The Ohio State rugby club has overcome a slow start to advance to the Midwest Collegiate Rugby Tournament.The club president, Brett Taylor, said expectations were high coming into the season after losing only two key players from last year.”We knew we had a good team, but we haven’t played as good as we thought we could,” he said.The club is currently 7-1-1 after winning its third consecutive Ohio Championship tournament last weekend. They had impressive performances against the University of Cincinnati and Miami University in winning the tournament. The club defeated Cincinnati 95-0 in the semifinals as senior Kevin Scipione scored five tries and freshman Corey Allenbaugh made 12 conversion kicks. The club defeated Miami 55-0 in the finals.Recording two shutouts was no surprise to the club. The defense has been the strength of the team ranking in the top five nationally.Taylor said the team is starting to come together when it counts.”We hit a low (during the season),” he said. “Now we’re coming back up at the right time.”Winning the Ohio Championship earned the club a place in the Midwest regionals held in Chicago. They will compete in the 16-team tournament on Oct. 31. The semifinals will take place at the University of Illinois the following weekend.Taylor said the club needs to make the finals in order to advance to the national tournament, but second place is not their goal.”We have to win,” he said. “We’re going for first.”Taylor said the team consists of approximately 65 players, including two Australians, Adam and Ben Cronen.The 15th-ranked club is led by Jason Leavons, who has been named to the Midwest all-star team and earned All-American honors. Taylor, Adam Cronen and Scipione have also been recognized as Midwest all-stars.