Lindenwood Tournament Key Kickoff For Several MW Teams
Lindenwood Tournament Key Kickoff For Several MW Teams
Teams in the Midwest took advantage of the annual Lindenwood Tournament over the weekend to get a good multi-game kick-start to the season.
"It was a good tournament, and we had the opportunity to get some time for a lot of guys," said St. Thomas Aquinas Head Coach Tim Kluempers.
Aquinas won two games, beating Eureka and St. Louis Jets. They lost to 901 out of Tennessee, which took the result 26-5. In addition, 901 took a 48-7 win over Oklahoma-based Bixby; they were led by senior forwards Garret Hagan (U. Memphis commit), who scored four tries on the weekend, Andrey Toy, who scored three, and No. 8 Riley Windschitl, who also bagged three.
Alabama commit and flyhalf Colby Shelton was very good while outside center Ben Killebrew (off to Tennessee) and fullback Jack Sipniewski (University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in Saint Louis, aka UHSP) were also strong in the backs.
St. Martin's Kingfishers won twice via shutout, over Royal Rambler Force and over SLUH. Led by the halfback combo of Robbie Ritson and Will Van De Ryt, Kingfishers ran their attack with alacrity and they defended well, also. Captain Ethan Blakie was outstanding, also.
The Kansas City Jr. Blues beat CBC, St. Louis Jets, and SLUH.
It was a good showing for the Junior Blues since they have only had four practices outside.
They beat CBC 60-0 and led the Jets 22-0 before St. Louis was able to get on the scoreboard. The Blues eventually won 36-7.
On Sunday against SLUH the Blues scored their first try two minutes in, and got in scoring position again only to knock the ball forward. SLUH answered to make it 7-5, and while the Junior Blues pressured SLUH for the rest of the half, the Billikens held them out.
At halftime, the Junior Blues coaches must have said the right thing because they came out playing a more patient, structures game and ran in six tries to win 39-10.
"All in all, it was a good first weekend for us, especially considering we have been stuck inside most of the last two months and we were missing some starters on Saturday and several on Sunday," said Jr. Blues Coach Chris Lawler. "But it was good to get the reserve guys and the young guys some 1st side time to build our depth and build their confidence. That will be helpful down the road."
This was a warmup tournament for these teams and results, in some instances, should be taken with that in mind. Still, Kingfishers produced some dominant results and 901 and the Blues also showed they have something to offer.
It's been a tough couple of weeks for Bixby as they learned of the passing of their 2024 JV Player of the Year, Jackson Neerman. The players have been wearing warmup shirts with his name on them; the tragic death led to Bixby not playing their usual opener, against Aquinas last week.
