December 14th
GROVE CITY MEN’S RUGBY CLUB FINISHES 4TH IN THE NATION
The Grove City College Men’s team has finished fourth in the recent
National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) poll for the season
ending December 1st. This ranking coincides with the best
season the rugby club has ever had in its 18 year history. This year,
the ruggers won their first conference championship over arch rival
Franciscan University of Steubenville Barons, last year’s third place
finisher in nationals. The Wolverines only loss this season came in a
32-19 setback against the St. John’s University Johnnies of Minnesota,
who finished second in the poll. The Wolverines last game was a
consolation game against Notre Dame College of Euclid, Ohio in which the
Wolverines finished triumphant with a 48-29 victory. The Wolvers
overcame a 19-10 halftime deficit to finish the game out.
Dr. Chuck Kriley, advisor of the club and affectionately referred to as
DK, recalls at the beginning of the season when the league organizers
were thinking about dropping the club down a level: “My expectations
were high, but they wanted to put us in the social division. I didn’t
want them to be in that division. I knew this team was going to be
successful because of the players returning.” DK said there were aspects
of the team that he enjoyed and helped them be successful in comparison
to the teams of the past: “This team seemed to get along really well on
and off the field. This team was an actual team, where even the backups
were part of the team, instead of just partitioning off the starters.”
DK also feels that this team will help to brighten the future of the
team through increased exposure to high school players and hopefully the
addition of a coach.
Senior Casey Lamb,
co-captain has been on the team since his freshman year. Looking back on
his career, Casey said that this is best team he has ever been on: “As a
freshman and sophomore, I never got to play so it was hard to feel like
part of the team.” This year, Casey had high expectations for the
season: “I was excited to see how the team would do. The spring made me
really excited, and the new guys coming back were going to be a huge
addition. Although, I had no idea how good we actually could be.”
Looking back on this season, Casey said that his favorite moment was the
first game of the season at Franciscan: “Beating Franciscan on their
turf, in their spectacle of the Rugby Ruckus was my favorite memory. It
was nice to hand them their first home loss since 2009, and it was the
first time we had beaten them in my college career.”
Caleb Mills had this
to add about the season: “It was a blessing. Going into the season, I
thought we were going to have a really rough season. They combined
Division II and III into one bracket. It was very unexpected, and it was
a pleasant surprise. I am proud of our team. I had the responsibility of
keeping people in check and keep the team focused on the season’s goals.”
Caleb is another co-captain on the team and was in charge of keeping
the players motivated even after continued success. Caleb also mentioned
that the team finished #22 last year, and that the jump came from many
different areas: “The team had better chemistry than we have seen in the
past. I would attribute the fact to the 16 seniors that have been
playing since freshman year. Also, new additions to the team such as
senior Mike Barkovich, Jarred Frawley and Sam Grove that joined the year
synced well with the rest of the team.” Caleb also mentioned how
this team will be the team to which other rugby clubs at the school
compare themselves.
Written by Jarred Frawley