Our Legacy

By the numbers

• State Championships: 6

• Regional Championships: 2

• National Appearances: 4 (2 for Warriors, 2 for Wahines)

• Boys College Offers 15+

• Girls College Offers 15+

Our Legacy

2010 – Getting Started

• The Wando Rugby Club is established by a small group of students

• Wando Rugby Club chartered thru USA Rugby & Rugby South Carolina

• Wando Players approach Outlaws Rugby Club for coaching needs

• Chris Davis volunteers to be the first Head Coach

• Dave Marshall volunteers as Assistant Coach and Treasurer

• 13 players hold scrimmages against School of the Arts

2011 – First Full Season

• Wando Rugby is accepted into the "Rugby South Carolina" statewide high school rugby league

• Tod Shepherd joins Coach Chris as co-Head Coaches

• Club grows to 36 players

• Club practices on a small field inside the I’On subdivision

• Notable players include Dana Corcoran, DJ Fuller, Tyler Griffin, Peter Huthwaite, Nick Morrison, Nicolae Toma

• Regular season record:  3 wins, 6 losses

• 2 Wando players make State All Star team

• Club does not qualify for the Rugby South Carolina playoffs

2012 – First Playoff Appearance

• Steve Evangelista joins the coaching staff

• Our league, Rugby South Carolina, grows to 11 teams competing in a single Division

• Rugby South Carolina schedule consists of 10 games

• Club grows to 39 players

• All Wando Rugby are "away games" because we did not have a home pitch

• Wando wins two games, each by the score of 3-0

• Finished regular season in 4th place

• Regular season record:  5 wins, 4 losses, 1 weather cancellation

• 4 Wando players make State All Star team

• Qualified for Rugby South Carolina playoffs

• Nick Morrison wins MVP

2013 – State Runner-Up

• Club grows to over 50 players

• Former players Nick Morrison & Peter Huthwaite join the coaching staff

• Wando Rugby becomes sponsored club at Wando High School

• Mt. Pleasant Recreation provides a home pitch at Cario Middle School

• Wando receives 4 scheduled home games

• 16 High School teams now compete in Rugby South Carolina, divided into Divisions I & II, with Wando in Division I

• Regular season record:  7 wins, 2 losses

• Defeated Greer in playoffs to advance to State Championship

• Lost State Championship to an undefeated Chapin team

• 6 Wando players make State All Star team

• Invited to High School 7’s Championships in Philadelphia, PA

• Ryan Springer wins MVP

2014 – First State Championship

• With over 50 dedicated players, the club adds a “B Team” who competes in South Carolina Division II

• Most of 2013 team returns for 2014 season (only graduated 4 seniors)

• A Team goes undefeated 10-0, outscoring opposition 332-24

• A Team defeats Chapin 45-0 in the state semi-finals, in the best game the team has played in their 5 year history

• A Team wins first ever State Championship over Greenville High School by a score of 10-3

• A Team ends the season ranked #19 in USA

• B Team finishes regular season in 2nd place, losing the Division II State Championship to the Charleston Ravens’ A Team

• With both the A & B teams playing in the State Championships, Wando Rugby elevates itself to elite status

• Davis Strobel wins MVP

• Davis Strobel earns a Rugby Scholarship to Arkansas State University, one of the top 5 rugby programs in the USA

2015 – Lowcountry Champions

• Club graduates 23 seniors from 2014 State Championship team

• Guy Vorster & Jack Strobel join the coaching staff as team grows to 65 players

• Rugby South Carolina adopts a new "regional" structure with three Divisions:  Lowcountry, Midlands, Upstate, in an effort to reduce travel, with the unfortunate side-effect of pitting A & B teams against each other

• A Team has another undefeated regular season, outscoring the opposition 415-20, ranked as high as #9 in the USA

• B Team finishes regular season in 4th place

• A Team defeats Aiken 65-0 in the quarter-finals playoffs, and Chapin 28-0 in the semi-final playoffs

• A Team dominates, but loses the State Championship in an overtime heart breaker by a score of 11-6 in front of 1,000 home fans, played during Tropical Storm Ana.  The game is remembered as the “one that got away”.

