Wheeling Sweeps Pitt Dome 7s
Wheeling Sweeps Pitt Dome 7s
Wheeling University ran the table at the Pitt Dome 7s over the weekend.
Played at the University of Pittsburgh's inflatable-covered turf field, the tournament is a chance for teams in cold-weather climes to get some rugby in.
Wheeling 31-0 over Pitt
Tries from Lawula Bata, Mohammad Haddar, and Rua Karimazondo, with conversions from Chief Chipfumbu and Bata set Wheeling up for a 19-0 lead at halftime.
Bata scored his second and so would Haddar, with Aschcraf Boutzanfout converting one.
Wheeling 33-7 over Michigan
Jacob Deglow went over before Michigan answered. Just before halftime Josh Blankenship bashed over. Boutzanfout converted both and Wheeling led 14-7 at the break.
Haddar opened the second half with a try, and added another after Bata scored, making it 33-7 at the close.
Wheeling 21-15 over Rio Grande
Wheeling's depth in kickers helped them here. Haddar was the man with the boot and converted all three Wheeling tries (Red Strom, Haddar, and Juma).
That was the difference as Rio Grande also scored three tries but converted none. It was a weird tournament for Rio Grande as they were this close to Wheeling, and yet went 0-4 on the weekend.
With the 3-0 record in pool play Wheeling faced off with Nazareth in the semis.
Wheeling 29-14 over Nazareth
Nazareth took an early lead and at halftime were in front 14-5.
But a huge second half from the Cardinals, with Haddar's second try of the game, two from Juma, and one from Couch to pull away 29-14.
Final: Wheeling 43-0 over Notre Dame College
NDC had held off a tenacious Michigan side 21-12 in the other semifinal. In the final, Wheeling peaked nicely. Chipfumbu, Karimazondo, and Haddar all touched down for a 19-0 halftime lead.
Haddar's 10th try of the tournament set the tone for the second half and after that Juma, Bata, and Zach Ekey would close it out.
"It was a good tournament to start off the spring," said Wheeling Head Coach Mike Geibel. "We were working through some lineup options and getting some guys work in different combinations, so it was good to get pretty solid competition against some teams that we may see later on in the qualifiers."
Geibel said he expected Notre Dame College to be a tough out later one—they had some players unavailable this week—and he had praise for other opposition.
"Nazareth is a team we've been trying to play for a while, one of my players knows several of their guys, so that was a good time," he said. "Pitt really manages the tournament well considering the limitations put on them by the school for using the dome. Credit to George Roscoe from Pitt and the rest of the club. For us overall it was just a good starting tourney close to home where we can try some things to be ready for the March gauntlet."
Michigan's games are seen below: