Wheeling, W. Va. – The National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Men's National All Star Challenge kicked off this weekend with the best rugby players in the national competing in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to the event, NCR announced it's Player of the Year, and the award went to Wheeling University Men's Rugby Player Alex Nyamunda. Nyamunda is the first Cardinal to ever be recognized with the honor, after leading the Cardinals to the NCR DI 15's National Quarterfinals.
"I am so proud of Alex, he's proven countless times that he is deserving of this award," said Wheeling Head Men's Rugby Coach Maxwell Hamilton. "As a program it's an honor to have him play for us and to be a part of his journey to winning NCR's First-ever DI Player of the Year!"
It was a historic year for Nyamunda, who led the Cardinals offensive effort throughout the season. He would finish with a team-best 16 tries during the season, totaling 80 points. He would get his season started strong with four tries in the season opener against IUP and continued that success throughout the season. He would score multiple tries in six of the teams 10 games this season, including in one of the team's two National playoff games. It would come in the Quarterfinal round as he got the Cardinals on the board early against Queens University of Charlotte. He would score three tries in the game, falling just one try short of his season high from the opener, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals fell out of the NCR D1 15's playoffs. While leading the way on the field, Nyamunda was also able to write his name forever in the Wheeling Rugby history books.
After scoring the three tries in the NCR Quarterfinals, Nyamunda would break the single-season trues record, bringing his total to 16. It was a record that stood for the past 13 seasons, being set by former Cardinal Dante Walters during the 2012 season. It was the junior's second straight double digit try season, after he scored 11 a season ago, and led to his second record setting effort of the season. He would set the career 15's try record on September 13th in the team's 36-17 win over Kutztown. He would end up scoring two tries in the game, bringing his career total to 23, breaking the record that was held by former Cardinal Pete Malcolm. As the season went on, he continued building on that number, and became the first Cardinal to eclipse the 30 career try mark. He finished the season with 31 career tries and, with one more season still under his belt, Nyamunda is looking to continue adding to that number and further climb the Wheeling record books.
Along with being named the NCR's Player of the Year, Nyamunda also earned All-Atlantic Rugby Conference (ARC) honors for his efforts. It was the second All-Conference award of his career, after winning All Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) a season ago. He would take home the NCR's All-American award in 2025 and was named to the NCR's Scholastic All-American team in 2024. He is the third Wheeling University Student-Athlete this season to take home a Player of the Year Award, joining Volleyball's Camryn Matus (Freshman of the Year) and Football's Dylan Newman (Defensive Freshman of the Year) in winning honors.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team continues their preparations for the 7's season in February.
