“Killers work in the dark.”
Kind of a dark tone for a rugby article, isn’t it, Mister Rugby Riot?
Relax — I’m talking about how quiet things have been on the Ignatius and Gonzaga fronts.
While much of the high school rugby world is coming to life right now, Gonzaga and Ignatius have been deadly quiet — training, honing their craft, and preparing to launch their 2025 seasons.
There’s been precious little from last year’s Nationals finalists on social media lately.
So we decided to catch up with them and find out what they’ve been up to and how they are approaching the upcoming season.
Enjoy!
Gonzaga (DC)
Gonzaga recently wrapped up team tryouts, sorting over 180 players across their four high school squads. At the top of the pyramid is the ‘Purple’ team—their premier varsity squad and the one every player hopes to make. It’s also the team that has set the standard in high school rugby for years.
We caught up with Head Coach Peter Baggetta to get his thoughts on the upcoming season.
What are you excited about this upcoming season?
Coach Baggetta: “We are really excited about our athleticism and our youth. We had a number of sophomores make our top team [this year]. We’ve got some really amazing athletes—we picked up the top two soccer players at our school, as well as our best wrestler.
We’re also really excited about the challenge. We graduated a lot of great players last year, and now we’re like ‘wow, we have a number of players this year who have the potential to be very good players!’
So we’re excited about the potential and the challenge.
We’re asking ourselves, ‘Where can this team go? You know?’”
Which game do you have circled on your schedule?
“This probably isn’t the answer you want, but the truth is—we only have one game circled: the next one. So right now that’s Gregory the Great, who we meet in a couple weeks. We have so many good teams on our schedule that we can’t afford to overlook any of them, so we try to focus on the next one up.”
Any other teams out there that you have your eye on this year?
“Honestly—and I don’t know who this would be—but I’d love to see a new team break into the Nationals top four this year. Since 2013 — when Nationals was restructured— only FOUR single school teams have made the final; Gonzaga (winning 6 out of 9), Jesuit Sacramento (3/7), Herriman (1/3), and St. Ignatius (1/3). I know it has a lot to do with cost and the travel schedule, but it’s only been four teams in the final since 2013—so I’d love to see somebody else put their hands up and crack that top 4 this year.”
What is one word that best describes your team’s personality/mentality this season?
“Exuberant!!” -Coach Baggetta
Players to watch:
Ethan Heim | Senior | Fullback
- 3-year starter
- USA U18 camp participant
- Arizona State commit
Coach’s quote: “He’s an exciting player to keep an eye on.”Axel Ries | Junior | Scrum-half
- Started as a sophomore
- USA U18 camp participant
- “He’s the third brother to play for us, he’s one of our leaders.”Beppe Boglione | Junior | Prop
- USA U18 Camp participant
- Received playing time as a sophomore last year at Nationals
- “Great player — another one of our leaders on the team.”Alec Wood | Senior | 8-man
- Third brother in his family to play for Gonzaga
- 3-year varsity squad member
- “He’s been on our top team for three years, but he’s always been playing behind some great older players. This is his year to make the number 8 jersey his own.”
First Game: Gonzaga kicks off their season on February 22nd. They host Gregory the Great Academy (PA) in what has become an annual February meeting of these two East Coast teams.
St. Ignatius (OH)
St. Ignatius is gearing up for another big year, bringing back a strong core of starters. They just wrapped up a dominant 7s season in Ohio—winning the state title in convincing fashion.
We caught up with some of the St. Ignatius coaching staff to find out how they feel about the upcoming season.
What are you excited about this upcoming season?
“Potential can be an ugly word however, I am most excited about the potential for this squad to represent Ignatius and go down as our best team in the past 22 seasons. Our depth across the Varsity Gold side is the greatest we have had in our two decades of the club and sets us up to succeed even when we are faced with unforeseen injuries this Spring.”
- Brian White, Assistant Head Coach
“With regard to our backs I really like our depth and how that creates great competition among the players for those top spots.”
-Joe Zawodny , Backs Head Coach
Which game do you have circled on your schedule?
“Although we always circle our games against our biggest rivals each season – St. Ed’s and Gonzaga, I am excited to see how we play against the Charlotte Cardinals on May 10th. This is a great chance to compete against one of the best Club Teams in all of the US. Both these teams could very well be representing their division in the National Championship Tournament in Elkhart, IN only three weeks later.”
- Brian White
“I’m sure all the coaches agree: Gonzaga”
- Joe Zawodny
Any other teams out there you’re excited about this year?
“I will be excited to see how Sacramento Jesuit rebounds from last season when they had a very young team. They are historically a top 5 program in all of the US over the past 10-15 years and could very easily take a big step back into that discussion as their team now has older and more experienced players.”
- Brian White
What is one word that best describes your team’s personality/mentality this season?
“The one word I would assign to this team is that they are – DRIVEN. Driven to prove to everyone that they are the best. Driven to make their mark on the legacy of our program. Driven to go undefeated.”
- Brian White
Our personality in a word; relentless!
- Joe Zawodny
Players to watch:
Mark French | Senior | Scrum-Half
“Mark is a tremendous Scrum Half who combines speed, shiftiness, and accuracy to be one of the top players in the nation as his position.”Connor Bender | Senior | Flanker
“After returning from New Zealand this past Summer as one of two recipients of the Nelson Scholarship, I am pumped to see his play on the pitch after competing with some of the best players in the world just 8 months ago.”Raef Gabrovsek | Senior | Lock
“Raef is probably the fastest player on our squad who is extremely dangerous in the open field on offense.”Tommy Passarello | Senior | Winger
“Another speedster at wing who has tremendous athletic ability which was on display every week in the Fall as arguably the best 7’s player in all of Ohio.”
First Game: St. Ignatius kicks off against Pendleton on March 1—a big first test.
🗓️ Date to watch:
Gonzaga vs. St. Ignatius on April 26. A lot can change between now and then—who will be peaking when they collide?