South Bend, IN. - The Wheeling University Rugby 7's team (13-1-1) had one goal for the Fighting Irish 7's tournament. That was to come away with something physical to bring back to Wheeling, they did just that. 8 different Cardinals saw the try zone, led by Panashe Mugorogodi with 6 tries. They outscored opponents 157-36 and beat current #3 ranked Walsh to win the championship.
Pool play game 1: Wheeling 24 Iowa 0
Wheeling shutout Iowa for their 4th shutout of the season. Offensively it was three guys who scored the points. Alex Nyamunda was the first Wheeling scorer of the day, scoring both of the first two tries. Taku Musingwini scored the third, and Mason Ziegler scored the fourth and final try of the game. Musingwini made two conversion kicks as well.
Pool play game 2: Wheeling 29 Rio Grande 14
After a try and two conversion kicks in the first game, Taku Musingwini kicked off the game two scoring with a try. Wheeling's top try scorer of the day got his first try next before the season leader in tries, Shadreck Mandaza, scored his first of the day and made the conversion kick. Mandaza would score another try and make the conversion kick again and Taku Musingwini would do the same with an Alex Nyamunda try in between
Pool play game 3: Wheeling 52 Indiana 0
Coming into the weekend Wheeling's largest margin of victory was 51 against Kutztown II but right behind that was a 41-0 victory over Indiana. Wheeling decided that 41 wasn't enough the first time and rained down 52 points to finish pool play with an exclamation point. Five Cardinals scored tries on the Hoosiers and three Cardinals made conversion kicks. Panashe Mugorogodi scored three tries in the game and Mychal Andrews was right behind him with two. Chris Mathebula, Lawula Bata, and Mason Ziegler all scored a try as well. Taku Musingwini made three conversion kicks while Ntsika Mduba and Lawula Bata made a conversion kick each.
Semifinal: Wheeling 19 Marian 10
Last year Wheeling's only loss came in the semifinal of the Fighting Irish 7's, this year they were able to win and move on. Despite the win, this was Wheeling's closest margin of victory this season. Marian was coming into this game with a 3-0 pool play record just like Wheeling. Mychal Andrews, Shadreck Mandaza, and Panashe Mugorogodi all scored tries in this game with a made conversion kick from Taku Musingwini.
Championship Game: Wheeling 33 Walsh 12
Walsh was coming into the tournament with a #6 ranking and had beaten Wheeling 26-24 in 15's season. Walsh had scored at least 21 in each game so far in the tournament but Wheeling held them to nearly half of that number in this dominant championship win. Wheeling flexed their muscles offensively as well scoring 33 with tries from four different players and they converted four of those five kicks. Taku Musingiwini scored two of the tries and made two conversion kicks. Shadreck Mandaza made the other two conversion kicks and scored a try. Alex Nyamunda and Panashe Mugorogodi scored the final two tries of the day.
Scoring Recap
Panashe Mugorogodi led the Cardinals on the day with six tries. Taku Musingwini was next with five tries, then Alex Nyamunda with four. Shadreck Mandaza and Mychal Andrews each scored three tries. Mason Ziegler scored two and Chris Mathebula and Lawula Bata scored one. Taku Musingwini had the most conversion kicks made with nine. Shadreck Mandaza followed with four and Ntsika Mduba and Lawula Bata each made 1.
The Cardinals do not have any more regular season games scheduled for this 7's season at the moment. The NCR CRC 7's national tournament will take place on April 23rd-26th in Boyds Maryland. Wheeling will certainly be a top seeded team there and will look to claim a third national title in a row.
