Wolverines: National champs

That is what Leka Nemani did. The president of the San Mateo Wolverines rugby club, for the last several years, has applied for a spot in the Boys’ High School National Rugby Championships, only to be rejected each time.

And the Wolverines were rejected again this year. But when organizers didn’t have enough quality teams to fill out their bracket, they came back to the Wolverines with an invitation.

And the Wolverines took advantage of the opportunity. Playing in the Tier II, eight-team bracket, the Wolverines went 3-0 in winning the title — which many consider to be the high school national championship.

“They originally denied us,” said Ben Pahulu, team manager for the high school team and the club’s vice president. “But about five weeks away from the tournament, they realized none of the power program had applied.”

Additionally, the Wolverines sent a girls’ team to the Girls’ High School National Championships earlier in May and came home with the Tier II championship.

Unlike other youth club sports tournaments where any team can enter if they have the entry fee, the National High School Rugby Championships is an invitation-only tournament. Under the umbrella of USA Rugby, organizers are interested in pitting the best high school teams the nation has to offer against each other.

“Generally, those teams who go each year, they usually get an invite back,” Pahulu said. “[Northern California] has, traditionally, recognized teams and they don’t normally pick more than two teams from a region.”

Pahulu said teams from Granite Bay and Danville are former national champs, but were among those premier teams who didn’t apply, opening the door for the Wolverines.

The tournament is actually broken into three categories: single-school, club and Tier II. The single-school tournament is comprised of teams with players who all go to the same school, while the “club” and “Tier II” categories are club teams made up of high school-aged players from several schools. “Tier II” is for the best clubs in the nation.

The Wolverines, however, play in the second division of the Nor Cal Rugby league, playing in the “Gold” division. But they went a perfect 7-0 in league play and 3-0 in league tournament play to prove they belonged in Tier II at nationals.

Making their presence felt

And then they went out and played like champions. Using a loose and free style of play, the Wolverines’ mentality was that their best defense was offense. They opened the tournament with a convincing 51-12 win over St. Louis University High, scoring nine tries from six different players. In the semifinals, they pulled away from South Orange County Raptors, 27-19 to set up a championship-game appearance against Kansas City Jr. Blues, where the Wolverines got a late score to pull out a 20-15 win and claim the title.

“They think we’re just this thrown-together team,” Pahulu said. “A lot of these clubs have been around a long time. They have a rich history. But at the same time, San Mateo has a rich (rugby) history, as well. A lot of these kids’ grandparents played back in the day.”

The Wolverines have a heavy St. Francis High School influence on the team, but a majority of the players are San Mateo natives who have been playing rugby together for upwards of 10 years and they relish the time they play together.

But it was a core of players from San Mateo high schools who propelled the Wolverines to the championship. Ivan Nisa, a three-year football starter at Aragon, led the Wolverines with four tries in three games, including two in the championship game. Joseph Latu, a three-year starter for the Serra football team, had three tries. Nalesoni “Fone” Fakava — a 6-1, 270-pound four-year defensive end for the San Mateo High football squad — scored twice, while Willie Faaumu, another Aragon product, also scored for Wolverines.

“(Nisa and Latu), they stood out,” Pahulu said. “It was a regulation-sized rugby field, 70 meters wide. That was great for us. Once [Nisa] got the ball in his hands, he had a lot of space.”

San Mateo connection

It was Fakava and Nisa who hooked for what turned out to be the game-winning score in the championship game. With the game tied at 15-all late in the second half, the Wolverines had the ball deep in their own end after having drawn a penalty against Kansas City.

Instead of kicking the ball to touch for a line out, the Wolverines turned to the hulking Fakava, who took a pass and rumbled about 60 meters, utilizing his running back skills that he put to use at times at San Mateo, stunning the Kansas City defense.

“That’s what shocked them,” Pahulu said. “Fone is a great football player, but in rugby, he’s even better.”

And just before going down, Fakava offloaded to Nisa, who was streaking down the sideline, who took it in for the winning try.

“Me and Fone and have worked together in 7s, so I knew he would break the gate line. Not a lot of guys that big are that fast,” Nisa said. “He attracted all the defense to him and gave me a huge open slot to run. All I had to do was finish it.”

Added Pahulu: “Ivan just dusted the other kids.”

Nisa admitted while the team was thrilled to be playing in the biggest tournament of their lives, there was trepidation. The Wolverines did not field their full squad, as a handful of players didn’t make the trip for graduations and other commitments. They also had guys flying in during the tournament.

On top of that, they had very little practice time once they got to Indiana.

“One hour of practice. It was like a (pre-football game) walk through,” Nisa said. “I was very nervous about how the tournament would go. We knew it was our last shot. … We did have the players to get all the way through (to the championship). It was just if we could execute on the field.”

It was a thrilling end to a thrilling ride for the Wolverines, who finished the season a perfect 13-0 and have developed into one of the premiere programs in Northern California.

“We were ready to be there. We have seniors who have been with the club for the last 10 years,” Pahulu said. “We’ve been knocking on the door. The only reason we got in was because we applied. If Leka never applied, we wouldn’t have gotten in.”

Added Nisa: “To go undefeated my senior year (of rugby) and then go and win nationals, it was the perfect ending.”

Lady Wolverines also win title at national level

Two weeks before the Wolverine boys were in Indiana, the Lady Wolverines were in Wisconsin, participating in the Girls’ High School Rugby National Championship tournament.

“They pretty much dominated,” Pahulu said.

Playing in Tier II, which on the girls’ side is the second division, the Wolverines, led by Naomi Van Zandt and Aragon’s Lola Unga, who received a rugby scholarship to Lindenwood University in Missouri, ran over and through the competition, winning three matches by a combined score of 227-26.

They opened with a 97-0 win over Stevens Point Area School District-Wisconsin and followed that with a 90-6 win over Chicago. In the title game, they downed Clayton-North Carolina.

“[The girls’ team] started coming together at the end of the season,”Pahulu said. “They put more pressure on the boys (to win the national title) when they won.”