Edina Wins 5th-Straight Minnesota Title
Edina overcame an early deficit to beat Minnetonka 22-10 Saturday and win the Minnesota Youth Rugby Boys HS championship.
Minnetonka did take a 5-0 lead, capitalizing on some Edina errors. And in fact it wasn't really a comfortable run for Edina - last week they needed overtime to get through the semis against Duluth.
Edina Head Coach Mark Dalton said one of the keys for his team was defense.
Ohio Celts Solid in MW All-Star Challenge
The Ohio Celts swept both games in the Boys Midwest All-Star Challenge, a three-team warmup for later Regional Cup Tournaments.
Playing at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind., Ohio defeated Illinois 57-0, and then came back from a 17-0 deficit to beat Indiana 24-17.
"Indiana gave us a really good game," said Ohio Coach Tom Cleary. "We had a rough start - three bad tackles and they scored three times. But we came back and got it under control."
Northeast RCT Boys Teams
Here is the latest list of Boys all-star teams slated to play in the Northeast Regional Cup.
The tournament will be June 18-19 at the Lincoln Park Bowl in Albany, NY.
Leading the way in the Boys Varsity bracket is Greenwich, which is a combination of the Greenwich HS team plus players from Fairfield Prep and one or two other players. Rugby Pennsylvania, with five players from the dominant state single-school winners Conestoga, and three more from club winners Doylestown, although 13 teams are represented in the lineup.
Midwest Select Sides Warm Up
The Midwest Challenge Cup is set for two weeks from now, but teams are warming up with two tournament this coming weekend.
In Elkhart, Ind. at the Moose Rugby Grounds, three Boys Varsity teams, three Boys JV teams, and three Girls Varsity teams will face off.
In the Girls Varsity division, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio play a round-robin. For the Boys Varsity, it's Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. For the Boys JV it's Indiana A, Indiana B, and Illinois.
The Illinois Boys teams involved are considered a development squad. That's because the Illinois Tornados program has two teams playing elsewhere.
At the Chicago Blaze club's facility in Lemont, Ill., Wisconsin and Missouri will play the Tornados North and Tornados South teams, respectively, with the JV teams also playing (boys only, as far as we can tell).
Gamebreakers - BHSRNC HS Clubs
Here's the third in our series of Gamebreakers Columns, and we're looking at the HS Club top players from the Boys HS National Championships.
As we did with the other two, we moved some players around to make sure we have the best talent listed, so some are out of position.
Here's the list:
Gamebreakers - BHSRNC Tier II
In this the second of our three Gamebreakers columns, we look at the top players from the Boys HS Rugby National Championships Tier II.
We won't give a description of each player as we normally do, but suffice to say these guys played pretty well. We've moved a couple of players out of position to get the best talent in the list.
BHSRNC Tier II Gamebreakers |
Gamebreakers - BHSRNC Single-School
Three Gamebreakers columns this week as we look at the best players from the Boys HS Rugby National Championships.
We're not going into all the details on these players, and instead we're dividing the players into the three brackets and picking the standouts. We've moved some players around to get the best players in the list - so you'll see a couple of players playing out of position, but we know that.
Here's the single-school list:
NAI 7s Slated for July - Space Available
The North American International 7s still has a little bit of room for top boys HS 7s teams to compete.
The NAI 7s is slated for Salt Lake City July 29-30 at the Salt Lake Regional Athletic Complex.
While the Boys Elite and Boys Open brackets already have a large number of excellent teams registered, there is room for some more. Same goes for U16 Boys and Girls Open.
For more go to: http://www.nai7s.com/
Nicolet Learns from Loss, Wins Wisconsin
In a season of redemptive championship games, Nicolet of Glendale, Wisc., defeated the Chargers of Sheboygan 21-15 to win the Boys DI HS state championship in Wisconsin.
The two teams had met before in Badgerland Conference play, with the Chargers eking out a 5-0 win. But this time, it was Nicolet that would come away victorious.
