Western Washington Climbs the Mountain

05.05.2026College Men

Speedster tries see Western Washington past Iowa State. Photo Matthew Dalton.

Author: Alex Goff

Western Washington defeated Iowa State in an excellent and well-played CRAA D1AA final on Sunday, claiming the second major rugby championship for the Vikings, following their 2024 D1AA 7s title.

For both WWU and Iowa State, this playoff run was one about unfinished business. Both had come so close only to fall short, usually at the hands of University of San Diego.

For Iowa State, their defensive power and their positional savvy got them to the final and they continued to showcase that. But Western Washington’s perimeter speed was one of their main weapons.

The Cyclones drew first blood, punishing a penalty and using their forwards to get closer before flanker Zach English, who had an excellent weekend, powered over.

WWU working the hard yards. Photo Matthew Dalton.

Western Washington took some time to realize that you don’t just bull your way through the ISU D. After too much time battering against a reinforced brick wall, they looked to go around.

That started to stretch the Iowa State defense and open up chances for the likes of Lyndon Bailey to charge through the middle.

All of that worked somewhat, but after a long period threatening inside the Iowa State 22, WWU was driven back to midfield and then when Bailey lost the ball forward Iowa State booted downfield and wing Elijah Cook almost chase it down for a try.

Somehow WWU got out of that and prevented a massive momentum swing. Finally, with less than 10 minutes to go in the first half, WWU brought wing Tavoi Filivaa into the line on the opposite side. With the always-dangerous Eli Ashmann on his outside, Filivaa dummied a defender out of the way and raced in to score.

That tied it up at 7-7, and when Western prevented a long break from Beau Wadle from becoming a try, they had escaped the first half, against the wind, with the scored deadlocked.

With the way the wind was at Kuntz Stadium on Sunday, they was a big thing. Iowa State was unable to use the wind the way they wanted because they just didn’t have the ball enough.

Second Half All About Possession

They were smart, though, and took points when they needed to. Justin Johnson’s penalty goal nudging ISU ahead.

The work to play faster and wider allowed Western to answer with a slicing run by Ashmann, fed perfectly by outside center Liam Herring.

It was a battle from then on. Both teams defend well. Both teams understand field position. Both teams challenged at the breakdown.

The Vikings were a bit more flashy, but the Cyclones were up to stopping them.

Arizona State had chances. Photo Matthew Dalton.

But at 55 minutes Western made the big move. They got a penalty at midfield, took a nice touchfinder to set up a lineout, and put together a maul. ISU sacked the maul but Western was ready, working a backline play that ran Sam Schuver through the middle. He sidestepped the last defender and was in under the posts. Crucially, the conversion was easy to make and Western Washington had a two-score lead at 19-10.

It was enough. Iowa State took points again, making it a one-score game at 19-13. But that was as far as they got. Western Washington controlled possession for the most part, and Bailey got the game MVP in part because of the work he did there, however captain Harry Moore and freshman flanker Seamus Twohey put in a ton of work in that regard.

And when the entire pack managed to stop a Iowa State maul threatening the line, you got the feeling that might be it.
For both teams, this was an impressive season. Iowa State worked hard to prepare for this playoff and came just short. Western had been stewing for a while about missing out on the final, and they justifiably celebrated.

MAU Wins 3rd

In the Challenge Trophy for this, Millennia Atlantic defeated Arizona State in a back-and-forth match that owed much to MAU sticking to game plan and being very quick to the breakdown. ASU needed to run in groups, but when they didn’t, their attacks stalled.

MAU vs Arizona State. Photo Matthew Dalton.

Valentino Minoyeti was outstanding at center for MAU but was one of the players who gave up crucial yellow cards, as well. Fullback Emanuele Tani, back from injury, made his first start in almost two years after dealing with multiple knee issues. But it all came down to captain and No. 8 Anibal Gabriel Lamboglia, who led the team by example, got them settled down and playing rugby instead of committing silly penalties, and continually turned difficult situations into positives.