Photo by Nick Henthorn The Wheeling Miners’ Grant Russell throws a pass during the Miners’ AAL2 league championship game last season.

WHEELING — Last year, the Wheeling Miners launched their franchise, won a league championship, and carved out a spot in the Ohio Valley’s sports landscape.

On the to-do list for the Miners this time around, with their season opener on the horizon?

Make a sequel that tops the original.

The Wheeling Miners’ second season kicks off on March 10 inside their homebase, WesBanco Arena, against the Colorado Spartans.

The Spartans are part of the Miners’ new league, the National Arena League, a change in scenery that certainly counts as one of the top angles of interest for Wheeling, who moved to the NAL after dominating the AAL2 last year.

After going undefeated — and rarely challenged — last year, the Miners are ready to kick things into a higher gear.

“The biggest thing is going to be the competition level from the teams, across the board,” Wheeling Miners head coach Josh Resignalo said.

“We have nine teams in the league, counting ourselves. Opening against Colorado, they’re in their second season in the NAL, they have an experienced coach.

“All the coaches in this league are experienced, a lot of the players are veterans coming back to their teams. The competition level is going to be the biggest difference.”

Wheeling, who made their final cuts on Friday to trim down to a 25-man roster, are returning much of their squad from last year’s go-round, with a mix of new additions as well. Of the 25, 10 are newcomers while 15 return from last season.

“Offensively and defensively, we upgraded some spots from last year,” Resignalo said. “We have quite a few returners but we do have some new faces. We’re going to play a fast-paced offensive style and defensively we’re going to be really aggressive and physical, specifically up front- defensively and offensively on the o-line and d-line.

“Even though we are in a new league, we are favorites to win the whole thing, win our division and be there at the end competing for the championship. Those are just projections, we still have to do what we have to do.”

Among the new faces will be 6-4 defensive lineman Brandon Munoz, who played his college ball for the Wheeling University Cardinals. Munoz recorded 17 sacks across parts of four seasons with Wheeling U from 2019 to 2022, and is one of several members of the Miners’ roster who have local ties.

Munoz had spent the past two years with the Jacksonville Sharks of the IFL.

“It was a big deal for us to try and get him to come back home to this area,” Resignalo said. “With his familiarity with coach Mott, adding him to what we already had going on, it was a huge addition to the defensive side.”

The Miners’ defensive coordinator, Mott Gaymon, is the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals as well.

Among the many returners for Wheeling is quarterback Grant Russell, who lit up the opposition last year on his way to winning AAL2 MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Russell is back to lead Wheeling down a new road in a new league.

“Grant Russell, it is great to have him come back,” Resignalo said. “Winning the MVP last year, he will definitely compete as one of the top quarterbacks in the NAL. To have that exposure for him in the area, the recognition he has received so far, it’s just a testament to what we have put together so far with our product.”

The Miners are committed to building themselves up on the field, and indeed off the field too. Resignalo is the team’s GM as well as head coach, and he’s been blown away by the support he’s received from the Valley.

“The overall welcoming of the community was much better this year, this offseason- adding new community partners, the majority of our partners from last year are coming back,” he said. “The receptiveness of the community is much more ‘open-arms,’ where last year, ‘guarded’ was probably the right word to use.

“We really had to prove ourselves last year and I think we’ve let it be known that we’re not going anywhere. Now the plan is to build from that foundation that we established last year, to have this season take off and to grow what we want to do as an organization.”

The Miners have certainly made themselves visible in the community this offseason, with Resignalo pointing to programs like the team’s Wheeling Miners Youth Flag League through the Wheeling YMCA, and the Wheeling Miners Reading Book Club, a program for elementary school students.

“It’s been really refreshing, what we’ve done so far in the community,” Resignalo said.

“It’s been really cool to be a part of the community and give back a little bit.”

The Miners’ season opener against the Spartans will come with a lot of special events orbiting it- the National Arena League’s “NAL Gameday” pregame show will debut at the game, and several former Pittsburgh Steeler players will be at the arena to sign autographs.

“It’s a really good buzz, the community is excited about it,” Resignalo said of his team’s upcoming season opener. “I think there’s even more energy and anticipation than last time. We’re looking forward to putting on a good show. We’ve got our banner drop, our 2024 championship banner, being dropped in the arena, which will be cool to be a part of.”

With March 10 coming quickly, Resignalo hopes to see WesBanco rocking when the Miners take the field.

“We have a great fanbase,” Resignalo said. “I’m excited, it’s going to be very tough for away teams coming here to play in WesBanco.”