Pitt Rugby wins first Midwest Rugby Championship

The Pitt men’s Rugby team has accomplished something it never has before – it won the Midwest… The Pitt men’s Rugby team has accomplished something it never has before – it won the Midwest Championship over this past weekend.

Prior to the win, the Panthers won two hard-fought matches on Homecoming weekend, including a history-making victory over Ohio 30-20, which advanced them to last weekend’s Midwest Final Four held in Columbus, Ohio for the first time.

“It was a very long weekend for us all, but well worth it,” Pitt head coach Dan Talbert said.

Pitt was dominant in the Final Four as well, allowing it to take home a Midwest Championship.

On Saturday, the team went head-to-head with Miami (Ohio), and the Panthers jumped out to an early 27-3 lead going into halftime.

Miami (Ohio) bounced back quickly in the second half and cut the lead to 27-21 with 25 minutes remaining in the game. But Pitt’s defense kept its cool and remained stingy for the remainder of the game. Neither team would score for the rest of the game, and the Panthers hung on to win, 27-21.

“Every single guy on the field, with no exceptions, made a big play at some point to lead us to victory in this game,” Pitt captain Jeff Martin said. “We played our hearts out and held on for the big win to get us to the championship game.”

The championship game was played the following day against Minnesota. Jeff Schelenberger opened up the scoring with a penalty kick early in the game to put Pitt ahead 3-0, and the Panthers would never trail.

However, the score remained close, and Pitt would only lead 15-12 at the half. But the Panthers came out smoking in the second half to score 19 unanswered points.

Chris Fogarty clinched the win with a score late in the game as the Panthers held on to win, 34-12, for the Midwest Championship.

Sunday’s win completed a remarkable season for the Panthers in their division; they finished with a perfect 12-0 record.

The next move for Pitt Rugby is to win a National Championship. The team will be seeded sixth out of eight teams in the national championship tournament held in the spring.

“This team has been together for three years now and made a lot of sacrifices to get where we are,” Martin said. “This weekend was a dream come true and a real compliment to all the off-season and in-season work that we do to make it a reality.”