Bixby of Oklahoma won the Mid-South tournament hosted at Southern Nazarene University over the weekend.
It was a tournament of teams from Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Missouri. For Bixby, this was an excellent chance to give many players varsity experience.
Most weekend Bixby Head Coach Chris Smith fields a Varsity and JV team. By lumping everyone together this time he was able to avoid over-working players, and also he was able to provide Varsity opportunities for more players.
With the program returning only two starters from last year, and none in the forwards, they have had to work hard to get the players up to speed.
“It made it a challenging start to the year,” said Smith. “But they are improving dramatically every time out. We have a very talented backline with some solid experience, for sure, leads the way.”
Senior flyhalf JD Martin, who was also a standout for the Rebel Rugby Academy, and sophomore scrumhalf Rhys Novosad have run the attack smartly. Senior center Justin Kirk, said Smith, “is as strong and hard-nosed as it gets.”
He partners nicely with senior Luke Kohnstamm in the midfield, and he is a speedy outside center who played strong defense.
