Photos by Holly McCollum McDaniel – The Cal Poly men celebrate their national championship on Sunday.

This was a championship achieved with grit and determination, and one that was celebrated by generations of Humboldt players.

On Sunday, the Jacks overwhelmed the overwhelming favorites in the National Collegiate Rugby Small Schools men’s championship game in Houston, beating Wayne Sate 20-15 to win the program’s first-ever national title in the sport.

But this was about more than knocking off a heavily favored opponent which had cruised to the championship game with several lopsided victories.

This was about a bunch of home-grown California rugby players going up against a team that featured 10 players from South Africa, one of the powers of international rugby.

This was brute force against an opponent that had dominated its previous opponents with athleticism and speed.

And more than anything, this was a Humboldt team that carried the hopes and dreams of 48 previous Humboldt teams, each of them living this moment every bit as much as the current players, especially a 2005 team that fell just short in its bid for a national championship.

“The alumni are just stoked,” assistant coach Vincent Celloto said. “This is for all the alumni that have been invested in the program. Our phones have been off the hook, all of the alumni are shouting out to us.

“We thought we were going to win (in 2005), and we didn’t, and ever since it’s been about getting back.”

The Jacks did that and more, and they did it with a dominating performance against the heavy favorites, who scored a late try with just seconds remaining for a more flattering final scoreline.

The Jacks got tries from Jason Uipi, Latu Kolopeaua and Logan McDaniel, as well as a penalty kick and conversion by Dante Cappellano, on the way to opening up a 20-3 lead and putting the game out of reach long before the end.

They won in large part thanks to their superior forwards and countered their opponents’ athleticism with their physicality.

“Our guys controlled the game,” Celloto said. “We were very physical, very strong. Our scrum was bigger, faster and athletic. All our forwards are pretty mobile.”

The Wayne State players also tried to psych out the Humboldt players both before and during the game — including singing a “Zulu war song” in front of the Jacks, according to Celloto — although their efforts went unrewarded.

“Even out on the field, they kept talking,” Celloto said. “All it did was motivate our kids. And in the second half, a lot of our hits were taking a toll on them.”

The conditions also played into the Jacks’ favor, with an overcast sky on Sunday replacing the hot Houston temperatures from the previous few days and resembling North Coast weather.

“The rugby gods were looking down on us,” the assistant coach said with a chuckle. “Everything was lining up. Once we saw it was overcast, we knew it was going to be more of a forwards game.”

The Jacks also won the national title in the presence of Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr., who was on hand for the three-day final four.

The coaches and many alumni boosters are hoping the national championship will lead to more recognition and support for both the men’s and women’s rugby club teams.

“We’ll see where it takes us,” Celloto said. “Hopefully we can take it a little further with the program.”

While the Jacks want to move up to a more competitive level in the future, for now they’re likely to stay where they are and try to defend their small schools title in 2023, when they will celebrate the program’s 50th anniversary.

Submitted photo

And thanks to this week’s historic achievement they will carry plenty of momentum into the milestone year.

Uipi was named MVP of the tournament, while McKinleyville High graduate Justin Celotto was the lone local player on the team.

Greg Pargee is the team’s head coach and now is one of the very few national championship winning coaches in Lumberjacks history.