ELLENSBURG, Wash.—Central Washington's Jack Wendling scored twice but a short-handed BYU squad escaped Tomlinson Stadium with a 22-17 win in men's rugby on a blustery Saturday afternoon.
 
The battle between the No. 7 Wildcats (4-1) and No. 6 Cougars (7-1) lived up to its billing despite weather conditions which saw wind gusts near 30 mph. But in the end, it wasn't the weather that did in the Wildcats. It was BYU's physical nature and too many self-inflicted wounds.
 
"The wind was problematic for u," CWU head coach Todd Thornley said.  "We handled the ball OK in the first half, but we also had opportunities where we were building pressure and we'd let ourselves down with a handling error or some little penalty or some other controllable thing. That was frustrating. BYU's physicality is different from what we've seen to this point, and our ability to deal with that physicality for 80 minutes was something we struggled with."
 
After Central dominated play for much of the first 15 minutes, it was BYU who broke through for the first try, scoring in the 19^th minute for a 5-0 lead.
 
The Cougars made it a 12-7 game with another try and conversion in the 26^th minute, before Wendling went to work for the Wildcats.
 
Wendling broke free up the left sideline in the 39^th minute and ran 60 yards virtually untouched for CWU's first try of the game. Lewis Hollidge added the conversion as the Wildcats closed to within 12-7.
 
BYU was hit with a red card late in the first half, and the Wildcats took full advantage of the man-up opportunity immediately after halftime.
 
Just two minutes into the second half, Wendling capped a CWU possession with his second try of the day. Once Again, Hollidge nailed the conversion and the Wildcats gained their first lead, 14-12.
 
The Cougars struck again for another try in the 53^rd minute to regain the lead. The conversion failed but BYU led, 17-14.
 
A penalty kick by Hollidge tied it at 17-17 in the 61^st minute, but BYU struck for another try less than seven minutes later for a 22-17 advantage.
 
The Wildcats had several chances in the final minutes, including one during extra time, but they came up empty.
 
Despite the loss, Thornley saw some positives for his squad.
 
"We were never out of the game by any stretch," he said. "The things that I'm sure we'll identify after this game are fixable. We can only learn from this. The guys are committed and work hard for each other. Effort and intent and execution can be two different things at times, and I think we found that out today."
 
The Wildcats return to action next when they visit Arizona, 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 26 in Tucson, Ariz.