Women’s rugby teams continue undefeated season

Coming off of last year’s state championship, the women’s rugby team has continued its dominance. The team won its most recent games, which featured a 61-0 win over Cedar Rapids, and a 26-5 win against Waverly-Shell Rock. On the JV side they also captured two wins, with scores of 46-0, and 37-0. Both the varsity and JV teams progressed to 4-0, remaining undefeated. 

“The highlight of our most recent competition was playing our biggest rival, Waverly and pulling out a big win: 26-5. It was a very fun game to play in, and we worked as a team to play our game and continue to score,” senior Kloe Schmidt said. “Our team has been doing very well this season. We have won all of our games and scored 215 points (varsity wise) while only letting 5 points be scored against us, just in the first two weeks. Our last games were great. The first game we won 61-0 and then went on to win 26-5 in a bigger matchup against Waverly. The team goal is to keep winning all of our regular season games and show how tough of a team we are. We want to continue to work hard together and then eventually continue to work for another state championship win,” she said. 

During the last season, both Schmidt and junior Mattie Dieken were standout players, both earning multiple awards at the state level. Both of them returned and have been helping the Tigers team out tremendously. 

Dieken said, “The celebration and unity that follows a win with my team is so amazing. A win against a good team brings us closer and allows us all to celebrate together. That is definitely the highlight of the season so far this year.” 

She also said, “This season is still new ,but in the first week of competition I was put on the ‘team of the week,’ meaning, in my position, in Iowa, I had the best performance in week  1, so I am definitely proud of myself for achieving that. As for team wise, when we play our rivals, the game can get intense, and at times the game will be played dirty; however, our team does a very good job of not retaliating and not joining in on trash-talking and illegal plays like some of the other teams we play do. I am proud of our team for always being confident but never being cocky. I think that shows a lot about our rugby program and what we value, so I am proud of our team for doing that.”

The next tournament will take place at home, which will be on Oct. 2. The event will feature Fort Dodge and Southeast Polk. It will take place at the Cedar Valley soccer complex and will also be senior recognition night. It starts at 6 p.m.