Wayne State rugby lady cats’ faced off this weekend in the D1 St. Louis tournament facing competition like the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines.

 
“We are no doubt the minnow in a big pool of D1 sharks, but we will do our best and regardless of the outcome, this tournament will help us improve and give as a big advantage when we play schools our size,” rugby coach Darrin Barner said.

 
The first game was a major victory for WSC winning against Truman State 77-10.

 
In the second match WSC was put up against tough competition facing Ohio State. This was one match up WSC had known about two weeks before hand as a high caliber team. Most of the time was spent running the ball up and down the field, but WSC made a try with two minutes left going up by one score. With one minute left WSC used its high pressure defense to get the ball back and score another try, giving Wayne State the 24-14 victory.

 
Advancing to the third round WSC lost to Lindenwood University Varsity. This loss made WSC enter a tie-breaker once again facing off against Ohio State. Coach Barner called this the “leave no doubt and make a statement game” and that’s just what the wildcats did with a win of 32-0.

 
“It was a great D1 win with the program, and this ranks right up there with wins over the past years over Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Kansas St., Purdue, West Virginia and Notre Dame,” Barner said. “This is one of those wins that makes the ride home very short.”

 
After this the lady cats’ will go to their 300 team NSCRO college division for regionals on April 2. This year the women’s rugby team will be competing for their 5th national championship on April 30 in Charlotte, North Carolina.