Wheeling, W. Va. – On Friday, National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) announced the top players in their sport, with the release of the annual All-American teams. After advancing to the NCR's national Quarterfinal round, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team was honored with two players on the list. Junior Alex Nyamunda and junior Taku Musingwini were each honored, along with 22 other players across the NCR's Division I teams.
Leading the way was the defending NCR Player of the Year Alex Nyamunda, who takes home All-American honors for the second time in his career. The junior has a historic season on the pitch, leading the Cardinals with 16 tries, while sitting second on the squad with 80 points. He would score multiple tries in seven of the team's nine games this season, and set the single season tries record with 16 during the season. It was a record that had stood for the past 13 seasons, dating back to Wheeling's first varsity season in 2012. Along with the single-season record, Nyamunda also put his name at the top of the all-time record books, moving his career total to 31 during 15's season. He is the first Cardinal to ever eclipse the 30 try mark in 15's play, and still has another year to add to that total. For his efforts, he was selected as part of the inaugural Atlantic Rugby Conference (ARC) All-Conference team during their first season. He was also selected to the NCR's Men's National Shield Challenge for the second time in his career.
The other All-American nominee was Taku Musingwini, who takes home his first All-American nominee as a Cardinal. Musingwini was the Cardinal's leading scorer during the season, putting up 90 points and leading the Cardinal's kicking game. He was efficient in the conversion kick game, hitting 27 of his 34 attempts for a 79.4% efficiency, and added a 12-14 mark (85.7%) in the penalty kick game. Two of those penalty kicks were from 50+ yards, including a game-tying kick in the final minutes of regulation against Queens University of Charlotte. Musingwini would also write his name in the Wheeling Rugby record books, shattering three of the four single season kicking records. He would break the single-season conversion kicks made (27), penalty kicks made (12), and penalty kicks attempted (14). He would also tie the single-game points record with 90 on his way to earning a spot on the ARC All-Conference team, as well as the NCR Men's Shield National Challenge.
With the announcement of Nyamunda and Musingwini as All-Americans, the Wheeling Athletic Department has now had five student-athletes earn All-American honors during the 2025-2026 season. It is the second straight season that the Cardinals have had multiple honorees, with Nyamunda and Rua Karimazondo being honored last year. The last Cardinal to earn the All-American honors was Wheeling Football player Leonard Sherrod III, who earned the Don Hansen NCAA DII All-American honor.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team returns to the field on Saturday, March 7th, when they compete at Queens University of Charlotte 7's.
