Mon River Mud Lobsters Touring Side
It started with five. Maze, Schuler, Dobosh, Gunning, Dulaney. A full ten men short of a squad and yet with such strong desire to play the great sport of rugby, it would soon grow into a team that has now seen over 80 different players don the coveted mudlobster colors. The Mon River Mud Lobsters Men's Rugby Club was founded and christened in April of 1999 and by quickly establishing The Almost Heaven summer sevens tournament, the word got out that the new guys in the union meant business. TD "Bulldog" Maze and "Angry" Gus Schuler quickly got things moving with a hard-nosed attitude driving this new team toward success.
In the early days, it was men like Mahe, Dulaney, Dobosh, Heyman, Whorton, Shuman, Bone and the ever-faithful Gunning who rounded out the field each week to strive for victory against teams like Erie, West Moreland and South Pitt. As the team grew, so did their involvement in the community as the Mud Lobsters became a local favorite of the United Way and American Cancer Society.
The past years of Mud Lobster Rugby have produced a growing trophy cabinet from tournaments such as 2002 Mardi Gras, the Cal Cockfight, the WVU Chicken tournament, the Almost Heaven Sevens, Maggotfest and a special trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The team is consistently in contention in the Allegheny Rugby Union for a berth into the Midwest sweet sixteen. Mon River continually heads into challenging seasons and looks forward with anticipation while looking back with a sense of accomplishment.
Although most of the old names have given way to new faces, there are still a couple of the old faces around to see Mon River head into a new era after losing Co-Founder, Captain, Coach, Teammate and Friend TD Maze. The spirit of the Mud Lobsters is still alive and the legend continues to grow!
For a feature detailing the Mud Lobsters trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, click here.
For a feature detailing the Mud Lobsters early years click here.
To join the Mud Lobster Facebook group, click here.
