Albert Lea Wins Minnesota HS 7s Opener
Albert Lea Wins Minnesota HS 7s Opener
Minnesota Youth Rugby kicked off its summer 7s season with a special guest getting involved.
The Kansas City Junior Blues made the trip up to Minnesota to become the sixth team in the tournament.
Teams were split up into two pools of three. The Junior Blues beat both Eagan and South River to win their pool, while Albert Lea shut out Hopkins and edged Minnetonka to win their pool.
Albert Lea got by Eagan by a conversion in the semis while KC just got by Minnetonka 19-12.
That set up the final which Albert Lea took 31-12.
Albert Lea got big performances from Tyler Barney, Derek McMillan, Griffin Studier, Nathan Bain, and Tucker Eriksmoen in what was an impressive team effort from the Freeborn Eagles. Albert Lea played without the team's two fastest players, who were both nursing shoulder injuries.
"They did a great job keeping possession away from their opponents to compensate for the speed advantage our opponents had," said Albert Lea Coach Ron Eriksmoen.
Full Results:
Pool Play
Eagan 24 - South River 0
Kansas City Jr Blues 29 - South River 5
Kansas City Jr Blues 19 - Eagan 0
Albert Lea 42 - Hopkins 0
Minnetonka 29 - Hopkins 0
Albert Lea 19 - Minnetonka 12
Semifinals
Albert Lea 12 - Eagan 10
KC Jr Blues 19 - Minnetonka 15
Championship
Albert Lea 31 - KC Jr Blues 12
3rd place
Eagan 19 - Minnetonka 14