On March 8, the John Brown University Rugby men’s team claimed third place in the Gorilla Head 7s Grand Prix, hosted by Pitt State in Pittsburgh, Kansas. The Golden Eagles were placed in Pool A with Southern Nazarene University, Drury University, and Pitt State. JBU lost their first match 24-5 against SNU before rebounding to defeat Drury 19-17 and then Pitt State 45-17 . These results saw JBU win the group and advance to the semi-finals, where they lost to SNU 31-21 and moved on to the third-place game. There, they defeated Drury 37-12 to secure third place.
The tournament featured several tough moments for John Brown, including several injuries to key players Micah Vinter, Jonah Saum and Brian Ethier. The team, however, was able to play through the adversity and kept winning matches.
“I would say we’re a very tenacious team. I mean, I had even kind of lost hope, especially when Micah Vinter went out. I was out, Micah was out. Of course, Brian later got injured. It seemed like we already had fewer players than the other teams, and I had no idea how we were gonna keep up. The guys who were still in just gave twice the effort, even though it’s an exhausting game. It’s just that everybody put in a ton of hard work despite all the injuries,” junior rugby player Saum said.
JBU displayed toughness and character, but the tournament also served as a learning experience for the team as their first seven-on-seven tournament of the Spring semester.
“Something that I was talking about with some other team members about was working on having more creativity in games with the line because we were solid on defense and crashing and things. But sevens isn’t like fifteens, so it’s a different game. So, we were playing like fifteens but with seven” Enoch said.
Both Enoch and Saum were quick to praise the community that JBU rugby has helped build, especially for new students.
“Nothing will prepare you and really bond you to other people like going through a rugby match. It feels like you’ve just fought a war, and you’ve survived it. So, after every match, I felt like I was closer and closer to those guys,” Saum said.
“I’m thankful for the JBU Rugby Club. I think that it’s a really good way to get plugged in with a different group of guys and do something competitive and something physical, and you’re doing it in a community and not isolated,” Enoch said.
The JBU Rugby team will continue their seven-on-seven season with several more tournaments. You can follow their Instagram for more information.
Photo courtesy of Rugby JBU Team
