USA Rugby’s attempt to field a DII Men’s College 7s championships was been quite successful so far this year, with 11 tournaments providing teams and seven automatic qualifiers having won tournaments so far.

Four of those winners secured their spots this past weekend. The Coast Guard Academy defeated Vermont - who had already punched their ticket by winning the Scott Milley Memorial 7s last week - to win the NECRC 7s. Wisconsin-Whitewater won the Tournament of Champions in Sleepy Hollow, Ill., Vassar won the Tri-State in their home of Poughkeepsie, NY, and Providence won the Rugby Northeast 7s.

Interestingly, two of the winners started their day inauspiciously, losing early games.

Providence had played a 15s game the day before, losing to Rhode Island in the annual Holder Cup game between the two teams. That night, Providence College won the NCAA hockey championships, making for a less-than-restful Saturday night on campus. But early Sunday morning the team pulled themselves out of bed and made their way to North Easton, Mass., to play in a 7s tournament.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” said Providence Coach Mike Cox. “And then we started against Stonehill and lost 35-0, and I thought, oh my, we’re in for a long day.”

But Stonehill would prove to be their toughest competition all day. Slowly the Providence team started to find their rhythm, with Yucca Reinecke and Pat Gray playing well. Reinecke, a freshman, was the team’s MVP for the day, but also making an impact was sophomore Cameron Hughes - readers may know his older brother, USA 7s team captain Madison. Cameron Hughes is another small, skilled, strong player and nailed down the midfield for the Friars.

Providence made the final, where waiting for them was Stonehill, eager for a rematch. And it looked for all the world as if the game would go as the opener did. Stonehill ran out to a 14-0 lead. But Providence settled down, scored twice to tie it up, and on the final play of the game, Owen Lynch went over to win the final, and the tournament.

“I hadn’t even thought about the qualification,” said Cox. “But then the players were saying, ‘we’re going to Denver,' so I guess we’re going to Denver.”

Wisconsin-Whitewater ran into some problems early on, too. They were beaten soundly by Illinois State in pool play. But after that, Coach Matt Pederson made some changes, putting in a smaller but more mobile group of forwards.

“We had a group of forwards who were 5-8, 5-8, and 6-2,” said Pederson. “But they were wrestlers and good athletes, and just played really good defense."

Garrett Shibilski was one of those and was a tackling machine throughout the day, playing hooker and also slotting in nicely as the halfback when needed.

Some starters were moved to impact subs, and that also worked for the Warhawks as they defeated Northern Iowa in the semis, and then Illinois State 24-12 in the final.

“We didn’t really change how we play, but we found a way to get ourselves on the front foot, and that was the difference,” said Pederson.

In Poughkeepsie, it was a different story, as Vassar went 6-0 and were really only pushed hard by one team, Sacred Heart in pool play.

In that game, a clash of 3-0 teams, Vassar needed to come from behind and got the winner from Erik Quinson. On the day, Quinson would score six tries and score in all but one game. Joe Simon scored an astounding 11 tries and scored in every game. This included three tries in the semifinal win over Seton Hall, and three more in the 24-10 victory over SUNY New Paltz in the championship game.

It was an impressive performance by Vassar in that they won competitive games throughout the day.

Those four winners join Vermont, St. Louis University, and Southern Illinois in USA Rugby’s Men’s DII College 7s Championships. The field for the DII championship is expected to be 12 teams, so there is room for the remaining four qualifiers and either one more qualifier, or a wild card team.