State Champs Crowned in Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota

06.09.2026HS Boys

Minnetonka celebrates a Minnesota three-peat.

Author: Alex Goff

We're getting close to crowing the last major Boys HS champion of the year.

This past week Xavier, Greenwich, Minnetonka, and Detroit Catholic Central all won top-tier state championships.

Connecticut

Greenwich held off a tough Trumbull side to cap off a semifinal-final run in Connecticut after a solid showing at the National Championships in which they missed 5th by a single point.

"It's always tough to come back from nationals and jump into state playoffs and we had to rotate our lineup a little bit," said Greenwich Head Coach James Everett. "But the boys were certainly motivated to get it done. Trumbull made us work for it but we were able to outlast them."

This has been a strong season for Greenwich, but they did get hit by a forfeit which cut their number of games down to 12. In the end the Cardinals ended 9-3, with two losses (by 7 and 1 points) to Xavier, and a loss to HS Nationals #2 St. Ignatius in which they were a forward pass award from being 19-17 at halftime.

In the Connecticut final, Greenwich got some impressive game management from Reuben Meier and Santi Flynn, with Dylan Stanton building on his outstanding form at Nationals (where he made the School All-Tournament team).

Stanton caused problems for Trumbull's lineout while Aidan Byrne worked hard in the trenches. Julen Guazo and Henry Wahl carried well while Teo Ballerio was excellent on defense.

"Trumbull committed to taking away our kicking game and the team did a great job adjusting to the way Trumbull was defending us," said Everett. "Overall, it was a great team effort and I am really happy with the effort that the team put in. It was a great way to end the season."

2025-26 Boys HS State and Major Tournament Champs

Michigan

DCC won Michigan by beating the one Michigan team they had lost to. Rockford beat DCC 26-19 back in Mid-May but the Shamrocks turned that around, tying the game and then, after overtime failed to decide it, it went down to kicks, and then the first round of kicks didn't decide it either.

Finally, on sudden death, DCC got a kick over and Rockford missed, giving the Shamrocks their championship.

Minnesota

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, another bounce-back occurred. Minnetonka and Hopkins were the strongest teams of the league, with Minnetonka outscoring opponents, on average, by 24, and Hopkins outscoring them by 30.

For Minnetonka, the one hiccup was their April 24 loss to Hopkins, with Hopkins scoring three second-half tries to double-up their opponents 38-19.

But when the two met in the final, Minnetonka stormed out to a 40-17 lead, and then held off a Hopkins comeback to win 40-38 for their third-straight state championship.

Minnetonka Rugby was founded in 1999 by Rob Clarno, in the same year his best friend Dan Johnson (DJ) started Hopkins Rugby. Both of them were experienced players who wanted their kids to experience the joy of rugby, and they have been a huge influence, as a result, on hundreds of young rugby players.

"Hopkins played a great match against us," said Head Coach Josh Johnson. "They are a high-quality rugby team. Their players should be very proud of how they played all year, and their coaches deserve high praise as well. Their club has been consistently improving under their current coaches, and the quality they bring to the game in Minnesota cannot be understated."

Minnetonka, for their part, don't go into any game expecting to win. Johnson wants his players to respect every opponent.

"The season is a build from the first practice to the final match, with the sole intent of becoming the best version of Minnetonka Rugby in that year," he told GRR. "As coaches and players, we set a basic standard of execution and work week over week on what we believe will make the team more complete the next match."

The team has a group of about 14 players who have been part of all three championship teams. Working under Johnson, along with coaches Isaac Lundy, Juan Pablo Salcedo, and Christian Harden, they have achieved something special.

All put in the time in practice planning, film, player communication, trainings, and matches, all as volunteers.

"We look at Minnetonka Rugby as the start of each players' rugby career, and whether we get them for four years or one, we want them to leave with a love for the game,and a foundation of quality skills that will make them an asset to any team."