The Colorado School of Mines is in to the national Round of 16 after beating Winona State out of the Northern Lights Conference 54-22.

This is the latest impressive result from the Orediggers, which moved back up to DII from the Small College competition this year, and ran the table in the Rocky Mountain Conference.

Mines got a big game from Konstantin Rehbein, who was a terror around the field as a defender, and tough to stop on defense, although his biggest contribution was in the lineout.

Also solid in the lineout was Connor Parson, who defended well, while Andrew Rixon was solid in the breakdowns.

All three were important in containing Winona’s impressive back row when they had the ball.

Zach Melphy converted seven of the eight Mines tries, while John Law and Caleb Lopez tested the Winona defense out wide.

Mines is now set to Lindenwood-Belleville in the Round of 16. The Lynx defeated Gateway Conference champions UMS&T 15-3 in a tough, tight game. 

S&T took an early 3-0 lead but Kristian Poletti tied it up for Lindenwood-Belleville, and in fact the first half ended 3-3. The Lynx forwards seemed to have the run of things in the set piece, but points were hard to come by. But eventually Patrick Donovan went over and Poletti’s conversion game L-B a 10-3 lead. Late in the game, Brendan Watson went over to seal it 15-3.

See full brackets here.