Wheeling, W. Va. – On Tuesday, the Wheeling University Athletic Department officially kicked off the 2025-2026 season with the first ever Fall Sports Media Day. Men's & Women's Golf, Men's & Women's Cross Country, Women's Rugby, Men's Rugby, Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Volleyball, and Football were all represented inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The coaches gave previews of their 2025 Fall seasons as they prepare to take the field in one month.
The day began with an opening prayer from Director of Campus Ministry Father David Griffin before the Head Coaches took their turns at the podium. Up first was the Men's & Women's Golf team, led by Head Coach Thadd Obecny. Obecny was not able to be there in person due to competing in the 2025 West Virginia Open Championship but relayed a message of creating a winning culture. He gets set to lead a young program on both the men's and women's sides, with over half the roster being in either their freshman or sophomore seasons. Leading the way for the women will be Ella Keffer, who earned 2nd Team All-MEC honors a season ago. On the men's side, a pair of transfer graduate students, Sean Dobson and Zak Collins, stepping into a leadership role for the young team.
Obecny is ready to hit the ground running with his new team and has his sights set on getting to the top of the MEC.
"I am beyond excited to get things started with the men's and women's teams at Wheeling," said Obecny. "I am here to win Championships, and that is what you can expect to see in the future of these programs. Our goal will be to win MEC Championship in the fall, and then we will be looking towards Championship Season in the spring"
Up next was the first of two new Head Coaches taking the podium for the first time. Greg Schmitt was announced as the new Head Men's & Women's Cross Country coach on Monday and was officially introduced as part of the Fall Media Day festivities. He comes to Wheeling with over 19 years of coaching experience and looks to lead a rebuilding Men's & women's Cross Country program. In total, the team has seven new runners taking the course as they continue to build the team culture. Leading the way for the men will be Graduate Student runner Hunter Tomich, who was the Cardinal's top returning runner from 2024. Tomich took the highest finish at the 2024 MEC Cross Country Championships last season, finishing 40th, and looks to chase down an All-MEC honor this season. For the women, Gabby Baiano is the lone returning athlete from 2024, after leading the way on the cross Country course, finishing in the top 50.
Schmitt had several thank you to pass out, and is ready to rebuild the Cross Country programs to their former winning ways.
"I'm looking forward to continuing the success that both programs have had in past seasons and I'm looking forward to working hard and continuing that success this upcoming season," said Schmitt. "We have a very young and talented team, and I can't wait to meet everyone this coming August."
As the event moved on, it was time to take the pitch as Wheeling Women's Rugby took the podium. The team burst onto the scene in their inaugural season, going 12-0 and capturing the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) DI National Title. It was a team led by defense, that held opponents to just 8.4 points per game, and the offense responded as well averaging just over 56 points per game. New for 2025, the team has announced the start of a JV side as well as the normal varsity team, with an incoming class of around 60 student-athletes. The JV side will be suiting up in NCR Division II, while the Varsity side will continue their run in the NCR Division I circuit. With only one player from last year's class graduating, the Cardinals are looking to once again get to the top of the NCR stage.
The competition level continues to increase for the Cardinals as they look to compete for another National Championship in 2025.
"We are looking to become just the third team in NCR history to win back-to-back championships," said Wheeling University Head Men's Rugby Coach Ken Pape. "This year, we also have increased the difficulty of our schedule this year and we look forward to playing against these tougher teams. With teams like Penn State, Ohio State, and newly added Navy we are really excited to play these teams."
On the men's side, the Cardinals are also coming off a strong 15's season, where they had their top finish in program history. The Cardinals advanced to the NCR DI Semifinal round against Queens University of Charlotte. It was the fourth consecutive season that the Cardinals made the NCR DI 15's National playoffs as they chase down the elusive National Championship sweep, after winning the CRC National 7's title in the spring for the second season in a row. The Cardinals enter the 2025 season as a veteran team, with many of their mainstays from the spring championship returning. Shadreck Mandaza was the Cardinal's points leader in the fall, scoring 89 points, while Alex Nyamunda earned NCR All-American honors after scoring a team-high 11 tries during the year.
"Coach Mike Geibel truly built something special here, and I am honored to continue that and keep pushing our program forward," said Hamilton. "We are welcoming new talent from all over the world, with this being one of our most diverse and promising groups yet. Our goal for this year's team was set by our returners, to raise our performance and set a new standard of Wheeling Men's Rugby moving forward."
