Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Penn State Men's Rugby welcomes four freshmen players to Happy Valley.
Nick Masterson joins the Nittany Lions from Danvers, Massachusetts. Masterson began his rugby career four years ago when he was a freshman in high school at Saint John's Prep, where he served as team captain for two years. Despite the pandemic, Masterson is a world travelling player, completing two international tours in Argentina/Chile and Italy with Mystic River Rugby Club, where he was also named captain. Masterson was also appointed to the Boston Herald First Team All-State Rugby Team. Majoring in engineering, Masterson cannot wait to begin his college career and having the opportunity to play on the elite college level.
Next up, from Fairfax, Virginia, Ian "Roudy" Roudybush becomes the newest Nittany Lion. With five years of experience, Roudybush was named player of the week at the High School All American winter camp in Chula Vista, the Olympic training facility. In addition to playing for his high school in Vienna, Virginia, Roudybush was also a member of the U18 USA rugby team. Roudybush plans to major in Finance, as he enjoys trading and investing stock. This season, Roudybush is looking forward to furthering his academics and playing amongst his teammates on the Penn State rugby team.
Harry Askew joins Penn State rugby all the way from Oxfordshire, England. Askew has ten years of experience, playing on the Banbury Rugby Club, Wallingford Rugby Club, and most recently, Hartpury, a Gloucester rugby partner school. Throughout these clubs, Askew has been named team captain, had the opportunity to play in the Best of the South tournaments and was a finalist in the College National Finals. When choosing a university, Askew chose Penn State because of the academics and philosophy of the team. Askew will be pursuing a degree in Economics and is most exited to play in a Penn State jersey here in the United States (hopefully) soon.
Finally, all the way from Brisbane, Australia, Penn State rugby welcomes Aidan "Kingy" King. Over the last eight years, King has been the recipient of the Murray Millet Memorial Prize, the William Young Memorial Prize and the John Hipwell Memorial Trophy. Within the last year, King has played on the Premier Colts rugby team and was also a member of the club's leadership team. King acted as team captain for Churchie's First XV, has been named the most valuable player and played for the Queensland U16 team. King is planning on majoring in mechanical engineering and looks forward to experiencing something new.
"Happy to have Aidan, Harry, Ian, and Nick joining the team this year," says Head Coach Justin Hundley. "Each of them bring a desire to compete and will make valuable contributions from day one. They each have bright futures and I'm excited to watch them excel as Nittany Lions".
