September 12, 2024

by Laura Cunningham

 The Hudson Rugby Club (HRC) announced that five team alumni joined the Men’s Ohio State University Rugby team for the Fall 2024 Rugby 15s season. Their first home Big Ten match will be in Columbus on September 14, 2024, against Illinois RFC.

HRC Executive Director Ryan Regan says five alumni playing at the same university is unprecedented. “We’ve had many players move on from our club to play at the university level – and beyond – but we’ve never had so many continue together on the same team. I’m proud of our coaches who instilled such strong connections among the young men that they wanted to keep playing rugby together past high school.”

Ohio State University players from the Hudson Rugby Club include Andrew Cunningham, JoJo DeLambo, Ian Goldfeder, Caden Regan and Max Reynolds. Regan is a 2023 graduate of Hudson High School, DeLambo and Reynolds are 2024 graduates of Hudson High School, Cunningham is a 2024 graduate of Western Reserve Academy and Goldfeder is a 2024 graduate of Solon High School.

Hudson native and former professional rugby player Allan Hanson, who now coaches OSU and the Ohio Aviators, believes that former Hudson players' strong showing at the collegiate level is a testament to HRC's program. “Rugby is growing rapidly across the country and HRC has always been ahead of the curve. With the great experience offered at HRC, players are more inclined than ever to pursue rugby at the collegiate level. The players have a great foundation in the sport and arrived at Ohio State ready to make an impact.”

Additionally, Gage Barnes, the 2024 HRC boys team captain and a Woodridge High School 2024 graduate, plays Rugby 15s at Slippery Rock University. Chase DeWitt, a 2024 Hudson High School graduate, plays for West Virginia University on the Rugby 15s team along with Robby Bradshaw, Hudson High School class of 2020. Barnes’ SRU team will face DeWitt and Bradshaw’s WVU Mountaineers at West Virginia University on Saturday, September 14.

July 30, 2024

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by Dan Holland

For three-year John Carroll University Football Rugby Club player Nick Jackson, it’s all about bringing home a national championship this year.

“The goal would be to win a national championship,” said Jackson, a Hudson native and double-major in physics and engineering. “We’ve gone to the national tournament all three years, but the ultimate goal is to bring the D-III national title back home.”

The JCU Green Gators Football Rugby Club, established in 1966, brought in new head coach Justin Rutledge in 2021. The team plays both a 7-versus-7 players spring season and a 15-versus-15 players fall season. The spring team consists of 20 players, while the fall team consists of approximately 30 players, according to Jackson.

The addition of Rutledge has been one of the contributing factors for the team’s recent successes, which includes winning the Allegheny Rugby Union 7’s Championship two of the last three seasons and a regional championship in 2022, which earned the team a trip to the May Madness 7’s National Tournament each year. 

“We’ve had a really good program these past few years ever since new head coach Justin Rutledge came aboard,” said Jackson. “He came in during my freshman year, and once he came in, the program became a lot better.”

Jackson previously played on the Hudson High School Rugby Club team.

“It’s a lot more competitive playing at the college level,“ said Jackson, who plays center. “Everyone is older and more mature, stronger and faster. The teams are also a lot bigger and more organized.”

Having played both American football and rugby, Jackson noted the differences between the sports. “Rugby is somewhat new in America, especially in high schools and colleges,” he explained. “There are very few schools that have rugby as a varsity sport, but a lot of schools are starting to transition it into a varsity sport, as it’s drawing a lot of interest.”

“The fact that you play both sides – offense and defense – makes it more involved, because you do everything on the field,” he continued. “You can run away or tackle, so there’s not a huge difference between player positions and skill sets like there is in football. It’s quicker paced, and there’s never a stoppage of the time unless there’s a penalty or an out-of-bounds call.”

Above all, Jackson said he enjoys the camaraderie of the team and sport.

“We’re all friends on the team even when we’re not playing rugby, and I think that’s the difference between rugby and football,” he said. “I played football for three seasons at JCU, and football had a lot more cliques within it, often by position. But in rugby, everyone is friends with everyone. The camaraderie is much better in rugby, as it brings everyone together.”

