The St. Louis Ruggerfest is the home tournament for St. Louis University High, but they have never won it - until now.

SLUH was in top form as they beat Germantown 26-0, the Chiefs out of Illinois 15-7, and, in the final, the Little Rock Jr. Stormers 26-19.

It was a pretty good weekend for Little Rock, too, as the Stormers beat Bixby 26-12 in the semis.

SLUH Head Coach Joe Muller said he was somewhat surprised that his team won it all. He knew Bixby, KC Jr. Blues, and Little Rock were all very strong. 

“I knew to win we had to play at the top of our game, and the thing is, we did,” said Muller. “It was really gratifying to see them play the kind of rugby I know we can.”

No. 8 Chris Campbell was a try-scoring power runner, who did it all with a broken nose, while scrumhalf Luke Sextro “played about as well as I’ve seen a high school scrumhalf play,” said Muller. Sextro seemed to always find the player in the best position to do some damage.

This is one of the zeniths of the SLUH program this season, and the next big thing will have to be the state playoffs. They aren’t slated to play in a post-playoff tournament, so once they get by arch rivals Eureka, it’s time to think about a state title. Of course, the Jr. Blues will be waiting.

As for those Jr. Blues, they were bumped to the consolation bracket after tying Bixby, and losing out on the tiebreaker. But after that the Blues beat Eureka, the Chiefs, and Bixby to take 3rd.

Coach Chris Lawler seemed to be almost happier with the 3rd-place because it meant an extra game, and with two recent cancelations, the Blues needed to game time.

The Blues didn’t have all of their A-side players in St. Louis, so it will be interesting to see how they do when everyone’s back on the field.