By Jack Neihaus ‘20
The Rugby Cats enter their upcoming season looking for a third straight state title. In speaking with Coach Dan Arbeznik ‘00 about the strengths of this year’s team, he responded,”We’ll be relying on a very strong senior class to shepherd us through the season. We return 2 starters in our pack (John Stuhldreher and Carl Felder) along with 3 in our backline (Anthony Labate, Michael Mangan, Declan Boldy). While we’ll be relatively raw as a unit, there are about 12 guys who have been in our system and who know our standards.”
The Rugby Cats were tested early when they travel to Washington D.C. to take on the reigning single school national champion, Gonzaga. The Cats fell in a tough match, 34-12.
During spring break, the Cats will head across the pond to Ireland for matches against local teams and Somerset College, a school touring from South Africa.
Highlights on the home schedule include an April 12 match against St. Edward and a visit from Archbishop Moeller on May 4. The Cats will travel to Ohio State in late April to take on Cathedral (IN) and to Cincinnati on May 11 to face St. Xavier.
This year’s team is on track to carry on the proud tradition of Wildcats rugby and bring home a third straight state title.
Support the Cats this weekend on Wasmer Field! The team hosts Detroit Catholic Central on Friday (7pm); Brunswick (11am) and Perrysburg (3:50pm) on Saturday; and St. Joe’s Prep on Sunday at 11am.
