Ignatius Saves Best for Last in Ohio 7s
For the fourth time in a row St. Ignatius is the Rugby Ohio boys 7s champion team.
In previous years the final has often been a difficult affair. Ignatius lost on the last play of the game against St. Edward back in 2021. They were pushed very hard in the mud against St. Xavier two years ago. It never seems to be as simple as it could be for the favorites.
This year, the threats came at every turn. Rugby Ohio's championship tournament was a full bracket format, with the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final. There was no pool play, so if you start poorly, you might find yourself playing for 5th.
In the opener against Moeller Ignatius had to weather some difficulty, as a physical and motivated Moeller side worked to punish Ignatius knock-ons.
National School Champs Wrap It Up With State Title
St. Ignatius capped off an outstanding season for the Cleveland school program with two state final championships.
Ignatius beat St. Edward 43-12 in the Ohio JV final on Saturday at St. Edward's home field, and then won the Rugby Ohio Varsity final 45-19. The Wildcats wrapped up a season in which they lost only twice, once with a lineup without seniors to Bishop Dwenger, and once to 2024 HS Club national champs and 2025 runners-up Charlotte Cardinals.
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).
Boys HS Nationals Single-School Bracket: A Look Back
With a little time gone we take a look back at the Boys Single-School Championships.
Champion: St. Ignatius
Most Points Scores: Jesuit Sacramento, 82, Herrman 79
Fewest Points Allowed: St. Ignatius 46, Jesuit Sacramento 47
Games Decided by a Try or Less: 4 (plus one more going to overtime)
St. Ignatius’s run to their 2nd Single-School National Championship in four years was an interesting one.
Top HS Club Charlotte Cardinals Impresses in Win Over St. Ignatius
The Charlotte Cardinals defeated St. Ignatius 43-12 Saturday in West Virginia in a meeting of the #1-ranked HS Club and #1-ranked school team.
It was not the best day for Ignatius, which committed several fairly uncharacteristic errors, many of which were punished several by the Cardinals. But that’s not to say the Cardinals were handed the victory. The Charlotte club executed superbly, attacked at every opportunity, and showcased some significant skill in a team atmosphere.
Charlotte kicked off and won the ball in the air to get on the attack early. Quick ball, and a penchant for punishing the 1st channel when the Ignatius defenses didn’t clamp it down got the Cardinals close, but they were held up. Ignatius was able to kick clear but the Cardinals came back and when they blocked a box kick the ball fell to wing Alai Uaisele, who worked his way over to score.
Ignatius Clinches Cavoli Cup on Senior Night
Newly #1-ranked school team St. Ignatius capped off Senior Night with a 64-24 victory over rivals St. Edward in a midweek meeting of the two Cleveland, Ohio teams.
The game was the finale match of the Cavoli Cup, the challenge trophy inaugurated this season that tracks results including Varsity, JV, and Freshmen and is named after a beloved teacher who taught at both schools.
St. Ignatius 49 Xavier 21
A blistering offense against a stalwart defense went the way of the try-scorers as #2-ranked St. Ignatius of Cleveland beat #1 Xavier of New York in a very entertaining matchup in neutral territory in Hollidaysburg, Pa.
Xavier exploited a defensive breakdown on the Wildcats’ side to score early and take a 7-0 lead. But here’s where the different stories of the teams gets going. As we pointed out in our preview, Xavier had held five ranked opponent to 14 or fewer points this year. And while the St. Ignatius points-against numbers seem similar to those of Xavier, they had been burned more frequently. In their only game against a common opponent, Xavier beat St. Edward 29-10, while St. Ignatius won 60-27.
So the Wildcats could score quickly, and the Knights had the ability to keep very good teams at bay.
#1 vs #2 as Xavier and St. Ignatius Clash
It is a rare thing to see a mid-season #1 vs #2; it happens, but it is rare.
This week we get one of those games, with Xavier of New York meeting St. Ignatius of Cleveland in a neutral site in Pennsylvania.
Xavier rose to the #1 ranking after they opened their season with a 34-14 defeat of Gregory the Great. GGA had previously beating Gonzaga, GRR's preseason #1. While that wasn't enough ... yet ... to get the Knights to #1, they followed that up with wins over St. Edward, Staples, Fordham Prep, and Greenwich. Last week Xavier won two games on the same day, running out wins over Chaminade and St. Joseph by-the-Sea.
School-Team HS Roundup
Leading single-school teams had a good weekend this week, although some games were a little bit tougher than others.
