The Medina Rugby program hosted a successful rugby camp on Sunday, October 6th at Ken Dukes Stadium. Nearly 150 athletes combined attended the Youth Camp (3rd – 8th Grades) and the High School Camp (9th – 12th Grades). All campers received a free t-shirt and learned some of the basic skills of rugby.
Medina Rugby will be hosting a free Winter Rugby Camp for Youth and High School students in January to be held in the HS Gymnasium. Exact date and time TBA.
The Medina High School Girls Rugby Sevens team added another award to the trophy case as they won the HS Girls Division at the inaugural USA Beach Rugby Tournament at Edgewater Beach in Cleveland on Saturday, July 20th. The Beach Rugby tournament was the first of its kind in Northeast Ohio where the fields were lined in the sand, with 5 players per team playing 5 minute halves. The Bees got off to a good start in the round-robin tournament with a convincing 50-14 win over Amherst and a 50-27 win over Cleveland Chaos. Medina started the afternoon portion of the tournament with a close loss to Amherst by a score of 32-24, putting the Bees in a must-win match against Cleveland Chaos to determine the tournament champion in their final match of the day. In a one of the most exciting matches of the day, Medina outlasted Cleveland Chaos 46-45 to secure first place and the tournament championship.
The HS boys team finished with a 1-3 record at the USA Beach Rugby tournament to finish in 4th place. The team lost matches against St. Charles Prep 24-10, Cleveland Rugby Academy 56-39, St. Ignatius HS 32-12; but were victorious in their final match of the day against Brecksville-Broadview Heights HS by a score of 45-7.
Both teams will compete in the final tournament of the summer, the Canton Hall of Fame 7s tournament on Saturday, July 27th at the Canton Hall of Fame Sports Complex.
The Medina High School Girls Rugby team took home 2nd Place at the annual Cleveland Rock & Roll Sevens Rugby Tournament this past weekend with a 3-1 record. Playing a round-robin style tournament, the Bees started the day with a 24-5 win over Carroll High School “B” from Indiana. Scoring two tries each in the match were Saffie Williams and Haylee Roach with two conversion kicks by Tricia Finding. In their second match, Medina faced Indiana’s defending state champions Carroll High School “A.” The Bees played hard, but took a tough loss in the match by a score of 42-0. After a win via forfeit against Mentor High School, Medina took on a combined team from Parma and Amherst in their final match of the day. The Bees pulled out the victory in a tightly contested match by a score of 20-15. Scoring tries against Parma-Amherst were Emma Lincoln, Tricia Finding, and Haylee Roach with two tries.
Five high school athletes from the Medina High School Rugby teams have been selected to the All-Ohio Celtic Elite rugby teams for 2019.
All-Ohio selections from the Medina High School Girls team were: Mary Tschannen (junior, inside center), Haylee Roach (sophomore, No. 8), Clare Tschannen (freshman, fullback) and Rosa Treece (freshman, scrumhalf).
The lone All-Ohio selection from the Medina High School Boys team was Vinny Pfahl (freshman, prop).
The Ohio Celtic Elite teams are competitive clubs made up of select players from the best rugby programs across the state and will compete against other select teams from surrounding states in regional cup tournaments throughout the month of June.
Medina Rugby held their 2019 banquets on June 5th for the Co-Ed Flag, Middle School Boys & High School Boys teams and June 11th for the Middle School Girls & High School Girls teams. It was an historic night for the High School programs, as Varsity players received official School Letters, an honor 9 years in the making. Team coaches also handed out individual awards for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Back of the Year, Warrior Spirit, and Beast of the Bs.
Cullen Barelka, a Medina, Ohio native and 2014 Medina High School graduate, was a standout at the professional rugby team’s combine in Columbus, OH. Barelka started his rugby career playing for Medina High School in Medina, OH where he was a team captain and All-Ohio selection. Barelka then went on to play for Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio where he was a D1AA National Champion, a two-time D1A All Conference First Team Selection in the Rugby East Conference. Barelka also played for the All-Ohio College All-Star team and for the Cleveland Rugby Academy. Old Glory DC will play a five-game exhibition schedule this spring/summer prior to joining Major League Rugby (MLR) as a full member for its 2020 season that begins next February.
Medina JV Rugby lost their opening round playoff match to St. Edward C 27-10 at Ken Dukes Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Bees got a first half try from Ethan Good, but trailed 10-5 at the half. The Eagle attack wore down the Bees’ defense in the 2nd half, leading to a 27-5 lead late in the game. Medina kept fighting as Ethan Good scored his 2nd try of the match as the game ended to bring the final score to 27-10. Medina JV end the season with a 3-4 record.
The Medina HS Girls team lost their first round playoff match vs Hudson HS on Wednesday night by a score of 34-12. The Bees started out strong and kept the match close in the first half, trailing 15-12 at the break. Scoring 1st half tries for Medina were Sarah Burneson and Gab Buchtinec with Bella Sugar adding a conversion. The 2nd half was a different story as the size of the Hudson forwards began to wear on the Bees’ defence. Hudson added an additional 19 points in the 2nd half to win the match. The Medina HS Girls end the 2019 season with a 5-4 record.
The #4 ranked Medina Girls Varsity Rugby team will host #5 Hudson in the opening round of the Division 1 State Playoffs on Wednesday, May 15th at 8:00pm. The game will be held at Ken Dukes Stadium on the campus of Medina High School. The winner of the match will move on to face the #1 ranked Saint Joseph Academy.
MEDINA RUGBY 