• A Team ends the season ranked #24 in USA

• Club hosts Bracebridge High School, a touring side from Ontario, Canada

• Club hosts Georgetown Prep High School, a touring side from Washington, DC and nationally ranked at #15

• Micah Stewart wins MVP

2016 – State Champions

• Club grows to 80 players and graduates 9 seniors from the 2015 team

• Kerry Gholson joins the coaching staff, as co-Head Coach of the B Team with Coach Steve

• A Team attends Ruggerfest in Charlotte, defeating Union County and Myers Park, but losing to power Charlotte Catholic

• League reverts to Statewide divisional alignment, with A Team in Division 1 and B Team in Division 2

• A Team loses their first regular season match in over 3 years, 26-20 against South Greenville, in which Wando led 20-0 at halftime

• A Team finishes regular season at 6-1

• B Team finishes regular season in 5th place and wins the Division 2 Plate Title

• A Team defeats Greenville 33-10 in the semi-final playoffs

• A Team wins State Championship by defeating South Greenville 25-24 on a converted try on the last play of the game (see YouTube video here)

• A Team ends the season ranked #23 in USA

• Club hosts Bracebridge High School a second time, a touring side from Canada

• Charlie van Vliet wins MVP

2017 – Two more State Championships

• Club grows to 90 players

• The club fields a C team, for several unscheduled scrimmages against other schools 

• Simon Read & Thomas Meredith join coaching staff

• Club joins the inaugural MSIRL (Mid-South Independent Rugby League), a new league for elite high school programs

• A Team finishes RSC regular season at 5-0, outscoring the opposition 156-21

• B Team finishes RSC regular season at 4-2, while gaining playing time for the future C Team

• A Team wins State Championship in Division I, defeating South Greenville 14-12

• B Team wins State Championship in Division II, defeating Spring Hill by a score of 25-16

• The MSIRL semi-finals & finals are played on Memorial Day in 95F heat in Charlotte, where the A Team defeats the Charlotte Tigers in the semi-final match, and begins the “ice bath” tradition to prepare for the finals

• A Team then defeats a strong Union County (Charlotte) team to win the MSIRL Championship by a score of 35-7

• Charlie van Vliet wins MVP again

2018 – National Championships, State Champions 

• Club starts an official C Team on the Rugby South Carolina schedule

• John Wagner joins the coaching staff, as Head Coach of the C team

• A Team dominates the Rugby South Carolina regular season with a record of 7-0-1, outscoring the opposition 384-47, and the 4th undefeated season in the last 5 years

• A Team finished undefeated MSIRL, with a record of 6-0, outscoring the opposition 247-81

• A Team loses the State Championship in a controversial game.  The A team was ahead 9-7 after regulation, but South Greenville scored in the 14th minute of extra time

• B Team finishes RSC regular season at 6-1, outscoring the opposition 177-34

• B Team wins State Championship in Division II, defeating Bishop England

• A Team invited to the National Championships in Kansas City, where they defeat the reigning Tier II champions, St. Thomas Aquinas by a score of 15-14

• A Team wins the National Championships Sportsmanship Award receiving a new Hooligan Rugby kit

• Arthur Doyle wins MVP

2019 – National Championships

• Simon takes over as Head Coach from Tod Shepherd

• Coleman Herteau joins the coaching staff, leading the fitness program and the C team

• The club forms an official 501c3 and also forms a Board of Directors led by parents

• A Team invited to the National Championships in Utah

• The club starts the first ever Wando Girls team, called the Wando Wahines, with 52 girls registered

• The Wahines are lead by Head Coach Kim Perritt, Coach Kerry Gholson, Coach Ogle and Coach Anne Montgomery

• A Team wins Charleston Post & Courier’s “Club of the Year” award

• A Team wins State Championship, defeating South Greenville 27-7

2019/20 – Carolina Ruggerfest and COVID-19

• Donovan Craig joins the Warriors coaching staff

• Former player Robbie Inglett join the Wahines coaching staff

• Wahines get a few games in early in the 2019-20 season before anyone in the Lowcountry has even heard of COVID

• Boys A/B/C and Wahines start the season at the Carolina Ruggerfest in March in Charlotte just before the season is cancelled for COVID-19

2020/21 – Mama Anne and Wahines State Champions

• Coach Mama Anne passes away on December 4, 2020 and the team mourns a gentle giant and forever icon of Wando Rugby

• Amidst the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic and dwindling teams in Rugby South Carolina, we salvage a season by venturing to Greer, SC many spring weekends in 2021

• A team loses to South Greenville boys to finish 2nd in the State Championship

• Wahines beat the South Greenville girls side to become Rugby South Carolina State Champions

2021/22 – Nationals Championships (Wahines)

• Former Wando players from Oceanside form a rugby club at Oceanside Collegiate Academy

• Coach Donovan Craig takes over as Wando Head Coach from Simon Read

• Former Wando player Connor Hogan joins the Warriors coaching staff

• Bill Bell joins the Wahines coaching staff

• Mike Flood and Greg Hildebrand join the Warriors coaching staff

• Wando RFC stops being a Wando High School club - now welcoming all Lowcountry high schoolers to rugby

• Wando enters 1 boys team and 2 girls teams into the NC Rugby Fall 7 tournament.  Boys win 1st place in their division and girls A side finishes 2nd in their division.

• Girls send a team to Girls High School Nationals in Euclid, OH where they make a solid first time appearance and finish 7th overall

2022/23 - Respect, Support, and Grow

• Another great season!

2023/24 - The legacy continues....

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