Wheeling, W. Va. - With selection Saturday in the rearview mirror, the Wheeling University Men's Rugby team (13-1-1) is ready for their second straight title defense heading into the 2026 Collegiate Rugby Championships (CRC) National 7's Tournament. For the second year in a row, the Cardinals enter as the #1 seed in the tournament field, and will battle #8 Indiana Tech in their opening match-up. The Cardinals are looking to become just the third team in the history of the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) to win three consecutive National titles, joining Lindenwood University and the University of California.
Under new Head Men's Rugby Coach Maxwell Hamilton, the Cardinals would start the 7's season at the Queens Cup, and tied their first match of the 7's season. They followed with a 3-1 effort to round out the day, and started 7's season with a record of 3-1-1. They would play in their first qualifier of the year at the Ruck the Rock Tournament, and they ran through the field going 3-0 in poll play. They would take down the University of Notre Dame 36-0 in the semifinals, and wrapped things up with a 24-14 finals win to claim their first tournament championship of the 7's season. The Fighting Irish 7's would round out the regular season, and for the second straight tournament, the Cardinals went undefeated. Their closest battle of the day came with Marian in the semifinals, where they picked up a 19-10 win, and the tournament rounded out with a 33-12 win over Walsh to give Wheeling a 13-1-1 record during the regular season.
The Cardinals are no stranger to being on the National stage, having won the CRC National 7's title in each of the last two seasons. The 2025 tournament run began with a battle against Babson College, where Wheeling walked away with a 35-0 win to start things off. They rounded out day one with a 31-10 win over the University of Mary Washington, before taking down Brown 19-10 to advance to the semifinal round of the tournament. There, they would meet Queens University of Charlotte, and Wheeling would earn a 38-12 win to advance to their second straight CRC National 7's Championship match. They would meet St. Bonaventure and, after sitting tied at 0-0 through the first half, Wheeling would walk away with the 19-5 win. It would be their second consecutive National Title as they continued the winning tradition of Wheeling Men's Rugby.
As they head into the 2026 tournament, the Cardinals are led by an offensive trio consisting of Panashe Mugorogodi, Alex Nyamunda, and Taku Musingwini. Nyamunda was the Cardinal's leading try scorer during the 15's season, and has continued that success into the 7's season, coming off a four-try effort at the Fighting Irish 7's. Leading the way for the Cardinals at Notre Dame was Panashe Mugorogodi, who finished with six tries and put up 40 points on the day. The Cardinals also have a wild card that they didn't have during the fall season with Shadreck Mandaza returning from injury. Mandaza, who broke his jaw in the fall, has come back strong during the spring season, scoring four tries at the Fighting Irish 7's.
The 2026 Men's Premiere Cup bracket will pit the Cardinals up against #8 seeded Indiana Tech for their first round match-up in the West. The winner will face either Utah State or Sienna in the round of 32 as the Cardinals will try to play their way through a challenging West bracket. The other first round match-ups include #3 Belmont Abbey against #6 Iona and #2 Southern Virginia against #7 Fairfield. The Cardinals have not played any of the other teams in the West during the regular season and will look to start the national title run strong. The other three #1 seeds include Indiana, St. Bonaventure, and Walsh, all looking to win their brackets and compete for that National title.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team begins their CRC National 7's run on Friday, April 24th, when they take on #8 seeded Indiana Tech.
