Photo: NSCRO Facebook
Wayne State College is the 15s and 7s champion for the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO), and it isn’t the first time the Nebraska school has accomplished the feat. Nevertheless, the two titles are special and surprised even those players who have spent four years in a Wildcat uniform.
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“We lost quite a few seniors last year, so we thought this would be a rebuilding season for us. At the beginning [of the fall season], we had all these new players and we focused on teaching them the game,” Wayne State College captain Leanna Rosberg said. “But everyone stepped up and filled the spots we were missing. We ended up winning nationals in 15s.”
The team defeated SUNY Oneonta (N.Y.), Colorado College (Colo.) and Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) en route to the early-December final, and then bested Bentley (Mass.) 46-26 for the 15s title. Rosberg was named championship MVP.
“People said we weren’t going to be as good this year because we lost a lot girls, but we surprised ourselves,” Rosberg said. “It makes [the title] more special, for sure. For us seniors, being the ones who taught the new girls the game, along with coach [Darrin Barner], it was a huge accomplishment for us, too.”
Another round of rebuilding started in the spring, as a couple of players didn’t return and newcomers to the sport joined. But the team did benefit from a core of six seniors, who understood the build to NSCRO 7s nationals. The Wildcats competed in two 7s fixtures prior to its qualifier, held at the March Madness tournament against Simpson College (Iowa). The team won both games and thus earned the return berth to Pittsburgh (Simpson College earned an at-large berth and finished third overall).
“Me, personally, I didn’t feel too nervous about it but the younger girls were pretty nervous,” Rosberg said of 7s nationals. “Not playing as many games set us back a little, and so we didn’t start to really click until after the first couple of games. But we got better as the day went on.”
Wayne State College defeated California University of Pennsylvania (Pa.), Scranton (Pa.) and Rochester (N.Y.) by a combined 82-22 during pool play, and then bested Denison (Ohio) 44-0 in the quarterfinals and York (Pa.) 38-0 in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Lee University (Tenn.) defeated Findlay (Ohio), Widener (Pa.) and Endicott (Mass.) by a combined 71-36 in pool play, and then defeated Occidental (Calif.) 46-0 and Simpson 36-5 to advance to the final.
Photo: Janet Stabbe
For coach Barner, it was team defense that glowed throughout the tournament, including the final against Lee. The coach turned to the stats and pointed to a three-minute block in the second half of the final. Lee held onto possession for 28 passes, and Wayne State College made 18 tackles. The net gain for Lee was 15 meters.
“In 7s, making 18 tackles and just 15 [meters] gained is simply impossible,” Barner beamed.
“Defense is 50% of the game, so why not practice it 50% of the time in practice,” the coach added. “In 7s, you should got 120% on defense and just 80% on offense and be patient and read the field. But on defense, it is a jail break every time the ball is spun wide.”
Captain Rosberg singled out sophomore Anna Fleecs, who didn’t miss a single tackle, and senior Kelcey Stutzman, who is so sure in contact. Their examples helped produce a 24-5 victory for the title.
“We had to play perfect to win, and that is the reward of very hard work and determination by a great group of girls from 18-22 years old, that wanted to end the year with both 15s and 7s NSCRO national titles,” Barner concluded.
For players like Rosberg, who has represented Prairie State at the all-star 15s tournament, the rugby season continues as she readies for the CRC 7s with the NSCRO Selects. But her days in a Wildcat uniform are done, along with five other seniors. She confessed to some concern about the upcoming year, as there will only be juniors and younger returning with experience, and the ranks will be smaller than usual.
“They might have a big challenge to fill the [graduating] seniors’ shoes but they’ll also have to recruit more numbers than usual,” Rosberg said. “Not that they can’t do it, it will just take a lot of work.”
And now that the team has been through a big rebuilding season once, and come out the other end with two NSCRO titles, Wayne State College knows it has the capability to pleasantly surprise itself.