This past Saturday, Sunshine 7s took place at the University of Florida, officially kicking off the first of ten automatic qualifier 7s tournaments for the 2025 Collegiate Rugby Championship premier bracket.
Iowa Central Community College entered the tournament as the defending champions of this tournament and the clear favorites after finishing fourth at last year’s CRC tournament.
Due to unseasonable weather in Florida, the day started chilly, with frost covering the playing field. The Iowa Central coaches immediately saw this as an advantage for their Midwest-based team. It eventually warmed up and became a beautiful day for rugby.
The Tritons took care of business in their first two games, defeating both Florida and South Carolina’s second sides before facing off against Clemson for the top seed in the pool. With a semifinal spot locked up, ICCC rested their captain Koen Webb but the match was still a thriller, as Clemson knocked off the favorites 24-22 on the final play.
Finishing 2-1 in their pool, Iowa Central matched up against South Carolina, who won their pool with wins over Auburn, U. Florida Orange, and Clemson Purple. In another exciting finish, Iowa Central’s Takudzwa Musingwini weaved through the defense to take the lead 24-21 with 30 seconds left to play and secure a rematch with Clemson in the finals. ICCC took a 10-0 lead at halftime and immediately scored to start the second half thanks to a 40-meter try from Vince Jacoby to go up 17-0. Clemson countered with a converted try of their own, but Gavin Oleson dotted down two to complete his hat trick and secure a 27-7 championship win.
“It really was a team championship,” said Iowa Central Head Coach Brent Nelson, “Our guys understood the assignment, they had fun when it was time for fun and they did business when it was time to do business.”
Nelson credited the team for their success on restarts, their pre-match preparation, and winning the recovery battle in between matches. Rashon Jennings, Quinten Daily, Davin Cameron, and Giovanni DelGaudio are all young players who stepped up and contributed to the win. Gavin Oleson, Takudzwa Musingwini, and Tyler Gast all made significant impacts as well. Oleson led the team with 6 tries on the day Musingwini and Cameron each scored four. Coach Nelson said he hopes to continue to develop his roster to give the team depth going into future tournaments.
