Adrian, MI. – With the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) 7’s on the horizon, the Wheeling University Rugby team (27-7) headed into their final regular season 7’s tournament on Saturday at the Adrian 7’s. The Cardinals would go 4-1 across their five games played in the tournament and walked away with their fifth 7’s tournament championship of the spring. It’s the first time in program history that the team has swept all of their 7’s tournaments and a big day from junior Joe Iye led the team to victory on the day.
Game One: Wheeling 22, Iowa Central 0
The Cardinals kicked off the Adrian 7’s with an opponent they have grown very familiar with over the last two seasons in Iowa Central Community College. Joe Iye got his big day started right from the get-go registering his first try of the game one minute in on the first possession. Achraf Boutzanfout would attempt the conversion kick but missed to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. After stopping the Tartans on their first possession, it was Iye once again who had the ball coming up the pitch. He dodged several defenders and would cross the try line in the fourth minute to make it a 10-0 game. Iye would miss the ensuing conversion kick and the team went into halftime with the 10-0 lead intact.
Iye was right back at it in the second half, crossing the try line for the third time in the game on the first possession to extend Wheeling’s lead to 15-0. The Cardinal’s defense was strong throughout the game, getting another stop and giving the ball right back to the offense. Mohamed Haddar, who has been the Cardinals offensive leader this season, got the next score by taking the ball across the try line to make it a 20-0 game. Iye would finish out the game by converting the first conversion kick of the day and Wheeling went on to win by the final score of 22-0.
Joe Iye got the day started off strong, leading the way with three tries on the day while Haddar added one to complete the scoring. Iye also led the team in the kicking game, making one of his three kicks on the day while Achraf Boutzanfout went 0-2 in the kicking game.
Game Two: Kentucky 19, Wheeling 14
After having a lot of offensive success throughout the 7’s season, the Cardinals hit their first big wall when they battled the University of Kentucky in their second game of the day. They were shut out on their first two possessions of the game and Kentucky would convert their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. The Cardinals would get on the board in the sixth minute of the game when Achraf Boutzanfout scored his first try of the spring and made the conversion kick to make it a 14-7 game. The Cardinals would sneak one more score in before halftime as Joe Iye scored his fourth try of the day and a Boutzanfout kick sent the teams into the locker room tied at 14-14.
In the second half, the potent Cardinals offense hit their first big wall as they were held off the board for the game’s final seven minutes. Meanwhile, the Wildcats got on the board on their first possession but missed the conversion kick to take a 19-14 lead. The Cardinals would have one more possession late in the game, but were unable to convert, taking their second loss of the spring season falling 19-14.
Joe Iye would score his fourth try of the game while Achraf Boutzanfout added his first try of the spring to round out the scoring. Boutfanzout added a 2-2 mark in the kicking game as well, bringing his total to 2-4 across the first two games.
Game Three: Wheeling 33, Thomas More 19
With Pool play wrapped up, the Cardinals were looking to bounce back in their first bracket game against Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) opponent Thomas More. Wheeling was back on the board right away in this one, scoring in the first minute as Mohamed Haddar pushed the ball across the try line. Achraf Boutzanfout made the conversion kick and Wheeling had a 7-0 lead. Thomas More would score the next two tries of the day and led 12-7 before the Cardinals got the ball back. They would push the ball across right before halftime as Krishna Kwenda scored his first try of the day and a Boutzanfout kick made it a 14-12 Cardinal lead heading into the half.
Wheeling was at it again coming out of halftime as Haddar scored his second try of the day in the eighth minute, followed by an Iye conversion kick to make it a 21-12 affair. On the next possession, Iye was able to once again find the try line for his sixth of the day and Boutzanfout missed the conversion kick to make it 27-12. Another Thomas More try and conversion kick made it 28-19 and Josh Blankenship would push the final try of the match and a made kick by Boutzanfout brought the game to its final score of 33-19.
Joe Iye kept it rolling with his fifth try of the day while Mohamed Haddar added two tries of his own to bring his total to three for the day. Krishna Kwenda and Josh Blankenship each pushed their first tries of the night across to complete the scoring. Boutzanfout continued to kick the ball well, going 3-4 on conversion kicks to bring his total to 5-8 on the day while Joe Iye made his second kick of the day to move to 2-4 on the day.
Game Four: Wheeling 22, Notre Dame College 21
The semifinal match pitted two 7’s rivals together as Wheeling and Notre Dame College met for the fifth consecutive tournament. It was the Falcons who scored early, putting up the first 14 points of the game before Wheeling got on the board. It was Mohamed Haddar who would break through in the fifth minute with the first try of the day, but a missed conversion kick made it 14-5. Joe Iye would put across his fifth try of the day just before halftime and another missed conversion kick sent the teams into halftime with Notre Dame College leading 14-10.
The Cardinals would get the lead back right after halftime as Haddar pushed across a try and made the conversion kick to make it a 17-14 game. However, Notre Dame College would answer back and retook the lead at 21-17 with a try and a conversion kick before lightning sent the game into a delay. The teams would wait nearly an hour to resume and with three minutes left to play both teams were looking for an answer. It would be Wheeling that came up with the answer as Achraf Boutzanfout pushed across a try in the final seconds of the game and Wheeling picked up a big 22-21 win to advance to the finals.
Mohamed Haddar led the way in the game, scoring two tries and bringing his total to five tries for the day. Joe Iye added his team leading sixth try of the day while Achraf Boutzanfout added try number two to win the game. Haddar made the lone kick of the day, bringing his total to 1-1 on the day while Boutzanfout dropped to 5-10 and Iye fell to 2-5 on the day.
Game Five: Wheeling 10, Adrian 7
In the cup final match, the Cardinals were once again forced to play from behind as they couldn’t get anything going in the first half. Adrian would push across the only try over the first seven minutes and made the conversion kick to take a 7-0 lead into halftime. Wheeling was looking to draw up a play for success and got it as they came out guns a blazing in the second half.
Mohamed Haddar would cap off his day with his sixth try of the day but missed the conversion kick as the Cardinals found themselves trailing 7-5. On their next possession, it would be none other than Joe Iye who came through for his team once again. He scored his seventh try of the day and a missed conversion kick gave Wheeling their first lead of the day at 10-7. The defense needed to come up with one more big stop and did just that as they sealed the 10-7 win to take the tournament.
Joe Iye finished with a team high seven tries on the day and Mohamed Haddar finished with six tries on the day. Achraf Boutzanfout led the kicking game, finishing 5-11 on the day and Iye added a 2-6 effort to round out the day.
The Wheeling University Rugby team now prepares for the 2023 CRC 7’s, running April 28th through 30th. They will find out what seed they will be in the tournament during their selection show on Saturday, April 22nd, at 7 PM.
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