Nationals Scores

 First Round Single School tier one (1230pm)

DSHA 10  Eagle 13

Meridian 36  Kahuku 12 

2nd Round (230pm)

DSHA     Summit

Kahuku    Rocky Mountain

Register for Co-Ed Summer Flag Rugby

 

from WGR to Professional Athletes

     Numerous WGR alumni are competing as professional rugby players in WER Rugby this spring.  The league website can be found here with full rosters, schedules, stories, and records.  These trailblazers, who all played high-level collegiate women's rugby, hail from a variety of WGR high school teams across the state:

Boston

Emily Becker     Kettle Moraine grad (sadly KM has since folded as a program)& Lindenwood Univ.

Oliver Wright     Catholic Memorial HS & Harvard Univ.

Denver

Aly Cunningham   Catholic Memorial HS & Sacred Heart Univ.

Minneapolis 

Alexis Dallas          Bruisers & Lander Univ & Wheeling Univ.

Hannah Pfersch       Hamilton HS & Quinnipiac Univ.

Girls High School National Tournament teams and schedules 2026

 Stay tuned for more info on match schedules, results, and historical records.  Matches take place this Friday and Saturday May 15th &16th, 2026.

The Single School top tier includes:

DSHA HS (WI)

Eagle HS (ID)

Kahuku (HI)

Meridian (ID)

Rocky Mountain (ID)

Summit HS (CO)

Match Schedule: (click here for full schedule details)

Friday May 15th

Eagle vs DSHA    1230pm

Meridian vs Kahuku  1230pm

Summit vs DSHA 230pm

Rocky Mt vs Kahuku 230pm

Summit vs Eagle 530pm

Rocky Mt vs Meridian 530pm

Notes:

. *As of Wednesday, Meridian has been added to the rugbyexplorer schedule of matches and pool play standings list. 

Of note as well is the varied turnaround time for teams between matches.

Single School second tier

Pool A

City Honors, N.Y.

Eagle JV, Idaho

Wasatch, Utah

Pool B

Herriman, Utah

Hydra, Mont.

Layton Christian Academy (LCA), Utah

Midwest HS Girls Rankings & Historical Records

 2026 Midwest Championship Final Ranking

1.DSHA (WI) 3-0

2.Brunswick (OH) 2-1

3. Catholic Memorial (WI) 1-2

4. Warsaw (IN) 0-3

Notes:

This is the highest finish for Brunswick in program history. 

The championship division contracted from six teams to four teams, the smallest bracket since 2000.

Hamilton HS (WI) and DSHA jv both finished 3-0 in a second tier of matches. Both played different teams in separate brackets and thus there are no rankings.

Another noticeable change was that DSHA fielded the only jv or b-side.  The last several years multiple teams were also able to send second sides to the competition.

Historical Records:

Historical Records:

1999    Champion:       D.S.H.A.                     Wisconsin                    Host:   Indiana
            Runner-up:      Carmel                         Indiana                         

2000    Champion        Wayzata                      Minnesota                   Host:   Minnesota
            Runner-up       D.S.H.A.                     Wisconsin

2001    Champion:       D.S.H.A.                     Wisconsin                    Host:   Wisconsin
            Runner-up:      Wayzata                      Minnesota

2002    Champion:       Wayzata                      Minnesota                   Host:   Indiana
            Runner-up       D.S.H.A.                     Wisconsin

2003    Champion:       D.S.H.A.                     Wisconsin                    Host:   Minnesota
            Runner-up       Kettle Moraine            Wisconsin      

2004    Champion:       DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:   Indian
            Runner-Up      Kettle Moraine            Wisconsin                   

2005    Champion:       DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:   Indiana

            Runner-Up:     Vernon Park                Wisconsin
            Third:              Lakewood                   Ohio

2006    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:   Indiana
            Runner-up       Lakewood                   Ohio    
            Third               Vernon                        Wisconsin

2007    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
             Runner-up      Vernon Park                Wisconsin
            Third               Lakewood                   Ohio
             Open              Lakeview                    Michigan

2008    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up       Lakewood                   Ohio
            3^rd Place           Wayzata                      Minn.
            Open               Catholic Memorial      Wisconsin  

2009    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up       Lakewood                   Ohio
            3^rd Place           Catholic Memorial      Wisconsin

2010    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up       Brookfield                   Wisconsin
            3^rd Place           Lakewood                   Ohio
            Open               Vernon                                    Wisconsin

