St Edward Rugby - 2013 State Champions!

Eagle Rugby 2013—Back-to-Back State Champions The varsity ruggers, state champions in 2012, entered the season with many question marks in the starting lineup as the team graduated 9 of 15 starters from the 2012 campaign. After the first weekend of the season, however, the Eagles realized they were for real as they knocked off Midwest and Indiana powerhouses Penn and Brownsburg in the Ohio-Indiana Showcase in Columbus. The Eagles proceeded to roll through the league schedule with an unblemished record, furthering last year’s undefeated streak to 25 games! Other regular season highlights included wins over Columbus Westerville 24-21, Cincinnati Moeller 10-5, Louisville Trinity High 95-0, Louisville powerhouse St. Xavier 42-7, and St. Ignatius 22-5. The ruggers took 3rd at the Midwest Championships in Elkhart, IN all the while tuning up for the Ohio High School Rugby state run. As the #1 seed in the state, the Eagles gained a favorable bye week before facing off against cross-city rival St. Ignatius in the state semi-final. Although Ignatius had the size advantage the Eagles wore them down in route to a 22-13 victory and a spot in state final game for the second year in a row. On June 1st the Eagles traveled to Columbus Westerville North stadium to face a hulking Cincinnati Moeller squad who the Eagles defeated 10-5 early in the season at Moeller. The Eagles, outsized on average by 25 pounds per man in the forward line, were going to need the speed and fitness they’ve utilized all year to triumph. As the game began it was obvious that Moeller was going to stick with their grind-it-out, plodding style of play but the Eagles stayed patient, utilized a large field, and ran Moeller into the ground. Jack Walsh hit 3 penalty kicks in the first half and the Eagles led 9-7 at the intermission. In the second half the Eagle ruggers turned on the heat with Danny Peyton scoring 2 tries and Zach Heisterkamp adding 1. Jack Walsh nailed 2 conversions and Ronan Forrestal added one, as the Eagles limited Moeller to a late give-away try sealing the victory 30-14 and their 2nd consecutive State Championship! The Eagles were led this year by seniors Tim Dziak, Buddy Macfarlane, Eddie Beirne, Robbie Rogers, Kevin Trickel, Ryan Konys, Dan Heisterkamp, Danny Peyton, Jack Walsh, Ronan Forrestal, Nick Fox, Mike O’Malley, Kevin Arnold, Julius Sciarappa, Ian Stuart and Mike Farrell. Also, head coach Brian Lewis announced his retirement shortly after the win, citing family obligations. Way to go out on top Coach Lewis. Congratulations!