Rugby Ohio Crowns Four Fall HS 7s Champs
Rugby Ohio completed its fall 7s series with four separate brackets this past weekend.
According to Rugby Ohio, 530 athletes participated in the Fall 7s season over four weeks, playing in Social and Competitive brackets.
Matches were played on Sundays, with teams getting in a handful of games and that was it. This past weekend was the championship event.
"There was energy, enthusiasm, and, above all, good play and sportsmanship," said Rugby Ohio Boardmember Robert Voth. "We saw new teams from all around Ohio, a positive sign for everyone involved in Rugby Ohio that our sport is catching on in all corners of the state."
Photos by Ric Kruszynski and Allison Bradfield.
Results:
Boys Social
1st Place - St Ignatius B
2nd Place - Anthony Wayne
Boys HS All Americans To Play In World School 7s
USA Rugby is sending a Boys High School All-American team to the fourth-annual World School Sevens tournament in New Zealand.
Taking place December 13-14, the tournament will bring together 16 national men’s sides at Pakuranga Rugby Club in Auckland for a weekend of international competition.
Led by JD Stephenson as Head Coach, the USA has named a squad of 14 players including 2018 Youth Olympian Ben Wierenga and Jake Broselle, younger brother to senior USA Sevens player Ben Broselle.
Tohi Angilau has also been named following an impressive performance at the Northwest Regional Cup Tournament. Angilau has also been selected for the Eagles Sevens Academy in Chula Vista.
Jesuit Sacramento Coach Shorey To Retire
Jesuit High School of Sacramento has announced that their Head Coach of the multi-national-championship rugby program, John Shorey, is retiring after 23 years with the team.
Shorey has been a fixture with Marauder Rugby since the 1990’s when Fred Khasigian, who led the charge to form Jesuit’s rugby program, asked Shorey to step in and coach for one year.
Bishop Shanahan Wins Rugby PA 7s Title
The Bishop Shanahan boys team took the Rugby Pennsylvania fall 7s title for the third year in a row last weekend.
It wasn't easy, as Shanahan had to get by a Berks County team that had been playing very well, and a difficult St. Joe's Prep squad as well.
In fact, St. Joe's and Shanahan tied each other in pool play, meaning that if they met later on in the tournament, there was some unfinished business.
As it was, Shanahan faced Berks in the semis, and came away with a pretty impressive 22-5 victory. St. Joe's made the final, too, and it was close once again. This time, Shanahan came away victorious 20-17.
The Shanahan team returned just one starter from last season, captain and senior Sam Rudisill. But Head Coach Mark Shaeffer was able to get everyone on the same page relatively quickly.
Rugby NY Fall 7s Kicks Off In Pelham
Pelham HS hosted the first leg of the five-event Rugby NY Fall 7s Series this past Sunday, with three brackets.
Hosts Pelham HS took the Boys Varsity bracket, going 3-0. There was no playoff as severe weather halted play early. But Pelham was the only team to go 3-0 on the day. Play Rugby finished 2-0-1, winning two games and also getting a tie, to top their pool.
New Rochelle finished 2-1, while Queens ended up 1-1-1. Bishop Loughlin took 5th, with New York, New Rochelle's 2nds, and Keio Academy rounding out the eight.
In the Girls Varsity, New York beat Queens.
Rugby Indiana Caps Off Big Fall 7s Season
Rugby Indiana held its HS 7s this past weekend, crowning champions in Boys and Girls brackets.
In the Boys bracket, the Fishers-HSE team beat Noblesville 19-15 in the final.
Two Kentucky teams faced off in the final of the consolation bracket, with St. Xavier HS beating Bluegrass 31-14.
In the Girls bracket, Carroll beat Penn 15-12 in the final, while North Central took down Noblesville 43-10 in the consolation final.
This was the first tournament in which scores were recorded. Rugby Indiana has held a series of events designed to increase participation, and that's why they downplay results.
Berks County Wins Cumberland Valley 7s
Berks County Rugby won the Cumberland Valley Boys HS 7s Championship this past weekend in Pennsylvania.
Berks is an experienced team and has done well building on a solid 2019 spring 15s effort in this fall's 7s events. Berks beat Gonzaga 29-5 and St. Joseph's 24-12 in pool play. Then in the semis Berks beat Philly-Whitemarsh 37-14.
That set up the final against Bishop Shanahan, which is the team Berks has been battling for top spot all fall. Berks won 14-5.
Flyhalf Zak Elgogari and scrumhalf Chris Cleland led the attack well and prop Matt Fernandez were part of a very impressive defensive effort, holding teams to 1.5 tries a game.
Shanahan, Berks Lead In Rugby PA HS 7s
The Rugby Pennsylvania Fall 7s Series stopped at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. this past weekend and Bishop Shanahan came out on top once again as the boys HS 7s competition drives to the championship at the end of the month.
Susquehanna University is a perennial NSCRO 7s national championship qualifier and has hosted a Rugby PA Fall 7s Series event for the last five years, using it as a recruiting event, and also just some outreach to the high school programs in the state.
