's. The Cardinals would take on some of the top teams in National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Division I Rugby, and won the day, going 5-0 to claim the Peach Cup 7's Championship. With the win, the Cardinals officially punched their ticket back to the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) National 7's, where they will have a chance to defend their National Championship title from a season ago.
Game One: Wheeling 43, Notre Dame 5
The Cardinals kicked off the day against a very familiar opponent when they battled Notre Dame, who they just beat in the Quarterfinals of the NCR 15's National Tournament. Building off a strong showing from the 2024 7's season, it was Shadreck Mandaza who would get the scoring started with the first try of the day. He came on to attempt his own conversion kick and knocked it through to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead early. The team spread the ball around, scoring six different tries by five different players, with Lawula Bata being next on the board. Bata would get in for his first try of the 7's season, and Mandaza added his second conversion of the day to push the advantage to 14-0. The half would end with Michael Muleya getting into the try zone, but a missed conversion from Ayoub Jalli sent the game into halftime with Wheeling leading 19-0.
AS the second half began, it was Mandaza who once again got the offense going, scoring his second try of the day. However, the conversion would fall off the mark and the Cardinal's extended their lead to 24-0. The final tries of the day would come courtesy of Panashe Mugorogodi and Alex Nyamunda each got across for their first tries of the 7's season. Mugorogodi would convert on his conversion kick, but the final kick was missed to end the game. It brought the match to its final score of 43-5 and moved the Cardinals to 1-0 in pool play. It was just the start of a big day for the Cardinal's offense, in what was its highest scoring game of the day.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Shadreck Mandaza, who finished with two tries while adding a 3-4 mark on conversion kicks to finish the day with 16 total points. Five other Cardinals would score tries on the day, with Lawula Bata, Michael Muleya, Panashe Mugorogodi, and Alex Nyamunda each getting into the try zone on the day. The final conversion kick would come from Mugorogodi, who finished with seven total points on the day.
Game Two: Wheeling 24, Tennessee 7
The second game of the day saw the Cardinals battle the Volunteers in what was the most defensive game of the day. Just like the first game, the Cardinals would be sparked by Shadreck Mandaza once again who got across the try line. He would miss the conversion kick and the Cardinals took a 5-0 lead. Tennessee would respond on their following possession, and a successful conversion would give the Volunteers their first lead of the day at 7-5. The Cardinals were down but not out, as they got a try before the half with Panashe Mugorogodi scoring in the final minutes of the half. Alex Nyamunda added the final conversion kick and the Cardinals would head into the halftime up 12-5.
Coming out of the break, the Cardinals would get Mugorogodi back in the try zone for the second time and a missed conversion kick would make it a 17-7 game. The Cardinal defense would be strong throughout the day, and held the Volunteers off the board for the final seven minutes of play. Wheeling would look to get some insurance to secure the win and would get that from Mandaza. He picked up his second multi-try game of the day and a successful conversion kick would bring the match to its final score of 24-7. The Cardinals trailed for the first time on the day, but were able to battle back to move their record to 2-0 on the day.
Panashe Mugorogodi and Shadreck Manadaza led the way, with each player scoring two tries and accounting for 22 of the team's 24 points. For Mandaza, it was his second straight multi-try game, while Mugorogodi brought his try total to three with the two-try effort. The other two points of the night came from Alex Nyamunda, who finished with two points on the day.
Game Three: Wheeling 28, Belmont Abbey 7
In the third game of the day, the Cardinals would take on Belmont Abbey and once again would strike right away. Coming off the momentum of a multi-try effort against Tennessee, Panashe Mugorogodi kept right on going, scoring the first try of the day, and Ayoub Jalli would add the conversion kick and the Cardinals took a 7-0 lead. Shadreck Mandaza was not too far behind, adding his first try of the day on the second possession. He would send through the conversion kick to push Wheeling's lead to 14-0, before the Knights got on the board to make it a 14-7 game. That would be the score heading into the halftime break as the Cardinal's defense would once again have a strong second half.
