Who Leads in Men's D3?

10.13.2025College Men

D3 college rugby and we are starting to see who is in charge.

Notably, in the Northern Lights, the two top D3 teams, St. John’s and St. Thomas, are winning games against the best that D2 can throw at them.

“We had a good handful of returners that played a lot in the spring, and we picked up a good crew of new guys, so we are running two full sides, which is great,” said St. John’s Head Coach Tammy Cowan.

They did lose No. 8 Mark Otis to a bad knee injury, which has hurt them, but sophomores such as flanker Calvin Brinkman, captain JJ Forniel, and scrumhalf Connor Cummings have all stepped into strong leadership roles. Junior captain Tommy Moore, another solid loose forward, and lock (as well as Club President) Timmy Flynn lead by example.

Senior Marcus Hayes, “is really taking the lead on defense and just bringing a good vibe to the team,” said Cowan. And when Cummings went down with a concussion, Michael Luria has filled in nicely.

Weirdly, Northern Lights does not get an automatic playoff spot but has to do a play-in with Allegheny’s #3. Why a conference champ has to travel twice is a puzzler.

St. Thomas has been just as impressive in Minnesota. After their 51-0 win over MSU Moorhead, they are 5-0 and averaging a winning margin of about 50.

Club president Owen Kroening said the addition of coach Ewan Ferral has bolstered a strong staff and he has specifically helped sharpen players’ skills.

“This is alongside strong student leadership within the club such as captain Tate Peterson and Jason VandenHouten,” said Korening. “We are excited to continue to work and see where the season takes us.”

Elsewhere in the US, the SCRC sees Tennessee Tech and Vanderbilt lead the way. In the South, it’s early days still, however, many eyes are on Duke, which has beaten UNC Chapel Hill, Christendom, Elon, and Richmond. VMI has proven itself to be explosive on attack and is averaging over 40 points per game. They are still unbeaten.

Leading in the Tri-State is the US Merchant Marine Academy whose only loss is to Fairfield’s B side, and that by two points. Hofstra and SUN Maritime are right behind.

Cal Poly Humboldt continues to be the best in Northern California. Logan Zampa has been a key performer for them for some years now. The prop who can run and pass and kick is now the team captain. The Lumberjacks have brought in some very strong young talent, and some, Alex Triantafyllou at flyhalf, Anthony Ricci at center, and Jaden Ayala at fullback, have stepped right into the starting lineup.

In New England, Nichols has exploded to a 4-0 record, and logged an impressive 51-10 win over Holy Cross in September, made all the more impressive because Holy Cross has not lost to anyone else.

A school-supported program, Nichols has recruited well and is defensively outstanding.

Bentley, Bates, and Bowdoin are the killer Bs threatening the Nichols hegemony in the top right-hand corner of the nation.

Susquehanna, Catholic, and Loyola lead the way in the Mid-Atlantic. Catholic is new now a school-supported program. Head Coach John Solomon is just getting started as the employed coach for the team, and with them having graduated some key leaders and having five freshmen in the starting lineup, CU has had some growing pains.

Still, they are 3-0, having just edged their main rivals, Loyola, 19-15.

“We squeaked out a win,” said Solomon. Still, he added, “it’s been a decent start to the season.”

The win pretty much ensured Catholic will host a playoff game in the MARC.

Back out west in the High Peaks, New Mexico Tech is 3-0 but two of those wins are forfeits, a scourge of this division. In two weeks they play Denver, which is a big one.

Northern Michigan, UW-Eau-Claire, and UW-Stout lead the way in the Great Midwest. Stout and Eau-Claire play this weekend to decide the top side in D3 West. Eau-Claire is averaging over 60 points per game and has not allowed a point yet.

And coming full circle, we talk about the Allegheny. And yes, the Allegheny gets three seeds to the NCR national playoffs, perhaps at the expense of a very strong Northern Lights duo. That might be because they have a big league and four teams at 3-1 or better: Hillsdale, Xavier, Slippery Rock, and Franciscan.

Slippery Rock and Franciscan played over the weekend. Ranked #1 by NCR, Slippery Rock was favored, but Franciscan won this one, 15-7.

It was a tough, close game, to be sure, and Head Coach Jason Adams said his players had been champing at the bit for the game.

Even when they got his penalties, they stayed composed.

The Barons scored first, with Lex Lang taking an offload from Joseph Moleski off the lineout and slicing through. With Christopher Ascough’s conversion, Franciscan led 7-0 after three minutes.

It remains one of those games where every scoring chance was precious. Late in the first half Franciscan forced a turnover in Slippery Rock’s 22. Rock got the ball back and tried to kicked free, but Samuel King blocked the kick and Paul Leerkes chased it down to put downward pressure on the ball and score.

Franciscan led 12-0 at halftime and Ascough was able to added a penalty. Slippery Rock’s forwards put one over in the second half, late, but they really couldn’t solve the Barons defense.

Moleski was named Player of the Match and King was a defensive star.

There’s more to figure out here. Slippery Rock will play a tough john Carroll side this weekend if they falter Xavier will be there to pounce.

So is that our top group? No results yet from the Northwest, although Western Oregon is usually the team to watch there. We won't speculate. But Cal Poly Humboldt, New Mexico Tech,

Tags

Photo Galleries