Author's Note: This is a story recounting the 2018 season for the Rugby Cats. The game story from Saturday's win over St. Edward is included below under the subhead "State Championship Recap".
Constant growth and a single-minded focus on goals defined the 2018 season for the Saint Ignatius rugby program.
On Saturday, the 2018 season culminated in the RugbyOhio State Championship at Fortress Obetz in Columbus. At the end of a 100-day season that included about 18,847 miles of travel, the Wildcats dominated the St. Edward Eagles, 15-3, to win the RugbyOhio Championship for the second straight season.
Along the way, the Rugby Cats became a family unit based on the simple maxim, once adopted by New England Patriots – Do Your Job.
The season for the Rugby Cats began on February 24. As the winter swirled, the Wildcats started a new journey with a 6-hour trip to Washington, DC to play two nationally renowned programs – Gonzaga College High School and Georgetown Prep.
To start the season with a bang, the Wildcats won both, 19-14 and 38-10, respectively. The wins placed the Cats on the national map early on in the season.
Waiting for the weather to change, the Wildcats honed their skills before hosting three teams in mid-March – Avon Lake, Penn (IN), and West Shore (PA). The Wildcats won all three games handily, beating Avon Lake 87-0, Penn 26-10, and West Shore 71-14. The Penn victory meant a lot, as Penn is a traditionally strong program.
The Wildcats then geared up for an Easter break trip to the World School's Rugby Festival at Paarl Boys High School in South Africa. The long journey offered world-class competition against two incredibly strong and skilled rugby team from South Africa.
Facing a bigger and quicker team in Outeniqua, the Wildcats suffered a 91-0 defeat in the first game. A couple local teams seized on this loss as a sign of the Wildcats' weakness, but the Rugby Cats learned plenty before the second match and competed more closely with Oakdale, 67-19.
Thanks to helpful practices and pointers with South African sides, the Wildcats learned from the experience and improved vastly. The team worked on ball speed and ballhandling skills to better the passing. The Wildcats took plenty of drills and ideas from friendly South African mentors.
Exhausted from the long journey, the Wildcats returned to Cleveland on April 9. With just one practice to prepare for the Eagles, the Rugby Cats entered the annual showdown vs. St. Edward with not as much energy and preparation as usual. Even still, the game received plenty of attention, as the Eagles and Wildcats entered as the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the country.
As a result, the Eagles managed to overcome the Wildcats in Lakewood, 21-14. The tired Cats committed many mistakes and penalties, leading in part to the loss. As the Eagles celebrated, the Rugby Cats steamed and stewed over the loss.
In the coming days and weeks, the Wildcats remembered the defeat and focused on improving for a possible rematch. The squad rested and recuperated, returning injured players and using new strategies. Max Zawodny moved to scrum half and Alex Chura found a spot in the back line, a switch that proved to be a boon for the Cats.
The Wildcats dominated the next two home matches vs. St. Xavier and Brunswick before heading to facing Cathedral (IN) at Fortress Obetz in Columbus. At the full-length, 77' field (the same size as the pitch the Cats played on in South Africa), the Wildcats beat Cathedral, 27-12, to enter the Midwest Championship on a roll.
Unfortunately, the Cats could not win Midwests at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Indiana. Fishers, a great program from Indiana, managed to eke out the Cats, 39-33, as the men of Ohio City could not convert a try with time running out.
The Wildcats were disappointed, but moved forward quickly. The squad beat Carroll (IN) handily, 36-5, and finished out the tournament with a 19-12 win over Notre Dame de La Salette (IL).
In the next two weeks, the Wildcats looked ahead to the RugbyOhio Championships. The Rugby Cats redoubled their efforts and focused on the task at hand. Practices went well, as the Cats drilled with the Cleveland Crusaders Rugby Football Club, a local club team. The two squads did not practice in full contact, just shoulders, but it helped the Cats react and stick to defensive assignments at a faster speed.
In a preview of the State Semifinal, the Cats faced Archbishop Moeller in a rescheduled match on May 12. In a poorly refereed contest, the Wildcats won a sloppy 36-12 contest, scoring 24 points in the second half.
Two weeks later, with a better sir, the Wildcats controlled the rematch with the Crusaders, rolling to a 48-10 victory. Led by strong seniors, the Wildcats rolled to the State Championship, a rematch with the No. 1 Eagles.
State Championship Recap
Fresh off a Midwest Championship and ranked No. 7 in the country, the Eagles entered with plenty of confidence.
“We are going to play our game,” Head Coach Tom Cleary said in the leadup to the game. “Our goal is to get the other team to match us. We don’t match them. We make them go for our style of play.”
On the flipside, the Wildcats watched plenty of film. Head Coach Dan Arbeznik and his coaching staff poured over film to find weaknesses, and found one major hole – the spot between the flyhalf and inside center. The Wildcats exploited this spot, and used the full-length field at Fortress Obetz to their advantage. Using a slower, steadier brand of rugby, the Wildcats physically dominated the Eagles and utilized strong passing to control the play.
In the first half, the Eagles struck first on a penalty kick at 19:42. The Wildcats answered about 14 minutes later to knot the contest at 3. A few penalties slowed down the Wildcats and a player was taken out of bounds near the try zone to end the first half, wiping some points off the board. Even still, the Wildcats were in full control.
"They will break," Arbeznik told the team at half. "Just keep doing what you're doing. We're doing what we want to do. They will break."
Indeed, the Eagles did eventually break. The Wildcats wore down St. Edward with a physical game plan, breaking down the door to the try zone at 19:40. Alex Schum did the honors, and Declan Boldy hit the conversion to set the score at 10-3 Wildcats.
The back-breaker came with 10:30 remaining in the contest. Aidan Gill powered it into the whitewash, increasing the advantage to 15-3, far too large a margin for a team struggling to return to its gain line.
In essence, defense defined the day for the Wildcats. Every player, 1 through 15, did his job on Saturday, shutting down the Eagles defense. By the coaching staff's estimation, after watching the film again, 26 of the 30 minutes in the second half were spent on the Eagles' side of the field. In other words, the Wildcats spent 87% of the second half in Eagle territory.
The 15-3 victory capped off a special season for the Wildcats and a remarkable run for the team's seniors. The Class of 2018 delivered two titles to Ohio City and a host of memories for Saint Ignatius rugby fans.
Sean Whalen, Alex Chura, Juan Pen, Nick Zolikoff, Tommy Lavelle, Joe Molnar, Jivan Meguerditchian, Sean Soeder, Max Zawodny, Schum, and Gill all played key roles for the Wildcats on Saturday and will be sorely missed. These men, along with the rest of the senior class, helped to build a culture of excellence for Saint Ignatius rugby in the last few seasons.
In some ways, the culmination of the senior class' careers began nearly 8 years ago. Coach Arbeznik's dedication and commitment to the rookie rugby program brought in many of the Wildcats' graduating seniors. In fact, five of the Wildcats' 7 starting backs – Chura, Whalen, Zawodny, Gill, and Michael Mangan – played rookie rugby at Saint Ignatius. Forwards Molnar and Pen also played rookie rugby.
These strong, scrappy players with high rugby IQ's define Saint Ignatius rugby: A dedicated family of selfless men hungry for success, but not afraid to work for it.
Saint Ignatius rugby will miss its senior class. But with plenty of strong, young players such as Declan Boldy, Carl Felder, John Stuhldreher, Ricky Rose, Janniel Badeas, and others, the Wildcats are not going anywhere.
The foundation is in place for a strong future for the Rugby Cats.