Tiger grad receives freshman recognition
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There were more than 100 freshmen playing Division I rugby in college this past season in schools like Ohio State, UCLA, Penn State, California and Kutztown. The Goff Rugby Report, a media outlet which covers the sport religiously on a national level, comes up with a "Freshmen 15" each season. There's one name on it folks from Hollidaysburg and surrounding areas will recognize -- Gus Dellinger.
Dellinger, who recently completed his freshman season at Kutztown before the global pandemic wiped out the remainder of its 2019-2020 campaign, was named to the list.
"From my coaching perspective, Gus is one of the most talented young players in the nation," Kutztown coach Dr. Greg Jones said. "He consistently challenged for a starting position on our D1-A national ranked team."
Dellinger, who was one of 13 freshmen on the Kuztown roster, was a big part of a team that was ranked seventh in the country before its season ended on Feb. 29. The Bears were 12-1 at the time.
"He was a member of the starting squad of 23 players every weekend of the season," Jones said. "He saw action in every game and contributed significantly."
A rugby high school All-American for Blair United Rugby, and a standout football player and wrestler at Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School, Dellinger found out about the Goff honor through social media.
"I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw the link to the article," Dellinger recalled. "I was honestly shocked to see my name as one of the top 15. I got a lot of playing time and did a lot of good things, but I was not expecting that. It was very cool to be recognized like that and it made me want to work harder to prove them right."
Dellinger was the only one surprised because his current coach, along with his Blair/United coach Andy Haines, were not.
"When I scouted Gus and decided to recruit him to Kutztown, I had already though he could made an impact as a freshman," Jones said. "I wasn't surprised by his talent when he arrived on campus but I was very much impressed by his maturity level and how he handled adversity and his introduction to the collegiate game."
"Gus was a high-school all-american who was heavily recruited by the biggest rugby schools in the country," Haines said. "Kutztown is probably considered a top five program. He got varsity time as a freshman. That is good in any (collegiate) sport."
Dellinger said there were both hard and easy transitions going from playing here in central Pennsylvania to playing against schools like Penn State, Navy, Army, St. Bonaventure, Air Force, Colorado and Notre Dame.
"The hardest part was going deeper into the complexities of the game. In high school, you only really scratch the surface, and then you get to college and everything is moving so much faster," he said. "The easiest part was bonding with the team and feeling like I found the right place for me to be. The program is filled with great people."
Haines put into perspective what a noteworthy accomplishment Dellinger has achieved.
"Imagine a kid from Hollidaysburg gets recruited to play football at say, a top five school like Ohio State, and he is then recognized as a top 15 player in the United States," Haines said. "Almost every school has rugby. Some are just club, some are intramural, but schools like Kutztown, the Division I schools, they take it real serious and train real hard. They are always in the top 10 in rankings."
Dellinger is one of three Blair United players competing on the Division I level. He is joined by Trent Paddock (St. Bonaventure) and Sam Haines (Ohio State).