2008 Ohio State Rugby

[mooktarr]

Well done Buckeyes

[wadc45]

Here is what we have right now...we are still waiting on a few players who have not returned to town yet. We also have no idea what we will get when non-recruited freshman report in a few weeks.

Front Row:

We return a solid front row, lead by tighthead prop David Knab (Cleveland, OH). He is joined by fellow St. Ed's grad Matt Altieri (Cleveland, OH) at hooker and Aaron Jenkins (Springfield, OH) at loosehead prop. This group will never be the biggest, but they are extremely athetlic for their size and extremely talented in the scrums. This is one of the strongest units on our team. Rick Hubbard (Hamilton, OH), Alex Logeais (Hopkins, MN), Alek Steman (Columbus, OH) and Geoff Bishop (Gahanna, OH) will provide depth at prop and team president Mike Hassey (Westerville, OH), our Jose Oquendo, will back-up Altieri at hooker as well as provide depth at several other spots. Last year's starting hooker Adam Norris is still rehabbing a surgically repaired shoulder.

Locks:

Took a huge blow last night...ten minutes into a scrimmage with Wittenberg where the A-side was only going to play 20 minutes one of our second rows, Matt Timmons (Ashville, OH), re-injured the same knee he had surgery on 10 months ago to repair a torn ACL. We are anxiously waiting on MRI results...Matt is pretty sure he re-tore his ACL but our trainer is hopeful he merely tore some scar tissue. Keep your fingers crossed. He was two be joined in the boiler room by sophmore Zach Hribar. We are now going to be looking to promote someone, at least in the short term, to fill in for Timmons...freshman Nick Kelly (Westerville, OH), sophmores Billy Fell (Garden City, NY) and Kyle Girardi (Hilliard, OH) are candidates. Unfortunately, we are losing Jason Suhy to active duty as he is deploying in two weeks and we wish him the best.

Back Row:

Captain and 8-man Brandon Jewett (Columbus, OH) anchors this unit as well as the whole team. "Grip" walks with a permanent limp and we have determined that is just to lull his opposition into thinking he is wounded...beause he can be as punishing of a runner as we have had at OSU when he wants to be. He is joined by flankers Chad Cochran (Westerville, OH) and Eric Sanchez (Chicago, IL). Chad has rejoined the team after a brief hiatus and we are ecstatic to have him back. He is an tough, athletic player who could rotate at any of the three back row spots. Sanchez is a player we've been waiting for the light to click on and it appears it is at least starting to flicker. He seems to get better with every game. Freshman Jeff Walsh (Westerville, OH) will add depth, as will sophmore Joe Lotozo (Upper Arlington, OH). We lost a talented B-side flanker Josh Griffin (Sycamore, OH) to a year studying abroad.

Scrum Half/Fly Half:

We are excited to get two talented scrum halfs back this year...Cody Albright (Westerville, OH) returns from a year-long hiatus due to military commitments and Mickey Franco (Santa Clara, CA) returns from being on loan to the Chicago Lions. Both are extremely talented...Cody is a great field general while Mickey has some of the best service I have seen. Our ideal situation will be to play Cody at 9 and Mickey at 10 which allows us to play Nate Ebner (Columbus, OH) at fullback. Last year's scrum half Andrew Little (Copley, OH) is on the shelf currently with a back injury but is due back soon. Freshman Garreth Willatt (Washington D.C.) has started off his career at OSU by playing B-side fly half and will likely rotate between 10 and 15, as will fellow freshman Cameron Gould-Saltman (Los Angeles, CA). Freshman Kevin Johns (Westerville, OH) will start off his career at OSU at scrum half. We lost B-side fly half and mustache connoisseur Adam Devine (Philadelphia, PA) to a rash of concussions but he has volunteered to help coach the C-side.

Centers:

OU-transfer and St. Ed's grad Jimmy Nvratil (Cleveland, OH) returns at inside center after being out for almost a year due to an injury. His replacement last spring, Tommy Pierson (Mechiancsburg, OH) will slide over to outside center and will form a solid combo in the middle. They will be backed up my UC-transfer Matt Hundley (Hilliard, OH), who will also provide depth along the deep three and will likely find himself on the field more often than not. Erik Castle (Springfield, OH) will also provide depth at the centers, along with Aaron "Naughty" Kerrigan (Bellbrook, OH). Castle ran at some 12 and 15 last night and showed some flashes. Naughty looks to be a future 13 but needs to continue to develop the mental side of the game.

