MSU Rugby Club students earn NCR Scholastic All-American honors
Contact: Brock Turnipseed
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Four members of Mississippi ý’s Rugby Club are National Collegiate Rugby Scholastic All-Americans.
Ryan Case
William Dabbs
Ethan Hansen
Jacob Rogers
Senior chemical engineering major Ryan Case of Brookhaven; senior biochemistry major William Dabbs of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; junior wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major Ethan Hansen of Oak Harbor, Washington; and senior aerospace engineering major Jacob Rogers of Collierville, Tennessee, earned recognition for their excellence on the field and in the classroom.
“Having four players earn Scholastic All-American honors says a lot about the kind of student-athletes we have in this program,” MSU Rugby Club Head Coach Jason Posey said. “They put in a tremendous amount of work on the field while also challenging themselves academically.”
To qualify, players must maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher and participate in at least half of their team's A-side matches during the academic year.
The honor caps a memorable season for the Bulldogs. MSU finished 4-1 in conference play and advanced to the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference playoffs for the first time since 2015. The Bulldogs, captained by Dabbs, continued to build momentum in sevens competition, a faster, shorter version of rugby that uses seven players and plays two seven-minute halves. The team posted a 9-7 record in the spring against a challenging schedule.
MSU finished runner-up at the Bluff City 7s Challenge in Memphis and captured the Shield championship at the Yellow Rose Showcase in Houston, Texas, both national qualifying events.
The Bulldogs spent portions of the season ranked among the nation's Top 25 Division II sevens programs, further showing MSU’s growth and competitiveness on the national stage.
The NCR Scholastic All-American program recognizes only a small percentage of collegiate rugby players nationwide, making this achievement especially meaningful.
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