Jackson and Rutledge also both play for the Cleveland Crusaders, a men’s rugby travel team.

“Since the players brought me on board, I have noticed that the team operates as a unified front that creates an undeniable atmosphere around each match,” said Rutledge. “The players, from top to bottom, do what I say – sometimes – but they play for each other all the time. They all take the initiative to hold themselves and each other accountable to the high expectations that are set each year.”

“Nick is one of the best leaders of the team, and his work ethic is unmatched,” he added. “He is always looking for more ways to better himself and expose his teammates to those opportunities. More impressively, he makes a conscious effort to improve the deficiencies in his game, which is rare to find among young athletes.”

Jackson often encourages his fellow classmates to consider taking up rugby as a sport.

“John Carroll Rugby is a really great community, and I always tell people on campus that rugby isn’t as competitive as some other sports because we have fun at practice,” he said. “It’s a good community to be part of with good vibes going on with it.” ∞

*Published in Hudson Life Magazine

December 28, 2022

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by Stefanie Watson

Hudson native Caitlin Weigel spent her childhood playing various sports, eventually homing in on soccer and swimming. The three-time state qualifying swimmer and dedicated goalkeeper expected one of those specialties to dominate her storyline.

But one spring day during her Hudson High School sophomore year, a friend asked Weigel to give rugby a try. After one practice, she was hooked and she’s still playing professionally today as a “prop” with the Colorado Gray Wolves.

“Rugby is going to give you the greatest friends you’ll ever have,” she said of the emerging sport. “Teammates become sisters, friends and confidantes who have your back on and off the pitch. I can do so much more than I thought I could because the people alongside me are working toward the same goal and cheering me on. It can be hard to find that in female sports, but those relationships tend to flourish in the rugby community.”

Hudson High School athletic standout Caitlin Weigel breaks tackles as she carries the ball for the Colorado Gray Wolves.

Photos submitted.

Weigel said experience as a soccer goalkeeper was the perfect background for a rugby career. At Hudson, she served as the center for the girls rugby club, made the All-Ohio and All-American Select teams, and attended the USA Rugby Stars and Stripes Camp – an honor extended to only the top-ranked players nationally.

The team’s 2014-2015 season was especially rewarding.

“We typically placed in the top four teams in the state,” she said, “but there was a good group of freshmen who joined that year and were really into it.”

As senior captain, Weigel led the Explorers record-breaking team to state finals, where it finished runner-up. She was named the 2015 Ms. Rugby Ohio that year.

Ironically, playing rugby at the college-level was never Weigel’s goal. She ended high school as a four-year letter winner and two-event All-American in swimming and hoped to swim at Boston University or Boston College. While visiting Boston, however, she added a last-minute tour of Harvard University.

Weigel, dressed in her Hudson rugby jacket, fell in love with the campus and caught the eye of the tour guide who was a Harvard rugby player. Upon seeing her credentials both on and off the field, the women’s rugby coach at Harvard welcomed Weigel to its newly minted varsity team.

According to Weigel, the Harvard team grew a lot during her first two years as it transitioned from a club sport to a varsity team. 

“‘An attitude of gratitude’ was our motto that we embraced as a core value,” she said, crediting the guidance of Coach Mel Denham for the cultural shift.

Weigel also found it easier to succeed academically at Harvard as a member of the team.

“Rugby gave me a very rigid schedule that made me a more accountable student and taught me to use my time better,” she recalled.

Those time management skills prepared her post-college life where she works full-time as a data analyst for USA Olympic and Paralympic Committee and also plays with the Denver-based Gray Wolves, an elite women’s rugby club that travels the world.

The three-time national championship team has completed in seven finals since 2012 and boasts national team players – an exclusive rooster Weigel would like to see her name on someday.

She knows that means continuing to grind. 

“It won’t passively come to you. You have to keep working for it,” Weigel said. ∞

*Published in Hudson Life Magazine.