Wheeling, W. Va. – The last few seasons have been filled with trials and tribulations for everyone, and that has been no different here at Wheeling University. The coaches, student-athletes, and administration have fought through many challenges surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic to allow our teams to compete day in and day out in a safe manner. Despite all the trials, there have been several highlight moments throughout the 2021 season as Wheeling continues to push forward and uphold the university’s mission of Life, Leadership, and Service with and among others. All 19 varsity sports were in action this past season, which was full of championships, milestones, and memorable moments galore.
However, the year didn’t start out with as much glitz and glamour as we have seen as of late, with the MEC and its member institutions trying to find a way for its student athletes to compete safely. After many meetings and new rules in place, it was determined that all 19 sports would undergo their seasons in the spring and, while many would be shortened schedules, it would be a chance for the student-athletes to compete and represent their university on the field and court.
The spring season officially kicked off on January 7th, 2021, with a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader against Alderson Broaddus. That gameday would kick off one of the busiest springs in athletics history, with every team competing in their seasons. Some programs were set to start a rebuild, but others were hitting the ground running and competing for the MEC playoffs. In total, four different teams made MEC playoff runs with Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Volleyball, and Baseball all making their respective tournaments. Meanwhile, the Track and Field Program was one of the top programs in the country and were once again on the road to an MEC Championship, an award they had won for each of the three previous years on the women’s side.
It was the two teams that started play in 2021 that would kick-off the MEC playoff runs. Men’s Basketball finished the year 6-12 overall and 5-11 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play and got in as the #5 seed in the North Division. They started their run by knocking off #4 seeded Alderson Broaddus 97-91 and making their way to the Quarterfinals at WesBanco Arena. Unfortunately, their run would end there as they fell to the #1 seed from the South, The University of Charleston. The Women’s Basketball team earned the #2 seed in the south Division and began their tournament run with a 77-72 win over Concord to advance to the semifinal round. Unfortunately, they also met up with the University of Charleston, and would fall 71-55, bringing their season to an end.
During the basketball season, former Cardinal Lilly Ritz became the 28th Cardinal in program history to score 1,000 points. She accomplished the feat on Senior Night against West Liberty and accounted for the first milestone moment of the 2021 calendar year. With athletics now in full swing, it was time for the next MEC playoffs run as the Wheeling Volleyball team was headed towards the MEC tournament. They finished the regular season 11-2 and 8-2 in conference play and earned the #2 seed in the tournament field.
It wouldn’t be an easy tournament run for the Cardinals as they had to go through rival West Liberty and the host team West Virginia State before making the championship game. They handled their business, taking down the Hilltoppers and Yellow Jackets by the same 3-1 score, and earned a date with the team that beat their 219-game conference winning streak during the regular season in Fairmont State. Wheeling would get the revenge they were looking for, earning a 3-0 win, and claiming the eighth consecutive MEC Title for the program.
While many teams were dealing with delayed seasons, the Wheeling Baseball team was looking to get back to normal after their 2020 season was paused after just 13 games. The Cardinals would return with a 41-game schedule in 2021 and put together the best season in program history. After being picked third in the MEC preseason poll, the Cardinals went on to break the single season wins record, going 27-14, and won the MEC North Division, going 22-9 in conference play. They earned their first trip to the MEC playoffs since joining the conference back in 2014. Unfortunately, they fell in their opening game 15-1 to Concord, and followed that with a 6-3 loss to West Virginia State to end their season.
As the calendar turned to May, the Wheeling University Track and Field team had their eyes on finishing the crazy spring season on a high note in the MEC Championships. The women would secure the second MEC Championship of 2021, as they won their third title in a row, while former Cardinal Liz Flemming and Head Coach Patrick Stanton were each recognized as field athlete of the year and coach of the year, respectively. The men also had a strong showing, and after entering day three in fifth place they rallied back to finish as runners-up at the event.