2011    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up       Lakewood                   Ohio
            3^rd Place           Kettle Moraine            Wisconsin
            Open               Catholic Memorial      Wisconsin

2012    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:   Indiana
            Runner-up       Catholic Memorial      Wisconsin
            3^rd Place           St Joseph’s Academy  Ohio
            Open               DSHA JV                     Wisconsin

2013    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-Up      Catholic Memorial      Wisconsin                    
            3^rd Place           

2014    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up       Catholic Memorial      Wisconsin        
            3^rd Place           St Joseph                     Ohio
            
2015    Champion        DSHA                         Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up       St Joseph                     Ohio
            3^rd Place           Penn HS                      Indiana   

2016    Champion        DSHA                        Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up        CMHS                       Wisconsin
            3rd Place          St Joseph                    Ohio

2017    Champion       DSHA                          Wisconsin                    Host:  Indiana
            Runner-up       CMHS                         Wisconsin
            3rd Place         Warsaw                        Indiana
            Club                Hopkins                       Minn
            JV                   DSHA

2018   Champion       CMHS                          Wisconsin                   Host:  Indiana
           Runner-up       DSHA                           Wisconsin
           3rd Place         St Joseph                      Ohio
           Club                Walnut Hills                 Ohio
           JV                    DSHA jv

2019   Champion      DSHA                           Wisconsin         Host:  Indiana

           Runner-up      CMHS                          Wisconsin

           3rd Place        Grandville                    Michigan

           Club               Brunswick                    Ohio

           JV                  DSHA jv

2021  Champion      DSHA                           Wisconsin                Host: Indiana 

           Runner-up      CMHS                          Wisconsin

           3rd Place        Carroll                          Indiana

2022   Champion     DSHA                           Wisconsin                Host:  Indiana

            Runner-up    Sparta Rock                 Michigan

            3rd Place      CMHS                           Wisconsin

2023  Champion     DSHA                            Wisconsin                Host:  Indiana

          Runner-up     Sparta Rock                  Michigan

          3rd Place       CMHS (Catholic Memorial HS)

2024 Champion      DSHA                             Wisconsin               Host:  Indiana

          Runner-up     Sparta Rock                   Michigan

          3rd Place       St Joseph's Academy    Ohio              

2025 Champion      DSHA                             Wisconsin              Host: Indiana

          Runner-up    CMHS                             Wisconsin

          3rd Place      St Joseph Academy        Ohio

2026 Champion       DSHA                             Wisconsin            Host:  Indiana

           Runner-up         Brunswick                           Ohio

           3rd place            Catholic Memorial              Wisconsin

Midwest Girls High School Championships 2026 (scores)

 Saturday April 25th at the Moose Rugby Grounds:

Championship Division:

Catholic Memorial 21   Warsaw (IN) 14

DSHA 50      Brunswick (OH)  0 

DSHA 28   Catholic Memorial 7

Brunswick 43   Warsaw 35

Open (Tier 2) Division

DSHA jv 51   North Central (IN) 7

Hamilton 58   Pendleton 7

Hamilton 22 Mudsock 0

DSHA jv 46   Penn (IN) 35

Sunday 

Open Division:

DSHA jv  24  Mudsock 12

Hamilton 32    Ft Wayne 24

Championship Division:

Catholic Memorial 24    Brunswick  29

DSHA  67   Warsaw 0

The Columbine HS Tragedy and a DSHA Rugby Tour (on the 27th Anniversary of the Tragic School Shooting)

      DSHA and Columbine High School: 27 Years Later

Dan Chanen, DSHA Latin & English teacher, hesitated in the doorway to the school office; a bill for $500 in his hand from a Colorado limousine company.  

Not your typical expense reimbursement request at an all-girls Catholic school founded by Sisters of Charity.   The bill was destined for the desk of Sister Virginia Honish, DSHA’s longtime principal.  How to explain this one to her?  But then, of course, this was not the typical school trip either.  

The date was April 20th, 1999.  The girls rugby team, just a few years old, was busy planning a rugby tour to play matches out of state.  Games were hard to come by, as they were the first and only girls team in the state at the time.  

As I drove home from my own classes that Monday night, I listened to the radio in horror at the unfolding news of a mass school shooting.   The name Columbine sounded familiar, but it did not immediately register.

