Talent Out of the North: Three Chuckanut Products Spark Eagle 7s Team

02.11.2026Eagles

Ben Broselle for the USA. David Barpal photo.

Author: Alex Goff

With only 12 players in the playing squad for the USA Men’s 7s team in the SVNS 2 tournament in Kenya this coming weekend, you’d think it would be a rare thing for two players to come from the same high school program.

And it is rare … but what about not two, but three? That's impossible. Except it's not.

Of the 12 players on the USA squad, three of them, Jake Broselle, Ben Broselle, and Jack Wendling. All three played their high school rugby for Chuckanut Bay in Ferndale, Wash., a small town just outside of Bellingham. Located about 15 miles south of the USA-Canada border, Bellingham is the northernmost city in the contiguous United States with a population of over 90,000.

But, being West of the mountains, it’s not a frozen tundra, and in fact the weather there lends itself beautifully to rugby. Chuckanut players its rugby at the Dewilde Polo Fields, and the youth teams regularly play across the border against Canadian opposition.

RMA: The Dewilde Fields at Chuckanut

All of that explains why little ol’ Chuckanut has been able to produce three 7s Eagles at the same time.
(They’ve produced them for 15s, too, including Eagle props Titi Lamositele and Nick Wallace.)

For the 7s team, the Broselle brothers and Wendling, a former Scholz Award finalist, do bring a certain approach to the game.

Jake Broselle scores. David Barpal photo.

“From a coach’s point of view, I think one thing that is common between the three of them is just they empty the tank every time that they're on the field,” said USA Head Coach Zack Test. “There's no question of their work ethic—not saying that there's a question of work ethic in any other boys—but the thing that they pride themselves on is emptying the tank every time they're out there."

Jack Wendling on the charge with Porter Goodrum in support. David Barpal photo.

"And sometimes we have to pull Ben Broselle back a little bit because he likes to just cook himself. But, you know, the work ethic is there, and the pride in the jersey, those are always at the forefront for those three.”

Off the field they are a special addition to the program, too.

“They've known each other for a long time,” added USA captain Stephen Tomasin. “Obviously the brothers, but Jack is involved as well. The way they interact with each other is quite funny, and you have Jake and Ben bickering like only brothers can.”

Tomasin also talks about the Chuckanut players having pride in the jersey. That’s no surprise. Maybe it’s because they have had to repeatedly defense American pride when playing Canadians on their doorstep. Maybe it’s because Skagit and Whatcom counties have as high a density of Bald Eagles as anyplace in the USA.

Bald Eagles on the Skagit River. Photo Washington Trails Association.

“I know they're really proud of where they're from, and they show that,” said Tomasin, “and they carry that same attitude over into wearing our jersey.”

Just a little shoutout to Chuckanut Rugby, which runs rugby teams from the very youngest groups up to senior men and women. They have boys and girls HS, and younger, and have been one of the most meaningful clubs in the Pacific Northwest for decades.