Wheeling, W. Va. – Over their first two tournaments of the 7's season, the Wheeling University Women's Rugby team has taken second each time out. On Saturday, the Cardinals wrap up the regular season when they travel to John Carroll University for the 7's in the Swamp tournament. The Cardinals are looking for their first 7's tournament win of the season as they look to solidify their spot in the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) National 7's for the second straight season.
The last time the Cardinals took the field was three weeks ago when they competed at the Cavalier 7's, hosted by Walsh University. Wheeling would see a plethora of teams from around National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) with several of the programs vying for spots in the CRC National 7's. The Cardinal defense was strong throughout the day, allowing just 17 points in pool play. The offense would do their part as well, scoring a combined 105 points. The teams secured wins of 22-7 over Northern Iowa, 33-10 over Aquinas, and 50-0 over Michigan State. They would go 3-0 in pool play, and added a 33-7 win over Michigan in the semifinals to advance to the championship match. They would meet Davenport in the final battle, but couldn't get on the scoreboard as they fell 29-0, finishing second in the tournament.
It was a break-out effort for freshman Emerson Callegari, who led the Cardinals with 40 points in the contest. After missing three conversion kicks in the opening game, Callegari would kick it into high gear in the second game of the day, accounting for 12 points in Wheeling's 22-7 victory. After being shutout in the first game of the tournament, Callegari would end up scoring double digits in each of the remaining four games on the day. Her biggest effort would come in the semifinal game, where she accounted for 18 of her team's 33 points in a 33-7 win over Michigan. The effort was her biggest of the season, and came after. Strong start to the season at the Valley 7's. Callegari looks to continue her strong performance in the final regular season tournament and lead her team to the CRC National 7's for the second straight season.
The Cardinal defense was also strong throughout the day, lead by the efforts of Alexis Dallas. Dallas, who led the Cardinals in tackles during the fall season, was right back at it at Walsh. She led a Cardinal defense that allowed just 10.6 points per game at the tournament, and held their opponents to 10 points in or fewer in four of the five games. She would also make her mark on the offense in the opening game, scoring her lone try of the effort in the opener against Northern Iowa. The other Cardinal to help lead the effort in the kicking game was Payton Olivas, who finished 7-9 on conversion kicks. After the Cardinals missed each of their first three kicks of the day, it was Olivas who got them on track, making her only kick in game one. As pool play continued, she would end up finishing 3-4 in game two and added a perfect 3-3 effort in the final game of pool play.
Entering their final tournament of 7's regular season play, the Cardinals are looking for their first tournament win of the 2026 season. They have juys two losses across nine games played, but both of those loses have come in tournament championship matches. At the Cavalier 7's, the team would finish with top marks among the NCR teams in the field, but fell to Davenport in the championship. It was a similar fate in the It was a similar fate in the Valley 7's, where they won each of the three games in their pool play, before falling in the championship match. Defense has continued to be the Hallmark to the Cardinal's success, with the team allowing an average of 10.77 points per game, and not allowing an opponent to score more than 10 points before a championship match. That defense looks to continue its success as they get ready for postseason action.
The Details
The 7's in the Swamp tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 11th, with first matches beginning at 10 AM. We will release the entire weekend schedule and give a complete tournament recap when action has concluded.