Gonzaga on the Rise
Gonzaga had encountered a couple of rough early results with a squad that is a bit less experienced than most. The Eagles then went to Italy where they played Rugby Rovigo Delta and Rugby Colorno with multiple sides. Losing to some top club teams in Italy isn't something to be ashamed of and Head Coach peter Baggetta told GRR that winning isn't the purpose, anyway.
"A tour is always helpful for us," said Baggetta. "We rarely win games on tour because we make sure to schedule tough opponents, often academy teams and sometimes national teams. This year we went 0-6, just like last year. The year before were were 1-5."
St. Ignatius Defeats St. Edward on Rivalry Day
St. Ignatius defeated St. Edward and the wind Saturday to take the first leg of the Cavoli Cup.
The Cavoli Cup is the new challenge trophy between the two Cleveland rivals, with games from Freshmen to Varsity all counting towards the trophy.
Saturday was the inaugural games on St. Edward's new turf surface, which has been laid down the day before, with color-specific lines for multiple sports, including rugby. St. Ignatius won the Freshmen, Varsity B, and Varsity A games on the day. The Varsity A game pregame ceremony included the unveiling of the Cup plus friends and family of beloved teacher and mentor Dan Cavoli (who taught at both schools and died last year).
A Concept that Deserves to be Spread Everywhere
This concept deserves a closer look.
The Cavoli Cup is a new recognition of the rivalry between St. Ignatius and St. Edward in Cleveland. This is a massive sports rivalry in any sport, and in rugby it's usually a sold-out game. But the Cavoli Cup is not just a challenge cup between the two varsity teams, but one that incorporates the games at other levels — JV and Freshmen.
The Cavoli Cup is named after Dan Cavoli, who attended Ignatius and taught there for about 10 years before moving to St. Edward where he taught for close to 30 years. Dan Cavoli was not an athlete or a coach, he was a teacher, who taught Latin and was deeply intellectual—he was valedictorian at St. Ignatius and, later, Holy Cross. There's a term in the teaching of especially intellectually gifted people and it is "Rage to Master" and certainly it seemed like Mr. Cavoli had that rage.
St. Ignatius Defeats New Trier in Cross-Border Clash
Saint Ignatius of Cleveland followed up their strong opening weekend with a well-taken win over Illinois-based New Trier Sunday.
The game was payed at Triny University in Angola, Ind. and followed on Saturday's New Trier vs Pendleton game which the Illinois side won 17-15. This trip for New Trier was designed to be this challenging as a way to try to replicate the pressure of the HS National Championships. They had no illusions that Ignatius, which defeated Pendleton last week, would be a stern test.
The wind was a big factor in the game. The opening kickoff from New Trier went right into the try zone where Ignatius touched it down. This gave St Ignatius a scrum at the 50 right from the jump.
Around the Nation in HS Rugby
Here's a look at some of the action in Boys HS Rugby around the country.
SoCal Finals
We have our report on the SoCal School-Season Multi-School semis and final here: San Clemente Wins SoCal Multi-School Championship Under the Lights
Look for our report on Torrey Pines winning the Single-School final shortly. Torrey Pines beat Loyola 41-12.
Xavier vs Gregory the Great
Xavier HS out of New York beat Gregory the Great 34-14 behind a massive defensive effort. We will have more on this soon.
Top Texas Clash
Strake Jesuit defeated Dallas Jesuit 41-10 in Texas to take the inside track on the top spot among school teams there. St. Thomas continued their strong form with a 46-31 defeat of FFA.
Some Serious Words about a Serious Single-School Championship
Gonzaga College High Schools national championship record reached a high point this weekend.
There is no doubt they are the best school team in the country. Some teams get close, but when we’re talking single-school teams, we’re talking Gonzaga.
Now, there are some caveats. As we mentioned a little bit, St. Ignatius has deal with a flood of injuries this year. It’s only thanks to the depth of their program that they were able to put out a side that was that good. Now, let’s not overstate it—Ignatius had plenty of outstanding rugby players in that lineup on Saturday, but they were certainly testing their depth.
HSNC Single-School Roundup: Top Seeds Strong
The top seeds generally played like it at the Boys HS National Championships single-school bracket.
The only lower seed to win was St. Edward, and that was in the matchup of #4 and #5.
We have reports on all four games. These reports were generated using the UReportNow AI game report system, which uses AI and then human editing to create game reports that teams can use to share to social media or share among their fans.
We did this to show how it works and if you want your team or school to use this service, let us know>>
