Wheeling Wildcats
| Wheeling Wildcats | |
|---|---|
| Established 2008 Folded 2009 Played in Wheeling, West Virginia at the WesBanco Arena | |
 | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
Continental Indoor Football League (2009)
| |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Orange, purple, white |
| Cheerleaders | Kittens |
| Personnel | |
| President | Dave Bender |
| Head coach | Shawn Liotta (2009) |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
The Wheeling Wildcats were a professional
indoor football team located in Wheeling, West Virginia. The team began play in the Continental Indoor Football League during the 2009 season as an expansion team. The Wildcats were the second indoor football team to be based in Wheeling. The team filled the void left by the demise of the Ohio Valley Greyhounds, who played their final down of football in 2007. The owner of the Wildcats was Dave Bender. The Wildcats played their home games at WesBanco Arena
in Wheeling.
Franchise history
In March 2008, it was announced that indoor football would be returning to Wheeling, West Virginia.NFL and Arena Football League player, Robb Butler to play receiver.[6] With both Rutherford and Butler player together for Liotta in Erie the year before, the team's offense had high expectations.[7][8] The Wildcats, as well as the rest of the CIFL, had an opportunity to get a higher caliber player in 2009, as the Arena Football League suspending its 2010 season. The reason that many of the AFL players did not make it onto the Wildcats roster was largely that the players wanted more money than the CIFL would allow.[9]
The Wildcats inaugural season began with a 55−47 road loss to the
AIFA teams in Erie, Pennsylvania, and won the 2005 AIFA MVP),[14] the Wildcats went 2-10 and folded after one season. Liotta, Rutherford and Dinkins returned to Erie in 2010.[15]
Schedule
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Game site | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final score | Team record | |||||||
| 1 | Bye | |||||||
| 2 | March 13 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | at Marion Mayhem | L 47-55 | 0-1 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum
| ||
| 3 | Bye | |||||||
| 4 | March 28 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | Fort Wayne Freedom | L 34-49 | 0-2 | WesBanco Arena | ||
| 5 | April 4 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | Chicago Slaughter | L 59-67 | 0-3 | WesBanco Arena | ||
| 6 | April 11 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | at Milwaukee Bonecrushers | L 32-34 | 0-4 | U.S. Cellular Arena
| ||
| 7 | April 19 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | Miami Valley Silverbacks | W 52-28 | 1-4 | WesBanco Arena | ||
| 8 | April 25 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | Marion Mayhem | L 57-61 | 1-5 | WesBanco Arena | ||
| 9 | May 2 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | at Chicago Slaughter | L 38-61 | 1-6 | Sears Centre
| ||
| 10 | May 9 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | Miami Valley Silverbacks | W 33-13 | 2-6 | WesBanco Arena | ||
| 11 | May 16 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | at Marion Mayhem | L 24-54 | 2-7 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum
| ||
| 12 | May 23 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | Rock River Raptors | L 34-46 | 2-8 | WesBanco Arena | ||
| 13 | May 29 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | at Fort Wayne Freedom | L 42-82 | 2-9 | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | ||
| 14 | June 6 | 7:30 P.M. EDT | Wisconsin Wolfpack | L 46-49 | 2-10 | WesBanco Arena | ||
2009 CIFL Standings
| Team | Overall | Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||
| East Division | |||||||||||
| Marion Mayhem-y | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | |||
| Fort Wayne Freedom-x | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 5 | 2 | 0 | .294 | |||
| Wheeling Wildcats | 2 | 10 | 0 | .167 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | |||
| Miami Valley Silverbacks | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .000 | |||
| West Division | |||||||||||
| Chicago Slaughter-y | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | |||
| Wisconsin Wolfpack-x | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | |||
| Rock River Raptors | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .167 | |||
| Milwaukee Bonecrushers | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .167 | |||
Logos and uniforms
After deciding against using the Greyhounds name, and when "Ironmen" nickname (a nod to the city's former Continental Football League team) was unavailable,[1] a naming contest was announced. Out of 175 entries, the name Wildcats was chosen.[2]
Notable players
Roster
| Wheeling Wildcats roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Kickers
|
Injured reserve
Exempt List
Practice squad
rookies in italics | |||
Head coaches
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Shawn Liotta | 2009 | 2 | 10 | 0 | .167 | 0 | 0 | |
Season-by-season results
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League
|
Conference
|
Division | Regular season
|
Postseason results
| |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2009 | 2009 | CIFL | East | 3rd | 2 | 10 | 0 | ||||
| Totals | 2 | 10 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2009) | |||||||
| 0 | 0 | - | All-time postseason record (2009) | ||||||||
| 2 | 10 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2009) | ||||||||
Sources
- ^ a b c Mike Hughes (March 15, 2008). "Indoor Football Returning to Wheeling". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ a b c Mike Hughes (May 11, 2008). "New Team to be Called Wildcats". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ Mike Hughes (August 6, 2008). "The Big Cat". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ "Liotta resigns as 'Rats' coach". www.goerie.com. Go Erie. August 6, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ "Wheeling Wildcats Sign QB Rod Rutherford for 2009 Season". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. December 12, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ "Wheeling Wildcats Sign Former NFL DB/WR Robb Butler for 2009". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. December 21, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ Mike Hughes (December 23, 2008). "Wildcats Add Butler to Roster". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ Mike Hughes (January 10, 2009). "Wildcats Add To Roster". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
- ^ Mike Hughes (December 24, 2008). "AFL Won't Be Part Of Wildcats". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ Tracy Watson (March 29, 2009). "Freedom score win in season's 1st road game". Journal Gazette. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
- ^ "Wildcats Fall to Chicago". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register. April 5, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
- ^ Jay Taft (May 23, 2009). "N:\Juno - Product Realization - Metals\0-RFQ\INVUITY". Rockford Register Star. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ Stacy Clardie (May 30, 2009). "Defense steals show in Freedom's blowout of Wheeling". Journal Gazette. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "Wheeling Wildcats Sign David Dinkins for 2009 Season". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. January 3, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ "Erie Storm Announces Return Of QB Rutherford". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. January 28, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2012.