Deep Three:

The starting wings are up in the air...three guys will definitely compete for time. One spot is likely to be occupied by Jason Denk. Denk is the kind of wing who will run through a brick wall for you and ask why later. With his speed and tackling, he will likely start at 14. The other wing spot will be up for grabs between Josh Barkhurst (Westerville, OH) and Cye Marshall (Canton, OH). Barkhurst is a finesse player who can also add depth at fullback and fly half. He is a smart rugby player when he wants to be. Cye is a physcial wing who is great at scraping across the back side on defense. Former Temple punter Robert McFarland has a monster leg and is trying to make the transition from D1 football to D1 rugby. Fullback Nate Ebner is the most electric player on the squad. He is especially dangerous in the open field with 4.4 speed and will also handle most of our kicking responsibilities this year after spending his summer competing with the USA junior national team at the IRB Junior World Championships and also playing for the USA Hawks during the most recent NA4 test series.

This weekend:

Saturday, September 13th 11:00 AM
East Campus Pitch - Happy Valley, PA

vs.
#13 Ohio State vs #2 Penn State

AmericanRugbyNews.com Game of the week: it's all about college

In what should be a mouthwatering contest, Penn State is scheduled to host Ohio State in a showdown between two of the top guns from the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest Premier leagues.

The Buckeyes are coming off a 43-0 shutout of Ohio last week and are one of the early season picks to win the newly formed Midwest Premier League, while the Nittany Lions have also begun their fall campaign on a winning note.

[osugrad21]

Link

Ruggers prepare to host OSU rematch

By Kurt Bopp
Collegian Staff Writer

As Ohio State comes to town, the Penn State Ruggers prepare for a long-awaited rematch.
But beating the Buckeyes won't be the main focus of the Ruggers.
"I'm still trying to fill the A-side," head coach Don Ferrell said. "I'm excited to see who steps it up and gets on that side."
Senior flanker Steve Hurley estimated that six guys were going out for three spots at flanker. This and other position battles will be fought out over the next few weeks before league play begins.
Though the players feel the added pressure of earning spots, junior prop Scott Hills said not having a set lineup drives them even more.
Once the lineup is set, the Ruggers will have to get in synch with each other and play as a unit, which simply takes time.
And that is what they are running low on.
Penn State has only five matches left before it begins league play, but Hills couldn't care less. He counts every game like it matters, even though these matches have no effect on who gets to the national tournament.
Although excited for a match with Ohio State, the Ruggers are looking forward to opening league play with one of their fiercest opponents -- Navy.
"Penn State-Ohio State factor will be in the back of our minds, for sure," Hills said, "but Navy is our real rival."
Navy is the biggest competition the Ruggers have in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union. And this season, the two kick off their regular season campaigns against each other here on Sept. 27.
Cont...

[RugbyBuck]

Great, great stuff, Wes. Sorry to hear about Timmons; hopefully it's not as serious as he thinks. Nice luxury to be able to move Ebner to FB and attack with him. I hope all the experience he got this summer filters down to the rest of the guys.

Best of luck against State Penn.

[wadc45]

Dropped a tough one...but unlike our football counterparts we stood toe to toe with the #2 team in the country and I think we proved we are back. Fitness was an issue as was missing a few key players to injuries and military commitments. Ebner broke late on a weakside attack and found an inexperienced wing wide open down the sidelines...only problem was that he tried to beat the PSU fullback to the outside rather than taking the ball back inside where he had tons of support. PSU eventually managed to turn him over and put the ball into touch...ball game. PSU 22 OSU 19

AmericanRugbyNews.com VTech upsets Navy in season opener

Elsewhere in non-conference action, Penn State got by Ohio State 22-19. It was a battle up front with the Nittany Lions? scrum getting the better of their Buckeye counterparts. OSU flanker Blake Cochran scored his side?s only try, while flyhalf Nate Ebner kicked four penalties and a conversion.

?It?s a game we absolutely should?ve won,? Ohio State head coach Tom Rooney told ARN. ?We had our chances, but I am not unhappy about the way we played. Penn State had opportunities too that they didn?t finish.?

That statement about the scrums is horribly inaccurate...the scrums were actually where we were at our best yesterday. Our front row is as good as any in the country and they proved that yesterday. They are getting little to no help from our young locks in the scrums and are really having to scrummage five versus three and are still able to exert their will most of the time. They gave us a chance to have some great first phase attack that we were never really able to capitalize on.

Credit to PSU...they have some talented backs, especially at 13 and 15. They have great speed on the outside and some great height in the boiler room. There is a good chance we could meet again next weekend in the finals of the Big 10 tournament.

FYI, we have been told to prepare for the worst with Timmons...MRI was done, waiting on the results, but the initial diagnosis was a torn ACL and/or meniscus. Hopefully it is just the latter...