A 12-team tournament included Berks County, Bishop Shanahan, Blackthorn, Cumberland Valley (two teams), Doylestown, Hempfield, Kutztown, Malvern Prep, Schuylkill Valley, and Turks Head. IN addition, the Bethesda Roosters out of Maryland also attended.
Player Leadership Fuels St Ignatius Fall 7s
St. Ignatius leads the Rugby Ohio Boys Northern Fall 7s with a 4-0 record so far, and it's an indication of what can happen if you open the door to good leaders.
While Dan Arbeznik remains the Head Coach of the team, he has basically only attended games and practices to make sure everything is safe.
"I think more than anything, fall 7s offers our older players the opportunity to develop their leadership skills," said Arbeznik. "They run their own practices, make all roster decisions, and are responsible for communicating all match and practice details. We've had a terrific group of seniors step into this role and it's been quite gratifying to watch them grow as leaders and take ownership of the club."
High School Fall 7s Around The Country
Fall 7s in high school has been taking over the country, at least parts of the country, and has become an excellent way of recruiting young people to the game.
Every state does it differently; some have boys and girls and multiple divisions, some have just girls playing, and some make it just a low-intensity fun thing.
Here’s a look.
Utah
In a multiple-division championship, Herriman took the boys varsity title in a very close final against United.
United took the girls division in fairly dominant fashion. SLV Rhinos took boys D2 while South Davis looked very good in taking the girls D2.
Herriman Edges United In Utah Boys Fall 7s
Herriman won the Utah Youth Rugby Boys Varsity fall 7s competition, taking the final two tournaments of the season.
Herriman had encountered plenty of trouble with United this fall, losing the final of the first tournament of the fall series to their rivals from Alpine, before edging United in the second tournament. It came down to the final of Round 3, and Herriman was 21-17.
United Boys And Girls Lead Utah Youth 7s
United and Herriman both went 3-0 in pool play, and both won their semis relatively comfortably, Herriman 38-15 over Kearns, and United 30-0 over Genesis.
United had a slightly more experienced group this season while Herriman was younger, but grew together over the fall tournaments.
No LVI? Not So Fast. New Major Tournament Coming To Vegas
A large invitational tournament is returning to Las Vegas, with some of the same people who ran the Las Vegas Invitational back in the saddle.
The Vegas Invitational Rugby Tournament will be held February 13-16 in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Invitational has been played in Las Vegas for the past decade, it is now back and better than ever with a new name - Vegas Invitational Rugby Tournament! Emersion Entertainment has partnered with a very special event for the weekend of February 15 and 16. Stay and Play in the Entertainment and Sports Capital of the world!
“I’m excited about it,” said Jon Hinkin, who ran the Las Vegas Invitational for years, and is now part of Emersion Entertainment, with Rob Cornelius, running this event.
United Boys And Girls Lead Utah Youth 7s
Utah Youth Rugby's fall HS 7s season comes down to this weekend and there's plenty on the line.
United Boys won the opening tournament, beating Herriman 28-24 in the final. Herriman responded last week, beating United 24-21 in the final.
So this week's tournament decides who's on top.
Boys Decider
"We finally beat Herriman," said United Head Coach Colin Puriri. "It's been a while. They might be a bit young this fall and we might be on an upward swing. That's how the cycle goes, but we've also got a pretty good team."
United has no superstars, said Puriri, but that's good because all of the players are working together as one unit. Still, Griffin West, James Tenney, and Zeb Mendenhall have been playing especially well.
For Herriman, Sam Adamson helped lead the Herriman Red effort in the second tournament.
Atlantis Hosts Rugby Sevens Camp
The Atlantis Rugby Corporation will host an Individual Testing and Open Rugby Sevens Camp for High School Boys/Girls and Women from the EPRU, on Sunday, September 29, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (registration will begin at 8:30 a.m.). The camp will be valuable for novice and experienced players alike and is open to any male or female player registered with USA Rugby.
Crossover Athletes
Crossover athletes and coaches are welcome. The individual must be C.I.P.P. with USA Rugby and have personal insurance. Any player under the age of 18 must have written permission by his parents and/or Guardian. Each individual player must sign a Waiver and Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk Form ("Waiver and Release"). Each player/coach must sign a Waiver and Media/Picture Release Form.
HS 7s Action In NJ
St. Augustine Prep in New Jersey is hosting a tournament as part of the Rugby New Jersey Fall 7s HS season.
The fall 7s has started to become a bigger part of the high school rugby calendar in the Garden State, and this year teams such as St. Augustine, Christian Brothers, St. Peter's Prep, Union Mudturtes, Morris, and New York Rugby.
Fall 7s has been expanding around the country as more athletes who don't play football have opted for the high-pace tournament style of 7s.
Marywood and Doylestown host tournaments this coming weekend in Pennsylvania, while in New Jersey, Morris, Hudson Catholic, and Union will all host later this season.
St. Augustine won the opening tournament at Christian Brothers Academy, held at CBA. Andrew Whiteman led the Hermits' effort and William Bumbernick was also solid in a good team effort.
