Head-on Collision Claims Life of 22-Year-Old College Track Athlete in Missouri

He was returning to Concordia University in Seward after spring break with three fellow students when a Ford Explorer traveling southbound in the northbound lanes struck the Toyota Prius Wing was driving.

Rudy Blalock

Published: 3/18/2026, 9:57:12 PM EDT

Head-on Collision Claims Life of 22-Year-Old College Track Athlete in Missouri — The emergency room at a hospital in Tucson, Arizona, on Nov. 5, 2019. (Sebastien Vuagnat/AFP via Getty Images)

A 22-year-old college student and competitive sprinter was killed late Friday night when a wrong-way driver slammed head-on into the vehicle he was driving on an interstate in western Missouri.

The accident leaves his young wife a widow, and three of his passengers hospitalized—one with a serious brain injury.

Matthew Carl Wing, of Seward, Nebraska, formerly of Sweet Springs, Missouri, died at the scene of the collision on Interstate 49 near Harrisonville, Missouri, at approximately 10:20 p.m. on March 13, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Wing had been pursuing a degree in secondary education at Concordia, and was a sprinter on the university's track team, according to his obituary.

The three passengers in Wing's vehicle were all taken to local hospitals. One suffered serious injuries, while two others sustained minor injuries and have since been released, according to a Facebook post from Word of Life Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

One passenger, Noah Ramirez, is still hospitalized in Kansas City with a traumatic brain injury, with his family traveling from California to be at his side, the church said. The driver of the Ford Explorer—identified in the crash report only as a 30-year-old man from Lee's Summit, Missouri—was also taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

'One of the Greatest Joys', Widow Says

Wing had been married to his wife, Brianna Worley Wing, for less than a year. The couple wed on May 24, 2025, after nearly seven and a half years together—a relationship that began when they met on a church youth group trip to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City in 2018. Brianna, who works on staff at Trinity Lutheran School in Lincoln, described her husband in a Facebook post the day after his death.

"Matthew Wing was one of the greatest joys I have ever had in my life, and it all still seems surreal," she wrote. "We are all going to miss him so dearly and we love him so much."

Wing was born Jan. 23, 2004, in St. Louis and spent much of his life in Sweet Springs, Mo., where he graduated from Sweet Springs High School in 2023 before heading to Concordia University. He is survived by his wife; his parents, Rev. Daniel and Sara Wing of Lincoln; a sister, Kaitlyn Kirby of Sweet Springs; a brother, Andrew Wing of Lincoln; and multiple grandparents and extended family members.

His father, the Rev. Dan Wing, will officiate his son's funeral service.

A GoFundMe campaign established to support Brianna Wing had raised more than $36,000 toward a $100,000 goal as of this week. The Wing family has also asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made either to help cover the medical expenses of Noah Ramirez—payable through Immanuel Lutheran Church—or to fund a track scholarship in Matthew's name at Concordia University.

Funeral services for Wing will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, March 20, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 110 Main St., Sweet Springs, Mo. Visitation will take place Thursday, March 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the church. A second memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 28, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 724 S. 12th St., Lincoln, Nebraska.