St. Ignatius High School Wildcats Dominate in Rugby State Championship

The St. Ignatius High School Wildcats Varsity B side won the Rugby Ohio Varsity B State Championship Sunday, June 2, beating rivals St. Edward 41-3 on a cloudy, misty afternoon in lakewood. The game was hosted at St. Edward HS and saw the Wildcats control field position well from the kickoff. Center Chris Perez delivered a commanding performance on defense but it was his offensive contribution that started the game. After a series of hard runs from the Ignatius players, Perez snaked through for the opening try. That 7-0 lead had to hold up until late in the first half, as St. Edward did well to hold the line and kick clear. Eventually, scrappy No. 8 Tyler Sekerak capped off a series of smart passes to score on the wing and give his side a 12-0 halftime lead. St. Edward got good performances from lock Demarion Lyons was good in the lineout, causing the Wildcats problems, and prop Andrew Henderson was a hard runner. Out wide wing Archie Johnson was dangerous. But overall the St. Ignatius defense was able to keep the Eagles away from their tryline. The St. Ignatius squad was driven by multi-try contributions from Sekerak and Hayden Voth—Voth ran the attack well from flyhalf and took his opportunities when they presented themselves. Along with Perez, lock Matt Wagenberg and prop Jack Stefan used their power to score. Chris Haney added three conversions. On the defensive side, Perez's outstanding tackling performance at center was bolstered by Bryce Keller's work at lock. Scrumhalf Braeden Oddi was very good also. Reflecting on the game, Varsity B Coach Matt Pickston referred back to what he'd asked of the team before the game, saying "you let the dragon breathe."