Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team hit the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) landscape with a bang in their inaugural season, taking home the National Championship. In year two, the title defense begins as the Cardinals look to make it back-to-back National Championships. Head Coach Ken Pape is strengthening their regular season schedule even more this season in hopes of preparing his team for another long and successful playoff run.
After five long months of recruiting and preparation, the Wheeling Women's Rugby program took the field for the first time on August 30th, 2024, and earned a 35-7 win over Ohio State. The Cardinals would never look back, winning each of their eight regular season contests while averaging 59.25 points per game. The effort would earn them a spot in the Allegheny Rugby Union (ARU) Championship, where they took down St. Bonaventure 55-10 for the first conference title in program history. They entered the NCR DI 15's Playoffs as the #1 seed, and earned wins over the University of Virginia (31-27) and Northeastern (35-19) to advance to the National Championship match. Offense had led the way for the Cardinals all year, and would be the catalyst once again as the team earned a 58-17 win to claim the National title.
After taking a trip down to New Jersey for a special preseason training, the Cardinals open up their title defense run on the road at Penn State on August 30th. It is the first of back-to-back road games for Wheeling to start the season, as they head to Davenport the following week. However, over their final eight games, the Cardinals will be home seven times as they look to defend their home turf. The home opener will be played against Ohio State on September 13th, in a rematch of the Cardinal's inaugural game as a program. As the month goes on, the Cardinals will welcome in Mount St. Mary on September 20th and Pitt on September 27th as they round out a month of strong competition.
October begins with a special night game feature for the Cardinals on Homecoming & Family weekend. Wheeling will take on Aquinas College at 7:30 PM to wrap up an eventful day on Saturday that will include the annual Hall of Fame banquet and Homecoming Football game. Their final road game of the season comes on October 11th when they head to St. Bonaventure, before heading home to take on Navy on October 18th. Wheeling's regional rivalry match happens on October 25th against Walsh before the regular season wraps up against West Chester on November 1st.
For a complete look at the 2025 Wheeling Women's Rugby schedule, click HERE. The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team kicks off the 2025 schedule on Saturday, August 30th, when they hit the road to face Penn State.
