An undefeated regular season and historic conference title has given Colorado Mesa University men's rugby its best fall season in program history.
The CMU men’s rugby team recently finished their 15s season and won the High Peaks Conference for the first time.
“As a team, we've worked hard to get to where we are, and it means the world to the program that we've built over the past couple of years,” said CMU Men's Rugby Club President Tom Gauweiler.
Gauweiler is an international student from Germany. He studied abroad in the United States during high school.
“[I] absolutely loved it. And I promised myself I'd come back one day to go to college here. And it turns out that's pretty expensive,” he said. “And CMU was actually the most affordable school that I could find in Colorado out of all the four-year colleges for international students.”
The psychology major grew up skiing and hiking in Germany. Western Colorado's outdoor access drew him to Grand Junction. Gauweiler has become heavily involved at CMU. Along with being the president of the men's rugby team, he is a student ambassador, works with admissions and is involved with the international program.
Prior to college, he never played rugby. One day, he was walking through the University Center, where the team was recruiting. They asked if he wanted to join, and at first, he declined.
“I initially said no. And then I came back around, and they asked me again. I was like, ‘I want to come out for one practice.’ And the rest is history. Now I'm here. I haven’t missed a practice yet. I haven't missed a single session of lifting weights or conditioning, and we’re still out here on the grind. And I’m still loving it.”
Men's rugby at CMU doesn’t require any prior experience to join. The program focuses on teaching the game and building a strong team foundation.
"Anyone's welcome, even in future semesters. That's the whole point of this. I was recruited with no experience on this team, and now we're here. So that's the best part about it, that we literally take anyone and we will build it from scratch, and we will make it to a national championship with what we have,” Gauweiler said.
Liam Brannan stepped into the head coach position this year. He graduated from American International College in Massachusetts, where he played Division I rugby. Despite being younger than some players, everyone respects his leadership.
“We trust his abilities and he’s done nothing but a great job of coming out here, getting the boys motivated, getting everyone going and really unifying us as a team on and off the pitch,” Gauweiler said.
The team went undefeated during the regular season, winning the High Peaks Conference 4-0. They beat Montana State University for the first time in six years with a score of 34-10. In a similar sweep, they beat Boise State University 61-14.
The team traveled to Springfield, Missouri for the National Collegiate Rugby D2 West Regional Championship. The Mavs defeated Loyola Chicago 51-15. However, their season ended with a loss to University of Chicago with a close score of 43-38.
The season brought significant challenges. Rugby is a very physical sport and many players were injured. But they didn’t let that get in the way of a successful run.
“We've been struck with some injuries, but that's okay. We've been doing really well at filling those gaps. Every single one of the boys is hungry to fill those spots on the team and make the roster every single time we travel.”
Construction forced the team to relocate midseason, impacting where they practiced and hosted their last home game of the semester.
“Our pitch is under construction. So we're currently struggling with that a little bit. So we moved to the practice football field, [and are] making the best out of it,” he said. “Unfortunately, it's not the same size and measurements as a rugby pitch, but we make it work.”
Through all the hardships the team has persevered and made the most of everything thrown at them. Gauweiler said the team has built a strong bond this year and spends a lot of time together on and off the pitch.
“These guys are my team [and] my little family. They'll be the ones at my wedding. They'll be the ones at my 50th birthday hopefully. And, those are really friendships that I made for lifetime. And I think sports really does that. But rugby is a special type of sport, in my opinion. Simply because of the physicality, the community comes with it.”
Several senior team members are graduating this semester, including Gauweiler, but he is confident the returners will step up to fill their shoes.
“The team is going to be facing a tough situation this next year. There will be a good amount of graduating seniors that have been part of building that community over the past couple of years. But I'm confident that we've put the right stones into place to keep this program going at a very high level,” he said.
The 15s season is over, but 7s will start up this spring. The team will be recruiting new players and encourages anyone interested to join. No experience is needed and everyone is welcome.
The spring will be Gauweiler’s last season of college rugby and last semester as a college student, a feeling he describes as “bittersweet.”
“Everyone's just out here to help me succeed, and that's something I'm incredibly grateful for. That I've been able to have all those opportunities over time,” the senior said. “And I'm very sad that my time here is coming to end to an end next year. It’s a bittersweet goodbye, but it's not here yet, and we got more work to do.”