The Wheeling Soccer teams were up next, starting with Head Women's Soccer Coach Ryan Wall in his first full season. The 2024 Cardinals found their way back to the MEC Women's Soccer Tournament for the second time in the last three seasons. The Cardinals finished the 2024 season 5-13-1 overall and were led by a veteran group of players that got them back to the postseason. As they enter 2025, the Cardinals will take on a new look, with 20 players in either their sophomore or freshman seasons. Leading the way for the Cardinals will be sophomore midfielder Lily Hanna, who earned Second Team All-MEC honors a season ago, and was a member of the MEC's All-Freshman team. The Cardinals will look to continue their growth into the 2025 season as they look to not only make it back to the MEC Tournament, but to compete for an MEC title.
After coming on midway through last season, Head Coach Ryan Wall has set out to change the culture and feel they are taking the right steps towards doing that in 2025.
"Since coming on board, I think the most important thing we had to do was kind of reset expectations to make sure everybody in the program understands that we are here to win and not just to compete," said Wall. "I think one of the most important things that we want to do is to make sure that this program is back to where it used to be, which is competing for the MEC title and the conference title."
On the Men's Side, the Cardinals have been building a young core of talented players over the last two years and are looking to put that talent on display on the field. They have had players picked to the MEC All-Freshman team in each of the last three seasons, with two of those three players returning to the 2025 squad. Jon-Michael Gordon, who missed the entire 2024 season due to injury, returns to the Cardinals attacking squad after scoring four goals and two assists in 15 games. He will be joined by 2024 MEC All-Freshman team honoree Jordan Taylor as the Cardinal offense looks to score more this season. Joergen Bjerkreim will head the defense after earning Honorable Mention All-MEC honors a season ago for a defense that allowed two goals or fewer in nine of their 15 games.
After building that young corps of players over the last few seasons, Head Men's Soccer Coach Brandon Regan and his team are ready to get back to the MEC Tournament in 2025.
"We have a very good corps of guys returning. We have 27 guys returning from last year, but we also have a very young group," said Regan. "We are looking forward to being back in contention within the conference again. We had a young group last year and I think we can be very competitive this year. We want to be within the top four competing for a conference championship."
After a history of excellence on the court, the Wheeling University Volleyball team will take on a brand-new look during the 2025 season. With 10 players having graduated this past season, Head Coach Christy Benner has 10 new freshmen coming in this season looking to take their place. The Cardinals made it back to the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championship match in 2024 and, despite the young group, the expectations remain the same for this season. Returning to lead the offense will be a pair of attackers in middle hitter Katie Wilking and outside hitter Olivia Batch, after both players earned All-MEC honors a season ago. On the defensive side, senior libero Melia Gorrell leads the backline, after finishing last season with 108 digs and a .897 reception percentage.
With a new class of athletes coming in during the 2025 season, Head Coach Christy Benner is leaning on the tradition of excellence her and her coaching staff has built over the past 24 seasons. She is excited to see these new student-athletes take on that same tradition and continue the program's excellence moving forward."
"Fall is such an exciting time of year that brings in new student-athletes and another chance to build on the tradition of excellence that defines Wheeling Volleyball," said Benner. "Our program has a strong winning culture that has been built over time with tradition, high standards, and core values that we reinforce every day. We emphasize commitment, pride, and unity and above all the importance of being a great teammate. There is truly nothing like competing in front of the crowd at the Alma Grace McDonough Center and we can't wait to see this new group take on the court."
The final team to the podium was the Wheeling Football team, coming off their third straight season of .500 or better. The 2024 season saw the team go 6-5 overall and 5-4 in MEC play, tying for fifth in the conference with West Virginia State. The Cardinals have a strong mix of both veterans and newcomers coming in to make their mark on this year's team. Some of the key players set to make their return from 2024 are quarterback Landon Lutz, who threw for 1,338 yards and 19 touchdowns, and the 1-2 running back duo of Dawaun Green and Steven Mitchell. On the defensive side, the Cardinals have a veteran unit up front, that includes a strong returning group of defensive linemen as well as a veteran defensive secondary.
With veterans in some spots and newcomers in others, head Coach Zac Bruney is looking forward to the season and making sure that his athletes continue their successes both on and off the field.
"I'm proud of our guys for the work that they put in," said Bruney. "Any student-athlete that can put the time in with their academics and balance their time between the rigorous classroom schedule, the social schedule, and a sports schedule takes a special kind of talent. We had a veteran group at some spots last year and we had young players at some spots last year so it's kind of a mixed bag of who we will have back this year. We are all aiming towards the same things, we all want to win, and we all want to win at the highest level. I think with our leadership there are some really positive things around our university."
The 2025-2026 Wheeling Athletics season kicks off on Thursday, August 28th, when the Wheeling University Football team heads to Clarion with kick-off at 6 PM.
