Wheeling, W.Va. - This past Spring, the Wheeling University Men's Ruby team secured a third consecutive Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) National 7's Title. Now the men look to flip the script in the 2026 15's season and earn that coveted first 15's National Title in program history.
 
Second-year Head Coach, Maxwell Hamilton, looks to continue the success that he has had since joining the program as a Graduate Assistant during the 2024-25 season. In his first season as head coach, Hamilton led his group to a combined 23-5-2 record and National Tournament appearances in both 15's and 7's seasons. After winning the 7's season for the third time, he has his sights set on not one but two titles in 2026-2027 season.
 
In the fall, the Cardinals embarked on their inaugural season in the Atlantic Rugby Conference (ARC) being one of six founding members of the conference. The fall began with a bang, as the Cardinals scored a season-high 69 points in their season-opener against IUP. It was part of a strong of three straight wins where the Cardinals scored 35 or more points in each game, including their ARC opener against Kutztown. However, the competition stiffened as the season went on, with the final Wheeling point in the standings of the regular season came in a National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Friday Night Lights tie with Queens University of Charlotte. They would end up earning a spot in the ARC fifth place match against Kutztown, and earned that fifth-place spot with a 40-23 win.
 
As they headed towards the national stage, the Cardinals qualified for the NCR 15's National Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. They would draw a match-up with Dartmouth in the Wild Card round, and fell behind early 28-7 before roaring back. They would score 31 of the final 36 points and went on to win 38-33 to advance to the Quarterfinal round. There, they would meet Queens University of Charlotte, looking to avenge their tie from earlier in the season. However, the Royals would prove too much to handle as Wheeling fell 45-28. The Cardinals would make it to the Quarterfinal round for the fourth consecutive season, and with several stars from last year's run coming back, Wheeling will look to take it farther to the National Title match.
 
Leading the way for the Cardinals will be senior Alex Nyamunda, who permanently etched his name in Cardinal history last season. He would set the single-season 15's try record, getting across the try line 16 times on the season. Due to his efforts, he would also become the program's leader in career 15's tries, entering the season with 31 career tries. He is averaging 10.3 tries per year over his first three years, and needs just 49 points to add some more history to his resume. With 155 career points in 15's season, Nyamunda will pass former Cardinal Ayoub Jalli for the 15's career points leader. During the season, Jalli came through in the Cardinal's biggest moments, crossing the try line three times in the postseason. He looks to continue to lead the Cardinals, leading a veteran team on the offensive side of the ball.
 
In the kicking game, Taku Musingwini would transfer in and lead the way with some history of his own. He would finish the year 27-34 (79.4%) on conversion kicks and 12-14 (85.4%) on penalty kicks. He would end up setting the single-season record for conversion kicks made, penalty kicks made, and penalty kicks attempted. Because of his efforts, he is also on his way to becoming the program's all-time leading kicker, sitting second all-time in both penalty kicks made and penalty kicks attempted, while sitting fourth all-time in conversion kicks made and conversion kicks attempted. The other top scoring threat for the Cardinals in 2026 was Panashe Mugorogodi, who went try for try with Nyamunda. He would finish with 15 tries on the year, with four of those coming in the NCR Quarterfinals. He accounted for 20 of the team's 31 points during the second half as they advanced to the Quarterfinal round.
 
2026 will be the Cardinal's second season in the ARC, and the Cardinals will get plenty of chances to defend their home turf. They play five of their eight regular season matches at home this season, starting with their opener against Thomas More on August 29. Three of those five home games come in the first month of the season, with Belmont Abbey (9/5) and Kutztown (9/26) each coming to Bishop Schmitt Field. The lone road contest during the run will see the Cardinals travel to Indiana on September 11. In October, the Cardinals will be home twice during the month, with a road trip to Walsh starting their run. They will host St. Bonaventure on October 16, before traveling to Queens on October 23. They wrap up the season with a senior day match against Rio Grande on October 31.
The Wheeling University Men's Rugby team opens the season on Saturday, August 29^th, when they host Thomas Moore at 6 PM.