Wake Welcomes Strong Freshman Class

The Wake Forest men's rugby team began practice this week, welcoming a very strong group of freshman to a team that returns most of its first side players from last season. A summary of the class of 2013 is below:

Drew Mehrmann is a four year player from Hong Kong. Drew was primarily a flanker for his high school team, but looks to factor in at a halfback position for Wake.

John McMurry comes to Wake from rugby powerhouse Gonzaga High School in Washington D.C. John played wing, scrumhalf, and flyhalf for a Gonzaga team that perennially finished in the top 10 in the country. He also was a starter on Gonzaga's nationally ranked soccer team. McMurry will play halfback and in the back three for Wake and will give the team the solid goalkicking presence that it was missing last year.

John Coates comes to Wake Forest from York, England, by way of Winston-Salem, where his father is a professor at Wake. John honed his rugby skills during his summers in England and is a try-scoring wing with impressive pace.

Chris Sanborn is a product of the relatively new rugby program at prestigious Delbarton High School in New Jersey. Chris will look to find time at wing and fullback for Wake.

Graham Rich is a rugby journeyman who has played in Azerbaijan, Dubai, and London. He has experience at fullback, wing, and center, and his versatility will make him extremely valuable to the Demon Deacon backline.

Ty Pierce joins the team with no rugby experience, but a very strong athletic background as a football standout for Highland Park in Dallas, TX. At 6' 3", 235 lbs, and extremely fit and skilled, Ty will challenge right away for a starting spot at prop or lock.

James Jeffrey is another freshman who joins the team with no prior rugby experience, but an impressive athletic background. James played baseball, ran track, and rowed crew in high school and will look to make the transition to rugby as an outside back.

Barrett Corrigan is a first year player, having transferred to Wake. Barrett has a wrestling background and solid build and will likely begin his rugby career in the front row.

Billy Caster is a former basketball player from Cleveland, OH whose size and skills make him well-suited for the second row. Billy is rehabbing a knee injury and looks to get on the field midway through the fall season.

At least four more Wake freshman arrived on campus with significant rugby experience but have yet to join the team. Charlie and Scott Frankel, who learned their rugby with the Second City Troop Club outside of Philadelphia, are taking the first semester to focus on their academics. Rob Kelly, a 3 year flyhalf from the Landon School in Maryland has chosen club soccer in favor of the rugby team. And Sal Scifo, a hooker with two year experience under his belt, is taking the fall away from rugby to rehab a knee injury.

The Wake coaching staff is extremely excited about this group of freshmen and looks forward to many of them making an immediate impact on the field.

Gottbrecht to Start for Middlesex Barbarians in New England League Opener

Matt Gottbrecht, Wake Rugby Class of 2009, will start at inside center on Saturday for the Middlesex Barbarians. Middlesex finished last season as the #3 men's club in USA Rugby Division 3, and was promoted to Division 2 for this season based on their success from 2007-2009. This weekend they begin their inaugural D2 campaign in the highly competitive NERFU league against the Boston area side Old Gold. Gottbrecht, who played everywhere from prop to lock, to flanker, to flyhalf to center in his career at Wake Forest, will don the #12 jersey for the Barbarians on Saturday. Said Middlesex head coach Josh Smith, "Matt is an incredibly versatile athlete who we expect to use at multiple positions this season. His game awareness, work-rate, and toughness fits in perfectly with our pattern of play and adding a player of his caliber to the team will certainly help our competitiveness as we transition to the challenges of NERFU Division 2.

Gottbrecht, as well as returning Wake seniors Christian Jewett and Michael Duffy, played this summer with the Middlesex Savages, a program designed by the Middlesex club to give Boston area college players an opportunity to hone their skills in a structured environment during the summer months. Duffy and Jewett are projected to be the core of the Wake forward pack this season and both have returned to campus much-improved due to their time with the Middlesex summer program.

Legge Joins Super League Team

Recently graduated scrumhalf Drew Legge has joined the Rugby Super League's Denver Barbarians and commenced training with the team last week. Legge, who was a North Carolina Collegiate All-Star and last year's Wake Forest team MVP, hopes to immediately challege for playing time on a squad that boasts numerous current and former U.S. Eagles. This marks the second consecutive year that a Wake grad has moved on to play for a team in the country's premiere rugby league. '07 grad Tyler Eure currently plays with Potomac Athletic Club and saw the field as a reserve in a number of Super League matches last spring.

Buckingham Helps Build Rugby League For At-Risk Youth

Recently David Buckingham, Wake Rugby Class of 2007, has been coaching and "mentoring" in a new Juvenile Justice Rugby League that he helped start. The league was created as an innovative response to the challenges faced by at-risk youth in the local community where Buckingham's home club, New Orleans RFC, plays. The league was founded this year by two NORFC Old Boys. "Rugby gives these young men a healthy outlet for their aggression, while at the same time builds the character and self esteem that can help with their positive development," says Tim Falcon, rugby coach and one of the founders of the new league. Buckingham says that ideally the program would have 60+ members who would go through a 2 week introduction to rugby. Then there would be a draft of sorts and the young men would be split into 7's teams. Each week, twice a week these teams would warm up and practice and then play 7's matches against each other. So far they don't have the numbers for that kind of set up and so this year they are looking to form one or two teams that will compete in a new Louisiana Under 19's 7's tournament as the culmination of their season on August 22nd. The restaurant and bar that Buckingham manages, The Rugby Pub (featured in this month's rugby magazine as one of the top rugby establishments in the country), held a fundraiser and raised over $700 for the league which will go to kit and equipment.