As a future teacher, and like so many other students and teachers, I couldn’t help but think “what would I have done?” as I listened to the news unfold:  The details were a nightmare: two armed boys in trench coats asking terrified students if they believed in God;  the answer determining one’s fate.  The numbers killed (13) and seriously wounded (21) were staggering.

The location didn’t register until I heard the broadcaster add in “Colorado” as the epicenter of the nightly news.  Then, it hit me: that’s the team our girls rugby team is scheduled to play Friday afternoon.

Thoughts raced through my mind:  Should we immediately cancel the trip?  How can we go there with our girls?  What do we do there if we do get on that plane?

Chanen does not recall any talk of canceling:  “We were going.  It was more a question of what would we do?  Our purpose was changing.”

Airborne with 25 high school girls: it’s spring time and school concerns are mostly in the rearview mirror.  Normally this would be a giddy scene.  Instead, the packed flight is somber.  No one knows what to expect.  The coaching staff wasn’t even sure what our itinerary looked like.  Erin Voelz, DSHA winger, recalled that the plan was for all the DSHA  players to billet over night with their Columbine host families.  No one knew what we were going to do.

The staff at the time included two other young assistant coaches besides myself who would play a pivotal role in DSHA culture for years to come.  John “Chin” Klein, MUHS ‘93 and Joel Plant ‘95, along with head coach Chanen.  Chin would of course take over as head coach a few years later, leading them to numerous state and national championships.  

Finally, after landing and getting our rental vanes, it was captain Allison Urbanski who said, “Let’s just go down there.  We’re here.  What else can we do?”

In two white vans and without the aid of GPS phones to narrate our way, we found our path to the now infamous suburban school grounds. 

AP File Photo

With no clear purpose, we parked the vans, mostly silent in thought and prayer.    

All around us stood hundreds of people, satellite news vans, and a hot dog vendor.  That image will always stay with me:  Some guy selling hot dogs on the sidewalk. 

I questioned my own purpose in being there.  Were we just gawking?  Is it better to look away or to stand witness to horror?

“I’ll never forget the silence as we made our way into the school grounds.  It was raining.  We parked in mud with many, many people trying to visit” recalled Coach Plant.

Walking along the sidewalk next to the student parking lot, we began to realize what had enfolded in the days and hours before we’d arrived: makeshift memorials.   A long evening of travel and a slow morning had kept us away from the evening news reports of this.  

In the student lot, we found the cars of the victims piled high with flowers, cards, candles, and other gifts.   

“There was a palpable desire for somebody to say something.  But no one had words,” Plant recalled.  “It was a deafening silence.”

Today we might be accustomed to seeing makeshift memorials on the side of the highway commemorating lives lost in fatal car crashes, but at the time we’d never seen anything like it.  The Columbine memorials were stacked like papers on my classroom desk: overflowing, makeshift, messy.  

“It simultaneously felt like we were doing the right thing by being there and like we had no business being there,” thought Plant.

Sadly twenty-five years later, we’re used to seeing school shootings on the nightly news.  But at the time, no one had seen anything like it.  How heart-breaking to see reruns like this today.

Now, lockdown drills largely replace tornado drills in schools.

Back to that Friday afternoon:   The Columbine student body appeared to be all around the grounds, milling about.  None of them sure what else to do.

With all the coaches short on words and ideas, the girls began to say hello to students as we walked.  

Our girls then began to hug kids in trench coats, kids in tears, and kids still in shock.  

What else could anyone do, I thought? 

I watched as a circle started to form.  Urbanski the keystone.  Then Colleen Brennan held her hand.  Teens from Wisconsin and Colorado began reaching out, holding hands.  A circle formed, and Allison started a prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven.”

No one I talked to remembered the score of the games played later that weekend.  

Urbanski later summed it up by saying “it really felt like we were meant to be there at that time and that place.  God works in mysterious ways.”

“I think about that day all the time,” Urbanski says now.

Years later Plant noted that “I reconciled with my conscience that the point was to show that this heinous, nonsensical event wasn’t acceptable.  We were willing to come and express both outrage and support.”

And the expense request?  Urbanski would later suffer a serious hip injury in the final match on tour.  John Elway’s personal doctor came in to take care of her, but she had to stay overnight and needed to be moved carefully.  Coach Chanen and Coach Plant extended their stay until Urbanski was cleared to fly.  In trying to get transportation to the airport they discovered that a limousine cost less than the planned ambulance service.   Easy decision they thought.

For the record, Chanen’s expense reimbursement was approved.

Wally

DSHA Coach 1996-2004