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Nicolet Rugby Alumni Reunite at College Championship

After playing rugby together in high school, five alumni met again in Texas.

Once you start playing rugby at , it's hard to ever really leave. Five former Nicolet rugby players reunited last week in Texas when their college teams competed at a national championship.

For the Nicolet alumni, it wasn't unusual to be together, as many continue to spend summers practicing with each other and helping the high school team.

"It's a unique sport because it's not so big," Nick Vigder said. "Once you're done playing, it's like a right of passage that you have to give back to the sport in some way."

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Vidger said it was a different experience to see everyone competing at such an accelerated level at the Collegiate Sevens National Rugby Championship at Texas A&M University.

"It's the biggest adrenaline rush, greater than any other sport," he said.

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Vigder played for the University of Tennessee. Ben Knight and Cory Katzban represented UW-Madison. Colin Long and Matt Conen came with UW-Milwaukee. UW-Milwaukee was the only Division II team to qualify for the championship, on an at-large bid.

Their teams never faced each other, so they attended each other's games as fans.

"It was a huge reunion. I went and watched all my buddies; it was awesome," Vigder said. "They've come a long way in four years."

Vigder said he and Long were the first of the group to start playing rugby, though they were skeptical at first of the aggressive game.

"The first game we watched, we looked at each other and said, 'Man, you gotta be crazy to play this,'" Vigder said. "The second game it was like, 'This looks like it could be fun.'"

Vigder said they soon grew to love it and became mentors for the younger players, including four of those who competed in Texas.

"We kind of taught everyone the game so that was really cool to watch everyone play."

In addition to introducing him to rugby, Vigder credited Nicolet with preparing him for a college life of balancing academics with athletics.

"We operate as a varsity sport but we don't get the resources or recognition that any other varsity sports do," Vidger said. "We practice everyday but we don't get scholarships; we all study really hard. A lot of people can't handle that. Nicolet really helped us out for college."

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