By DANIEL SOLTERO, staff reporter

Tony Pacheco was nothing but proud of the Wildcats as he stood on the sidelines, just as his team was eliminated from the 2013 Varsity Cup Collegiate Championship semi-finals.

Pacheco, who is the Seven’s head coach and recruitment coordinator of Central’s rugby team, has helped put the Wildcats on the map. He’s had ongoing success since taking over the team in 2007. This past season the Wildcats competed in the most prestigious tournament in the country, before losing to BYU 53-20 to end their season.

As a Division II school, Central is mentioned with elite rugby programs in the country like Notre Dame, UCLA, Air Force and BYU.

Pacheco was no stranger to the Ellensburg area. An undergrad from 1999-2003, he played for Central’s rugby team when he was a student and is now doing what he loves most: coaching.

“I enjoy coaching these guys,” Pacheco said. “They are a bunch of self-driven players who only want to get better.”

Pacheco played rugby his whole life, especially in high school. He was an aged-grade All-American, as well as a junior All-American.

But his time with rugby didn’t end there. After graduating from Central, Pacheco moved down to the Bay Area and lived there for five years, playing for the Olympic club of San Francisco.

Pacheco became head coach of the collegiate USA 7’s All-American team.

“It’s great working with some of the best athletes in the college game,” Pacheco said. “I get to see up and coming guys who are pushing for the national team and Olympic aspirations.”

When the opportunity presented itself in 2007, Pacheco was led back to Ellensburg to take the position as a coach of the Central rugby team.

Since then, Central rugby has had a steady incline of success, wiping out opponents to the point where the Wildcats gave up only a try or two.

“The more and more players who come wanting to compete and perform at the highest level, the better you’re going to be,” Pacheco said.

With nothing to be disappointed about this last season, other than not advancing to the finals, the Wildcat rugby team is looking forward to reaching the top.

Central has worked to gain national recognition in the past years, and because they compete with the best in the nation, Pacheco believes the Wildcats are representing the university on a large scale.

“It’s really cool, though, that it’s Central Washington out there with all those bigger schools,” Pacheco said. “The best part about it is you got these schools we are aligned with now, and then you see us along with them.”

The Wildcats have four seniors departing the squad: Alex Reher, Ryan Snider, Patrick Blair and Sean Wanigasekera, who all played crucial roles in the recent success of the Central rugby team

Pacheco is looking forward to making his squad stronger and able to adapt to the choices, changes and opportunities that present themselves next year

“As long as our players keep raising their standards then we will continue to develop and get better,” Pacheco said.