Is UW-Whitewater Back? Could Be
Is UW-Whitewater Back? Could Be
With their 40-10 defeat of Wisconsin-Platteville, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is now tied with Marquette t 3-0 in the Great Midwest North Division.
For Whitewater, this is a return to the lofty heights the Warhawks occupied for six years when they were 1st or 2nd in the nation from 2014 to 2019. But COVID coming just as a pretty special group of players graduated was a bit of a double-whammy and Whitewater entered last year short on players and have to work overtime to rebuild.
Now, after beating UW-Milwaukee, Northern Michigan, and UW-Platteville, all by comfortable margins, the Warhawks just might be back.
They have some strong leadership with club president Myles Schumaker, who was on the team in 2021 before going on deployment with the US Marine Corps. He returned in the spring to rejoin the school and the rugby team, but remains in the US Marine Corps Reserve while also pursuing his degree.
"I'm glad to be this year's club president," enthused Schumaker. "Nothing makes me happy more than being with my teammates and seeing this team doing a lot better than last 15s season. Its very promising so far, but bottom line is we are just getting things started."
Whitewater actually did make the conference semifinals in 2021, but they ended up 4th and that finish, said Schumaker, hurt.
"I won't forget that loss against Marquette in the first conference matchup," Schumaker said—that was a loss that came as time ran out. "I won't forget that 31-17 loss against UNI down in Cedar Falls right before I activated for deployment. My goal was to bring not only the attitude and the play-style of Warhawk rugby back, but in order to make that happen I wanted recruitment numbers of this team back to where we were before COVID hit."
It took a while but they are getting there, with a roster of 24 being perhaps not massive but, said Schumaker, it's "a lot better than compared to only having 15 players by the last 15s match last season against Marquette at Cottage Grove in 2021."
So what changed?
New assistant coach, Carmen Consolino, a native of Elkhorn Wisc., and a graduate of AIC who played for NOLA Gold and Dallas Jackals has joined coaches Pat O'Connor and Tim Probst on the staff. "Carm brings a load of experience and knowledge to our game while setting the standard high for us. His practice structure has really brought this team closer together, and its been showing in the practice numbers every day and on match day."
Schumaker and Consolino played together in high school.
"One of my goals as the club president was to surround this team with as much resources as I can for these gentlemen, and I reached out to Carm, because I knew he would be the perfect resource for this team," explained Schumaker. "Without hesitation, he was there at practice the next day, putting the boys to work. We couldn't be more than grateful, because the last 15s season was a struggle with barely any depth. After playing at 7s Nationals in New Orleans this past spring, it was definitely a motivational tool to use for this season, and a good recruiting tool to get more players to come out on campus."
The result has been that more players have come out because training has been rewarding. And then the uity of the team has been building.
"Plain and simple, we play for each other out on the field, and we put in work," said Schumaker. "It's a good mix of veteran guys that have played together for a while, and a mix of new freshman athletes that catch on quickly to the sport of rugby and work hard every single practice. These players care about this team's success and play for one another. They are all held to a high standard and that's what it needs to be, moving forward, if we want to be successful the rest of this season for the Warhawks. They impress me every time and have met my expectations and coaches' expectations."
Against Platteville, the second half started to see the potent Whitewater attack roll up the points.
"We really started coming together as a team, and minimized some of the penalties a lot more," said Schumaker.
So what now? Marquette is what's now. Whitewater finished off the regular season by hosting Marquette, with the winner taking the #1 seed from the North into the conference playoffs. Who they play in the South is still up in the air. Northern Iowa looks to be #1, but it's still a question whether Loyola or or Chicago will be the #2 team. It will likely be Loyola because they have two games this weekend, both winnable, and Chicago takes on UNI.
That would set up a semifinal of UNI, Marquette, Loyola, and Whitewater ... for Whitewater, the feeling is that's just as it should be.