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'06 OH DE Kris Luchsinger (Ohio signee)

sears3820

Sitting around in my underwear....
Ht: 6-4 Wt: 225
40: 4.6 Bench Press Max: 275
Position: Defensive End
Projected as: Defensive End
High School: Bishop Watterson HS
(Columbus, OH)


Athletic pass-rush specialist with a very active motor. Extremely aggressive player that has an ideal frame for a DE. Could easily add 25-30 lbs without sacrificing any of his speed or quickness. Fights off blocks well which can be attributed to his experience as a wrestler for the Eagles. Always seems to be around the ball which is bad news for the guy with the pigskin.

Currently leads the 8-2 Watterson Eagles in sacks.

Will be in action Saturday night as Watterson takes on Clyde in the first round of D-III Region 10 football.
 
http://www.snponline.com/NEWS10-6/10-6_ovwattfootprev%2010-6.htm


[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Taking advantage of five first-half turnovers, Watterson took control early Friday in Akron. It dominated time of possession and contained Mr. Football candidate Tyrell Sutton on the way to handing Archbishop Hoban its first loss, 31-7. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"I thought we played well in all phases," Bjelac said of the victory over the Knights, Division III's No. 2 ranked team.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Junior Mike Kundla carried the ball 11 times for 85 yards and quarterback Rob Rosner had one of his most efficient performances of the season -- 7 of 8, 103 yards and one touchdown -- to lead the Watterson offense.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The biggest story of the night was the ability of the Eagles' defense to limit Sutton, a back who entered Friday averaging 258 yards per game. The Northwestern commitment finished with 116 yards on 16 carries and did not score an offensive TD.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"We were real physical and ran to the ball well," Bjelac said of containing Sutton, who is less than 700 yards from becoming Ohio's all-time leading rusher. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Knights (5-1) fumbled the opening kickoff, setting up 5-yard touchdown pass from Rosner to Kris Luchsinger. A 70-yard punt return by Jason Ferrell and a 9-yard reception by Vinny DeMaria gave Watterson a 21-7 halftime lead.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Possessing the ball for much of the third quarter, the Eagles added a TD run by Kundla and a Matt Swartz field goal, capping the game's scoring. [/font]
 
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sears3820 said:
Ht: 6-4 Wt: 225
40: 4.6 Bench Press Max: 275
Position: Defensive End
Projected as: Defensive End
High School: Bishop Watterson HS
(Columbus, OH)


Fights off blocks well which can be attributed to his experience as a wrestler for the Eagles.

That is what I like to see with our linemen. Boy, would I love another Tim Anderson.
 
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Luchsinger led a stingy defense in Watterson's 38-10 defeat of Clyde Saturday night.

Luchsinger unofficially tallied 3 QB sacks on the night.

Next up for the Eagles in D3 playoff action is Bellevue. It'll be interesting to see what RB Greg Keys does against Watterson's very physical front 7.

Should be a good one.
 
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http://www.snponline.com/NEWS4-27/4-27_bowattrugby.htm


[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rugby ideal outlet for Luchsinger's size, speed[/font]

<TABLE cellSpacing=15 cellPadding=10 width=100 align=right border=0 HSPACE="0"><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#ffffff><TD>[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
BO%20LUCHSINGER%2027sp%204c.jpg

Booster photo courtesy of Will Hallahan
Kris Luchsinger is elevated during a line-out earlier this month while playing rugby in Washington D.C. for the United States U-19 developmental team. <CUTLINE></CUTLINE>
[/font]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By IAN MARA [/font]

<CUTLINE></CUTLINE>Bishop Watterson student Kris Luchsinger has of late been amassing quite an impressive athletic resume.

In the fall, he was a critical component of the Eagles' football team, playing tight end and offensive line for the eventual Division III state semifinalists.

He followed that season by being the class of what is an up-and-coming Watterson wrestling program, winning 23 matches and becoming the first member of the program in three years to reach the Central District championships.

But accomplished as he has been in both those arenas, it appears that neither represents where Luchsinger is the most gifted. Despite the fact that major NCAA programs are interested in him for his work on the gridiron, it might be that his future could be brightest carrying a slightly wider oblong ball.

For the past three years the high school junior has spent his springs playing rugby, primarily as a member of a club team comprised of Watterson students.

"I started playing my freshman year because my brother wanted me too," said Luchsinger. "I started to like it and just seemed to catch on real fast."

That's putting it mildly.

