Josh Chomieczewski entered his first year at Montini thinking only about football.
But when his older brother, Matt, introduced him to rugby, American football became an afterthought as Chomieczewski quickly developed into one of the best rugby players in Illinois.
“My brother really saw the potential in me and he was the one who pushed me to watch televised rugby,” Chomieczewski said. “He also pushed me that I could go farther in rugby than any other sport. I took his advice and it’s worked out well.”
Chomieczewski has gone as far as Europe for rugby in his young career. Last summer he was selected for the Illinois Tornados all-state team that toured the United Kingdom. While there, he had the chance to play teams from England, Wales and Ireland.
“It was a blast,” Chomieczewski said of the experience. “We played some real top-notch teams and it was real serious out there. It gave us as a team a chance to get a lot better.”
The traveling continued in December when Chomieczewski was one of two athletes from Illinois to play at the high school rugby All-American Ready for Selection Camp in Santa Barbara, Calif. At the camp, Chomieczewski was one of 22 players chosen from 46 to play against Canada on the Rugby High School All-American Team. In USA’s 44-29 win against Canada, Chomieczewski scored a try in the 15th minute.
“Going out there and seeing other kids in other states really opened my eyes to see a new level of it,” Chomieczewski said. “Playing out there was so much fun.”
Chomieczewski played football at Montini for three seasons, including as a wide receiver on the Broncos’ 2009 Class 5A state championship team. He sees plenty of comparisons between the two sports.
“I don’t want to say football isn’t a tough sport but I think rugby is a little tougher,” Chomieczewski said. “As a wide receiver you’re getting tackled maybe four times per game, but in rugby you are getting tackled nearly 20 times per game.”
Chomieczewski’s favorite aspect of rugby is the pace of a rugby match, which doesn’t allow much time to rest.
“It’s 80 minutes of you’re going and you’re going,” Chomieczewski said.
Next month Chomieczewski will hit the road again, this time for Las Vegas. The Rugby 7’s event will feature a similar style of play to that of the 2016 Olympics when rugby will return as a sport at the event. Chomieczewski also said he’s leaning toward playing at Arkansas State next season, which was one of the top colleges in the country at the sport last season.
Broncos lose for first time in 34 games
Montini lost for the first time in 34 games and it was to the same opponent as its previous loss. The Broncos lost Monday 79-63 to Bolingbrook as part of the McDonald's Shootout at Willowbrook High School.
Early on, the Broncos fell behind 37-26 at halftime and Montini could never close the gap. Broncos guard Whitney Holloway only scored 12 points in the game and all came after halftime. Picking up the slack in her place was guard Whitney Adams who scored 22 points, 18 of which came from 3-point range. Kiki Wilson also scored 11 points and Kasey Reaber added nine.
Montini's last loss came in the same event against the same opponent when the Raiders beat the Broncos 51-43. This time, the game wasn't nearly as close, however. Bolingbrook has now won 50 consecutive games against Illinois opponents.
Rams lose for second time this season
The Glenbard East boys basketball team lost to Proviso East 65-59 Saturday as part of the M & M Winter Classic at Downers Grove North High School. The loss was only the Rams second this season, with their first coming to Peoria Notre Dame at the Bloomington Shootout.
In the loss, Glenbard East trailed throughout the game, but the Rams cut the lead to one late in the third quarter. Yet the Pirates responded with another run to build a 61-55 lead that would hold up at the end.
Johnny Hill scored 20 points for the Rams (14-2) and Steven Kinney added 10 points.