They held the Knights off the board over the next seven minutes and the offense did their job once again to close out the game. Coming out of the half, it was Ayoub Jalli who got on the baord for his first try, and followed that with his conversion to push the Wheeling lead to 21-7. The Cardinals would get on the board one more time in the game, when Alex Nyamunda went across the try line. Mandaza rounded out the day with the conversion kick and the Cardinals brought the game to its final score of 28-7. Belmont Abbey would make one more push in the final seconds of the game, but the Cardinal defense would make the stop and secured the third victory of the day to move to 3-0 in pool play.
The Cardinals had four different tries by four different players in the game with Panashe Mugorogodi, Shadreck Mandaza, Ayoub Jalli, and Alex Nyamunda each scoring tries on the day. Mandaza and Jalli would each tie for the team lead with nine points, while Mugorogodi and Nyamunda each finishing with five points in the game.
Game 4: Wheeling 43, Alabama 7
In their final Pool Play game of the day, the Cardinals would take on Alabama, looking to complete the perfect day. Shadreck Mandaza would get things going with a try and conversion kick, and the Cardinal took an early 7-0 lead. It would be a quick strike half for the Cardinals, with Panashe Mugorogodi scoring on the next Cardinal possession and push the Wheeling lead to 12-0. Up nest was Ayoub Jalli, who scored a try and conversion and the Cardinals would go on top 19-0 before the half. After shutting out defenses in the second half to start the day, the Cardinals would blank to Tide over the first 15 minutes of play. The Tide would start the second half with the first points of the night, and cut the Cardina;'s lead to 19-7.
It would be the half of Shadreck Mandaza over the final seven minutes, with the sophomore scoring three tries and converting one conversion kick over the final seven minutes. Ayoub Jalli and Simo Haddar would each have misses during the run and the Cardinal's lead exploded to 38-7 as the half came down to its final minutes. It was a new face to the team that would end the scoring as Kudakwashe Chitani would get on the board on the fianl possession. In his first-ever Rugby game for the Cardinals, Chitani got across the try line and Haddar converted on the conversion to bring the game to its final score of 43-7. The win advanced the Cardinals to the championship match, where they would look to win their first 7's tournament of the season.
Leading the way was Shadreck Mandaza, who had his highest scoring game of the day, totaling 24 of his team's 43 points on the day. He finished with four tries and one conversion on the day to round out the day and move his team to the championships. Panashe Mugorogodi, Kudakwashe Chitani, and Ayoub Jalli each finished with a try while Haddar added a conversion kick to round out the day.
Game 5: Wheeling 38, Indiana 7
The Cardinals would advance to the championship game against Indiana and once again had a high scoring affair. Shadreck Mandaza would score the first try of the day and Ayoub Jalli missed the conversion kick to make it a 5-0 game. Panashe Mugorogodi would score back-to-back tries over the next two possessions and Shadreck Mandaza would hit back-to-back conversion kicks as the Cardinals built their lead to 19-0. Indiana would add a try before the half, and the Cardinals would make one more push, but couldn't get into the try zone as the score sat at 19-7 heading into the half.
As they came out for the second game of the day, the Cardinals would get some of their subs into the game and they made their impact. Michael Muleya, who was one of the remaining starters in the game, and got the scoring started with his first try of the day to push the lead to 24-7. The final two tries of the day would come from Alex Nyamunda, who picked up his first multi-try game of the day in the effort. Simo Haddar would put through the final two conversion kicks and brought the game to its final score of 38-7. The Cardinals would win their sixth straight 7's tournament, dating back to a season ago.
The Cardinals were led by Panashe Mugorogodi, who would add a pair of tries to finish with 10 points on the day. Shadreck Mandaza was right behind him with nine points, finishing with a try and two conversion kicks that brought his total to nine points on the day. Alex Nyamunda finished with 10 points of his own while Simo Haddar added four points to round out the effort.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team returns to action on Saturday, March 22nd, when they host the Nail City 7's with the first game beginning at 11 AM.
