At the end of 2012, ISU coach Malcolm Robertson sat down with his players to make a deal. If they gave him 100 percent, he would do whatever he could to help them achieve their goal of reaching nationals.

Prior to this meeting, Robertson said morale was low within the ranks of the ISU Men’s Rugby Club, and the team was not in a good place. The club was able to reverse this by keeping its promise to Robertson to commit to the program.

And on April 26-27 in Bowling Green, Ohio, the club will see its ambition to compete in the Division I AA National Rugby Championship become a reality.

“It was reaching for the stars, especially for where we were at the time,” Robertson said. “The team, though, has stood up to its end of the bargain and I have stood up to my end of the bargain, and here we are 18 months later.”

The club earned its spot in the tournament with an at-large bid and will face Bowling Green in the first round. If the Cyclones beat Bowling Green, they will move on to play the winner of Missouri and Middle Tennessee State in the quarter finals the following day. A win in the quarter finals will advance Iowa State to the semifinals May 10.

In its first-ever appearance in this tournament, the club will have to switch to a style of rugby different than what has been used all season because of two members — Brandon Bay and Benjamin Sauer — being unable to attend.

Sauer, who plays fly half, will be replaced by Matt Vermillion. Vermillion plays a more physical type of rugby compared to Sauer’s agility and strategic approach.

“A lot of guys are going to have to wear different hats than they are used to going into nationals since we are losing [Bay and Sauer] and going to have to change up our style of play” said Anthony Frein, club president.

For Frein, having to adopt an altered game plan is not the biggest downside of losing Bay and Sauer.

“Those two are two of our key leaders,” Frein said. “They have both played at a high level before. That is going to be the hardest thing, just trying to figure out who will fill their leadership roles on the field.”

Team Captain Allen Tessmer said if the Cyclones are going to win against Bowling Green and make a run at nationals, they will have to be mentally prepared.

“We are treating this as just another match,” Tessmer said. “If we overthink it, it will screw us over. We have been having some mental lapses, so just treating this as another game we help us not overthink or analyze it.”

Even if the Cyclones fail to move on at nationals, Robertson is not worried about the future of the club, as every member of the team but Tessmer will be returning next season.

“I will lose my captain. He is the only person I have graduating this semester,” Robertson said. “So, I will have the same team again next year, and I have never in ten years of coaching had this happen before. There are great possibilities for next season as well.”