Lindenwood Tournament: Who Showed Well
Lindenwood Tournament: Who Showed Well
The Lindenwood Tournament in St. Charles, Mo. provided an excellent buildup weekend for teams in the middle of the country.
Scores include:
901 33 St. Thomas Aquinas 26
KC Jr. Blues 27 SLUH 5
901 36 Bixby 17
St. Thomas Aquinas 10 SLUH 5
KC Jr. Blues 87 Lindbergh 7
The Junior Blues put together two good victories. They got two tries from Kaden Critten against St. Louis University HS, and tries from Keller Taylor, Kade Williams, and Lance Nauer to win 27-5. SLUH Coach Brian Corrigan said the side looked rusty, as expected, and giving up a 99-meter interception try didn't help.
On Sunday KC exploded for 87 against Lindebergh, with Aiden Chavez scoring five tries, and Critten bagging another brace. Conor Sexton also score two, with Neil Carmen, Nolan Dingley, and Taylor all touching down once.
This was a good follow-up for KC after a tournament in Springfield, Mo. in which they won a series of shortened games.
SLUH was in another close game as they faced St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday. Aquinas had lost 33-26 to 901 the day before and this time eked out a 10-5 win over SLUH in what SLUH coaches called a defensive barnburner.
"We didn't get the desired results but both matches were competitive and hard fought," said SLUh Head Coach Joe Husgen.
The game was 5-5 when Aquinas managed to punch one in at the corner to finish it off with a minute to play.
"We're improving and it wad good to get the win," said STA Head Coach Tim Kluempers. "The guys just battled all the way through. The effort it certainly there."
SLUH now goes to Indiana to play Penn, Dwenger, Pendleton, and Royal Irish.
Meanwhile, 901 (used to be called Germantown) came away with a very satisfying pair of results. Bringing 52 players, 901Rugby put a lot of focus on getting playing time and they got plenty of time for their JV side, too.
Saturday morning 901 took on Aquinas and were a little edgy about it. Early nerves, and missing their starting flyhalf, led to some early errors. However, with No. 8 Ian Bullock powering on and Caleb Schmidt running the show at scrumhalf, 901 emerged winners 33-26. Center Brady Weatherly was outstanding on the day.
On Sunday, 901 defeated Bixby 36-17. The game was tight and the teams changed ends tied 12-12. Bixby made some crucial handling errors in the second half and Weatherly, along with Will Grant, took advantage. Weatherly got a try and Will Grant scored his second and third of the game.
Fullback George Vezina moved to flyhalf and did well to run the attack, while William Toy and Duncan Hornsby did the dirty work at the breakdowns to control possession. Final 901Rugby 36 - Bixby 17.
Rob Reetz, the Head Coach of 901Rugby, said he was pleased with the results.
"We proved we can man-up physically," said Reetz. "We kept our heads and minimized penalties, ran our pattern of attack under pressure, and, best of all, we got several players minutes on our 2nd side that will fill out our 1st 15's bench."
The 2nd side for 901 went 3-2 for weekend losing to Eureka Varsity and St. Louis U High and beating St Thomas and SLUH JV on Sunday.