That earlier loss was a learning experience for Nicolet.
Xavier Wins New York
On a rainy June Sunday Xavier HS defeated rivals Pelham HS to win the Rugby NY Boys DI title.
In the rain, Xavier played a very structured style of percentage rugby, and waiting for chances to attack wide. While Xavier looked to pressure Pelham in the mauls, Pelham defended those very well, forcing the Xavier backs to do more.
Xavier flyhalf Kyle Strehle kicked well and and he read the game well. Xavier took a 28-0 halftime lead with tries from prop Daniel Waggoners, center Zachery Cilmi, and two from wing Michael Chiarovano.
Archmere, Exiles Win HS 7s Brackets
Archmere won the Boys HS Open and the Maryland Exiles won the Boys HS Elite 7s at the HSRC in Chester, Pa. Sunday.
Archmere defeated Media 22-5 in the semis, and West Chester downed Downingtown 21-12 to make the championship game.
In the final, in an entertaining game, Archmere got tries from Nick Udovich, Alec Giakas, Tanner McIlrath, and sophomore Connor Ruggieri, with Noah Niumataiwalu kicking two conversions to see Archmere past West Chester 24-19.
Boys HS 7s Day Two - Winners and Contenders
Here’s the latest from the Boys HS 7s at the CRC.
Saturday saw teams play only the one game on Saturday, the quarterfinals for most and consolation semifinals for some.
In the HS Open competition, Archmere shut out Narberth and West Chester won big over St. Augustine 24-5. Media edged LaSalle and Downingtown beat Unionville 2 by a try.
Those four will be in the semis.
For West Chester, this was just one more step on a road to 7s glory. They won the Surfside 7s last year, and finished second in the Subaru 7s and Ariel Re 7s in Bermuda.
“We’re firing on all cylinders,” enthused Coach Lou Raymond. “We’re very fortunate to have these players. A lot of them have been playing together for a long time. They’re teammates, and they’re friends.”
Minnesota HS Boys Playoffs - Drama in Semis
Edina and Minnetonka will meet in the final of the Minnesota Youth Rugby Boys HS championship next week after both won semifinals Saturday.
For Edina, the favorite and defending champs, it was a scary day. Edina ran out to a 12-0 lead, but were stifled by a strong Duluth forward pack and the game ended 12-12.
Edina Head Coach Mark Dalton said he felt his team eased up a little and didn’t contest for possession enough. As a result, Duluth was able to work the phases and control the pace of the game, as well as keep the ball away from Edina’s dangerous backline.
In overtime, Edina put Duluth under some pressure, and got a penalty. Nick Bloom tapped quickly and went over for the game-winner.
Dalton said Bloom and flyhalf Will Hoff were “massive.”
Meanwhile, Minnetonka played Eagan, a team that had beaten Minnetonka 44-20 on April 15.
Xavier, Pelham to NY Final
Pelham and Xavier will meet for the Rugby NY Boys HS championship after both won semifinals Saturday.
Pelham defeated Western NY champions Fairport 22-12 in the first semi. Luke Persanis and Matt Biskup scored tries for Pelham and Sam Louman scored two, with Whit Johnson adding a conversion. All of Pelham's scoring was in the first half, as they then pulled some starters and held on.
Boy HS 7s Latest
Here's the latest on Day Two of the Boys HS 7s at the CRC in Philadelphia and Chester, Pa.
In the Boys Open, Archmere continues to play well and shut out Narberth in the quarterfinals. West Chester also looked impressive.
In the Elite Division, Greenwich was led by Soh Nakayama, the scrumhalf whose brother, Yoh, is playing at the same venue but for UCLA. This is Soh's final weekend of rugby for Greenwich before he returns to Japan, the country of his birth, to attend university. Rock Rugby, which made the single-school final last year, beat Fishers to make the semis, while the Maryland Exiles and Utah Cannibals, as expected, moved on.
