Wake Continues Winning Preseason

Wake Forest defeated Furman 18-15 in sloppy conditions on Saturday. Sophomores Brandon Turner and Charlie Crockett scored tries for the Demon Deacons against a very young Paladin side. Wake continues its preseason on Saturday against the Myrtle Beach Rugby Club. Time and location to be announced.

Six Wake Players Named to All-Star Team

Six Wake Forest men's rugby players were named to the North Carolina Collegiate All-Star team that will compete in the South Collegiate All-Star Tournament on November 14 in Knoxville, TN. Seniors Mike Duffy (Hooker), Christian Jewett (Lock), Ross Hilton (Lock), Trent Justice (Flanker) and Mike Wills (Center) and sophomore Brandon Turner (Wing) were all selected after a two weekend tryout. Duffy, Jewett and Hilton are all making their second appearance on the squad, while Justice, Wills and Turner will be representing North Carolina for the first time.

2009 North Carolina Collegiate All-Star Team

Akerman, Randy (App State)
Bourgeois, Justin (ECU)
Burcal, Phil (NC State)
Calvo, Jeff (UNC – Charlotte)
Connor, Travis (App State)
Dawkins, Carson (ECU)
Delatorre, Frederico (UNC – Charlotte)
Duffy, Mike (Wake Forest)
Dugard, Jamie (UNC)
Epifanio, Justin (UNC)
Ezarsky, Brett (App State)
Felts, Michael (UNC – Charlotte)
Hilton, Ross (Wake Forest)
Hughston, Matt (ECU)
Jewett, Christian (Wake Forest)
Joseph, Iain (UNC – Wilmington)
Justice, Trent (Wake Forest)
Lee, Alex (UNC)
Llewellyn, Ben (App State)
MacLennan, Gregor (UNC)
Newcomer, Zach (App State)
Smith, Josh (App State)
Turner, Brandon (Wake Forest)
Wills, Mike (Wake Forest)
Zabor, Drew (App State)

Two Players Lost For Season to ACL Tears

Junior prop Matt Storck and sophomore flyhalf Ben Cohen will both miss the entirety of the 2009-2010 season after suffering torn ACLs. Both players will undergo surgery this fall and should be ready to return to play by the fall of 2010. Storck and Cohen were both members of the North Carolina College All-Star Team last year and started every game for the Demon Deacons in the spring.

Wake Opens Preseason With Win Over Wildcats

Wake Forest opened its 2009-2010 preseason with a 30-5 defeat over the visiting Davidson Wildcats. Freshman fullback Johnny McMurray scored two tries and was 4 for 6 with the boot for a personal tally of 20 points in his college rugby debut. Sophomore wing Will Hank and sophomore hooker Chris Ryan also touched down for the Demon Deacons. Freshmen Ty Pierce, Barrett Corrigan, Drew Mehrmann, Justen Robinett, Michael Guju, James Jeffrey, and Jon Coates all played key roles in the Wake victory.

Wake will continue its preseason next weekend with a match against perenniel Division III power Furman. The match will take place on Poteat Field with a 3:30pm kickoff.

Wake Lineup

1. Nick Conte (So.)
2. Chris Ryan (So.)
3. Ken Forte (Sr.)
4. Ty Pierce (Fr.)
5. Brendan Maaghul (So.)
6. Justen Robinett (Fr.)
7. Jeff Millar (So.)
8. Charlie Crockett (So.)
9. Drew Mehrmann (Fr.)
10. Brendan Shea (So.)
11. Kip Lewis (So.)
12. David Sage (Sr.)
13. Perry Salvagne (Sr.)
14. Will Hank (So.)
15. Johnny McMurray (Fr.)

16. Devin Henry (Jr.)
17. Michael Guju (Fr.)
18. Barrett Corrigan (Fr.)
19. James Jeffrey (Fr.)
20. Jon Coates (Fr.)
21. Clay Robinson (Jr.)

Wake Opens Preseason Play Against Davidson

Wake Forest men's rugby team will open its 2009-2010 preseason schedule against the Davidson Wildcats on Saturday at 1pm at Poteat Field.

Patounas Earns #9 Jersey for Princeton AC

Achilleas Patounas, Wake Rugby Class of '06, donned the #9 jersey yesterday for the Division II Princeton Athletic Club and led the team to a 50-18 victory over league foe Montclair. Patounas, who was Wake's starting scrumhalf from 2004-2006, joined PAC in the spring of 2007. At the time, Princeton had a veteran captain manning the scrumhalf position, meaning that if Patounas wanted to see the field, he would have to move to a new position. And so he did, spending two years playing anywhere the team needed him: fullback, wing, center, and even flanker. At times Patounas also got some time at #9, and this past spring, with PAC's longtime scrumhalf recovering from injury, Patounas stepped in at scrumhalf fulltime. No doubt having benefitted from his time at unfamiliar positions, Patounas was a much improved scrumhalf and led the team to some great results, including an undefeated performance in Montana's Maggotfest tournament in May. So it was that Patounas was given the nod at #9 for the fall season league opener against Montclair. He did not disappoint, marshalling Princeton to a blowout and scoring a try himself in the process. Princeton will be in action again next weekend against the Lansdowne Rugby Club out of New York City. Lansdowne also has a connection to Wake Forest Rugby, as the brother of Dave Poplaski, Wake Rugby Class of 2009, anchors the Lansdowne front row at prop.