In a remarkably short period of time Luchsinger has managed to reach some of rugby's highest levels, the origins of which were his participation in camps put on by USA Rugby in 2003, the first year he ever played the sport.

"Just a guy that big and that fast is rare," said John Wilhelm, president of the Columbus Youth Rugby League and an assistant for the Eagles club team.

Wilhelm was so impressed with the then-freshman Luchsinger that he recommended him to USA Rugby's U-19 program after a handful of times on the field. "He's got size, speed and he's just fearless," Wilhelm said.

Now 6-foot-3 and about 230 pounds, Luchsinger has been quickly ascending the sport's ranks as an 8-man, the rugby equivalent of being a combination running back and linebacker in football.

For the Eagles club team, Luchsinger has participated in four of the team's five games this spring, accounting for 10 of its 13 tries.

"Basically the strategy is to get him the ball as much as possible and let him run with it," said Wilhelm.

But it was earlier this month that saw Luchsinger's finest rugby hour, as he competed for the first time in a national team jersey.

He traveled to Washington, D.C., as a member of the U-19 developmental squad, helping the team to a 4-0 record and a High School division title in the Washington Rugby Football Club's Cherry Blossom Tournament. Luchsinger performed well enough over the two-day tournament (April 9-10), that he was named the team's Most Valuable Player.

Tal Bayer, a U-19 national coach and the team manager for the Cherry Blossom Tournament, said Luchsinger is remarkably promising from a raw talent perspective.

"One thing that can't be coached is size," said Bayer. "And you don't see too many players who are that big and that agile. He's got great hands and he's a great jumper."

Bayer said that the only limits for Luchsinger might come with just how much he elects to focus on rugby. With his interest in football, there may come a time that Luchsinger has to make a tough choice.

But that time has apparently not yet come.

"I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet," said Luchsinger, who received significant collegiate interest while in Washington. "I'm going to keep my options open and see what's out there."

Wilhelm, for one, thinks the sky is the limit. He went as far as to say he believes Luchsinger could one day play rugby professionally overseas, a feat achieved by only a handful of the best Americans in the sport.

"He can probably go as high as wants to," he said. "But it will be hard to do both (football and rugby)."
 
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I had the privilege of being able to play rugby with Lux (no no not on the national team :) ). Great Athlete, after 60 minutes of Rugby he's still going full speed. Not to mention clutch. He won our most important game of the season, which got us into the playoffs, on a run in which he alone ran through a well prepared wall of the entire team defending him, with no time remaining. I had never seen anything like it while playing or watching rugby. Unselfish... he'd pass the ball to us if we could keep up with him :wink:

As a student leaving Watterson and attending OSU this year, I would love to see Lux in a buckeye jersey, but wish him well whatever he chooses.
 
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stowfan said:
Can you get a scholarship for that?
Not yet...there is only one school in the country that offers scholarships based purely on rugby and that is Cal-Berkeley. We are on schedule to hopefully be one of the next teams (us and Penn State) to also be able to do so within the next couple of years.

I saw Kris play rugby a few times this year...once against Westerville and again during the state tournament. He was very impressive...
 
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Kris thus far this summer has attended both the Ohio State and Michigan State Football Camps.

His results from Ohio State are as follows:

Height: 6'4''
Weight: 220 lbs.
40 Time: 4.71
Shuttle: 4.4
Vertical Jump: 26.5''

Michigan State Results:

Height: 6'3.25''
Weight: 222 lbs.
40 Time: 4.78
Shuttle: 4.25
Vertical Jump: 21.5''

Average Defensive Lineman Profile from Michigan State:

Height: 5'9''
Weight: 217 lbs.
40 Time: 5.36
Shuttle: 4.85
Vertical Jump: 22.3''

After talking to Kris, he enjoyed Michigan State's camp more than he did Ohio State's. He's been to Ohio State's campus on numerous occassions and said it was nice to see some new surroundings. He did say that the facilities in East Lansing weren't quite up to snuff with what Ohio State has though.
 
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Kris Luchsinger had a very good night Saturday against against Upper Arlington. He had two sacks, three tackles-for-loss, and three passes batted down.

(From the Columbus Dispatch)




edit: I realized that the article was for subscribers only. Sorry. :blush:
 
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Our staff (meaning the OSU rugby team) continues to keep an eye on Kris...although it looks like football may be the way he goes. Despite that, he is still one of our top targets in this recruiting season for rugby.
 
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