With the spring season at an end, and athletics coming back to normal, the Cardinals were well prepared for what the future was going to bring. In total, they had 48 All-MEC Honorees, 12 first team, 13 second team, and 22 Honorable Mentions, three MEC Championships, and seven individual MEC Champions in Track and Field. However, the winds of change were blowing as Wheeling was ready to invite some fresh faces into the Cardinal family to help propel athletics towards the future.
The Cardinals began the summer by welcoming former Duquesne Assistant Matt Schmidt as the new Head Women’s Basketball coach on July 8th, 2021. Carrie Hanna, who had spent the previous 19 years with the athletics department in different capacities, was named the new Athletics Director just a few weeks later. To round out the group of summer hires was new Head Women’s Soccer Coach Theo Egbele and Sports Information Director Zack Zeigler. With a new team in place, Wheeling ran into the Fall 2021 season looking to get back to a sense of normalcy on the field.
All nine of Wheeling’s fall sports were able to compete in their normal seasons, with the year beginning on September 2nd with football, women’s soccer, and volleyball all in action. The regular season was full of milestone moments, including women’s soccer’s first-ever win against Notre Dame, men’s soccer’s six-goal performance in their opener, and football’s first-ever shutout against West Virginia Wesleyan in mid-October. However, the first team to take the national stage was the Wheeling Women’s Golf team at the 2021 MEC Championships.
After competing in four events leading up to the championship tournament, the Cardinals entered with confidence on their side. All year, they had been battling with the University of Charleston, but were coming up just short. This time, they got the upper hand building a three-stroke lead in the field with a 337 score on day one. As the tournament went on, Wheeling just kept adding to their success, building a six-stroke lead on day two and getting as much as a 16-stroke lead before all was said and done. Junior Emily Holzopfel won the event, and Wheeling earned the third MEC Championship title in program history.
During the fall season, one team that took the biggest step forward was the football team, who in their third season of competition set the new program record with five wins finishing 5-6 over their 11-game schedule. The success was highly fueled by the MEC’s rushing leader Sy Alli IV, who became the first 1,000-yard rusher in program history. One of the most memorable moments of the season came on Homecoming when Wheeling took on their rival West Liberty University and picked up a 26-20 overtime victory courtesy of Alli.
As the fall wrapped up, Wheeling Volleyball was once again right in the thick of the MEC playoff race, and entered the tournament as the #2 seed, going 29-6 and 15-1 in MEC play. They once again made it to the MEC Championship game, and once again had to face the team that beat them during the regular season in West Virginia State. It was a battle throughout the night, but the Cardinals secured their ninth consecutive MEC Championship with a 3-1 win over the Yellow Jackets. They then prepared to host the 2021 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Volleyball tournament and entered that tournament as the #1 seed. They made it to the championship game but ended up falling to Gannon University 3-0, ending what was another successful season.
With the fall sports wrapped up, the winter season was already in full swing with wrestling, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and indoor track all in action. The Wrestling program was in its first full season since 2019 and had strong starts from both Julius Hobbs and Brennon Reid, who picked up nine and eight wins respectively in their first five events of the season. Track and Field ran one event at the start of December and offered the first milestone moment of the winter when Jabez Reeves broke the school record in the 60-Meter Dash, running the event in 6.86 seconds.
Each basketball team provided milestone moments of their own during the first half of their season, with the women’s basketball team registering the first big moment. With just mere seconds left on the clock against West Virginia Wesleyan, Freshman Shamia Strayhorn hit a shot from nearly half court to give the Cardinals a 52-51 win over the Bobcats. The final milestone moment of 2021 came in the final men’s game of 2021. Senior Jordan Reid entered the game against Ohio Dominican needing just eight points to score 1,000 for his career and he put up 13 to become the 47th 1,000-point scorer in program history.
For Wheeling, 2021 was a big year full of growth and programs setting themselves up for success for years to come. There is no telling what is in store for 2022, but Wheeling is looking for continued success both on and off the field.
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