Rugby Ohio Finals All Day Saturday
Rugby Ohio Finals All Day Saturday
Rugby Ohio caps off its season in two venues this weekend with four boys finals and a girls championship.
One of the key changes in the state this year was the flexibility for the teams going to the HS National Championships to avoid having to play a semifinal on the Sunday just following the national tournament. This injection of common sense allowed St. Edward-vs-St. Xavier and St. Ignatius-vs-Moeller to be played a week before. Ed’s and Ignatius both won and will play in the Varsity final. These two will also play a JV final.
As per Rugby Ohio’s new rule, since both teams in the final are from the same city, the final will be played in that city, in this case at St. Edward’s home field in Lakewood (which is basically Cleveland).
Also to be played at that venue will be the field final, with St. Joseph’s Academy (also of Lakewood) taking on Brunswick (which is 30 minutes south).
St. Joe's vs Brunswick
Brunswick’s only league loss this year is to St. Joe’s. Led by Cadence Satow, Mariah Cleary, and try-scoring sensation Sophia Pomeroy, the Valkyries blew through the playoffs with a 60-3 win over Watkins and a 50-19 victory over Highland. Pomeroy scored five tries in that first game, and four in the second.
The Jaguars have been pretty dominant in the league play but were pushed a bit in the playoffs, winning their semifinal 36-21 over a very tough Highland side.
Head Coach Allexus Zielinski has had praise for the young players in her lineup, but what has been the keystone to the SJA effort has been defense and the breakdown.
“We have been putting emphasis on our breakdown defense and working to get a hard launch on our opponent,” Zielinski told GRR after the Midwest championships, where SJA finished 3rd. “Defensively there has been a vast improvement in the players over the course of the season.”
Kickoff is noon.
Ignatius and St. Ed's
St. Ignatius comes from winning the national single-school championship to face a St. Edward team that put together some of their best performances at Nationals, taking 5th in Tier II.
The teams will play a JV final and also a Varsity final. Is there a danger of an emotional letdown for Ignatius? Certainly there is—what does seem to be the case is that their opponents in the state final the last few years seem to be able to bring an added level of intensity for this championship game. Both teams come in having played 180 minutes of national-level rugby in the last 10 days.
Medina vs Warrior
In the school division final Media takes on Warrior Rugby.
Medina has enjoyed an excellent season, and has seen a variety of strong performances. When No. 8 Brady Mullen went out, Ben Raulie stepped in from lock and was powerful. First-year player Jack Fletcher is a sparkplug as an impact player in the second half.
With Michael Gabriel and Kacey Hathaway do well to control field position with kicks (Gabriel) or hard running lines (Hathaway).
“Our entire pack has played some good defense all season,” said Head Coach Anthony Lazar. “[They] have played relentlessly all season with stifling defensive pressure. If we continue to play defense the way we’ve been playing, we can end this season in a special way.”
Warrior is a highly skilled team with an explosive attack. They’ve worked to get some outside competition and logged a nice win over visiting McQuaid Jesuit out of New York (a playoff team in that state). They can score up front (Chris Flowers, Degan Herb) and they can score out wide (Cody West, Ethan Horn).
Olentangy vs Westshore
The Club final sees Olentangy vs Westshore
The backline decision-makers for Westshore include Noah Fox at scrumhalf (and sometimes elsewhere), Nate Bruwer, and Ambrose Beach. the Labianca brothers Liam and Adrian along with Caleb Smith and Alex Van der Leith, Jr., provide the type of rugby experience that has vaulted them from a team that couldn’t win games just a couple of years ago to a state finalist.
They face an Olentangy team that makes the final frequently, but has undergone some changes. With Coach Kyle Basnet having to take a step back due to other responsibilities. Sharyn Bosley had been the B-side coach and she has taken on the Head Coach position.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the job she’s done,” Basnet told GRR.
With one starter coming back, many of Bosley’s B-side players were stepping into starting roles. Everyone seemed to bond well and what had started as a rebuilding year has been a year where they have made the state club final.
Last year’s team was good, but their skill execution wasn’t always good enough. This year their skill execution is a feature; they play as a team, work well together, and play with an underdog mentality. With Zade Archibald excelling at fullback and prop-turned-No. 8 Tenzin Thornburg a leader up front, they have rallied impressively.
