The men’s and women’s rugby teams are both off to undefeated starts on their young seasons and are coming off a successful trip to Minnesota State University, Mankato Thursday as the women won by a score of 52-0 and the men were 17-10 victors. The women are 2-0 to start this fall’s campaign and the men currently sit at 4-0.

There are close to 70 individuals combined on the men’s and women’s teams, with many underclassmen filling up these positions, but head coach Darrin Barner believes both teams can achieve high goals if they improve every week throughout the season.

“We are very young this year. Lots of freshmen are starting,” Barner said. “My goal every week is to get a little bit more polished. If we can improve each week like we did from week one to week two, we’re going to be sitting just fine.”

Up next, the women travel to Marshall, Minn, to take on Southwest Minnesota State on Friday for their conference opener while the men travel to Kansas for a triangular on Saturday where they will face off against Benedictine College and John Brown. For the men, it is an excellent opportunity to see where their level of play is at.

“John Brown was a ‘Sweet 16’ team last year. It will be a measuring stick,” Barner said.

On Homecoming Saturday, the women will play host to Prairie States All-Stars and the men will take the field against South Dakota State, which will be their first in-conference matchup.

Barner is very impressed with the rugby program at WSC, and many talented individuals outside of Nebraska and even the United States are taking notice as well.

“With both the men and women going to the Final Four last year, exposure of WSC rugby has now gone international,” Barner said. “Besides Isabelle Robinson from Australia enrolling in school this semester, at homecoming, Daniel Peters and his family from Northern England are flying in to take a campus visit and take a look at our rugby program for his potential enrollment next fall.”

Barner is excited that individuals and their families are recognizing Wayne State’s rugby success and the low-cost education at a tier-one institution and would love to see the program continue to grow. He is also very appreciative of the time and money families spend to visit WSC, especially when they are arriving from somewhere halfway around the world.

A successful start to this fall’s rugby campaign and an abundance of room for continued growth with a young team is certain to provide for a successful remainder of the season and an extremely bright future beyond this fall as well.