Lakewood: RugbyTown USA?

[Michael Deneen]

The Division 1 Rugby Ohio High School Championships take place this Friday at Fairview Park High School.

The LHS Girls team will play St. Josephs Academy at 6pm for the state title.
The Rangers reached the finals by defeating Hudson 41-12 in the semi-final game.


A photo from a regular season game, courtesy of Alex Belisle.

Following the girls game, St. Edward will play St. Ignatius at 8pm for the Boys Division 1 title.
This is a rematch of the Eagles 31-5 regular season win.





For more info go to the Rugby Ohio website:
http://www.rugbyohio.com/event/show/328892173

[Valerie Molinski]

This is the same SJA team that just won the national title, btw.

http://www.sja1890.org/page/News-Detail ... mId=195653

National Champions! Jaguar Rugby Wins 2016 Title
5/22/2016
John Manuszak

The Saint Joseph Academy Rugby team captured its first national championship on May 22 in Missouri, on the campus of Lindenwood University. The Jaguars posted three wins over the course of the weekend, culminating in a 29-14 win in the championship game. The Jaguars are currently six-time Ohio state champions and will look for their fourth straight title on June 3.

SJA opened up the national tournament defeating Kauhuku (Hawaii) 19-17 which gave the Jags a berth in the final four. In their second game of the day and the national semifinal, the Jaguars faced their rival team from Wisconsin. SJA took on Divine Savior (Wisconsin) which had handed the Jaguars their only loss of the season at the Midwest Tournament. The Jaguars however came out on top 19-17 to head to the title game.

in the championship game, the Jaguars faced Summit High School, a school located in Breckenridge, Colo. SJA came away with a 29-14 win to give them the title.

[Michael Deneen]

This is the same SJA team that just won the national title, btw.

Yes, I'm not sure how, but they are considered "national champs" even though they have not yet won the state championship.
One would think that a state title is prerequisite to the national championship.
I'm still trying to figure out high school rugby's organizational structure. Since it is played by too few schools for OHSAA sanctioning, it seems rather loosely regulated.

[Peter Grossetti]

This is the same SJA team that just won the national title, btw.

Yes, I'm not sure how, but they are considered "national champs" even though they have not yet won the state championship.
One would think that a state title is prerequisite to the national championship.
I'm still trying to figure out high school rugby's organizational structure. Since it is played by too few schools for OHSAA sanctioning, it seems rather loosely regulated.

I thought the same thing. Kind of like the Indians winning the World Series before winning the ALCS. Or the Browns winning the Super Bowl before winning the AFC Championship game.

[Alex Belisle]

I'm going to support both the LHS girls and St. Eds boys. I know lots of Lakewoodites aren't too fond of St. Eds but the way I see it, both teams are located in Lakewood and our youth should be supported in all of their endeavors.