Men's Rugby | 10/19/2014 4:28:00 PM

ELLENSBURG, Wash (Oct. 19) – The Central Washington University men's rugby team defeated Western Washington University, 50-7, in the championship match to win the National Collegiate Rugby Conference 7's qualifier.

The Wildcats are the last team standing out of the 12-team tournament. The win quialifes the team to participate in the USA National Rugby Championship which takes place in May.  
 
The day started with a quarterfinal matchup against the University of Oregon. The Wildcats won the match 24-5 aided by Aladdin Schirmer (North Bend, WA, Mount Si), Dominic Lindstrom (Kent, WA, Kentwood), Vili Toluta'u (Wailuku, HI, HP Baldwin) and Cameron Marek (San Ramon, CA, California) who each touched down in the try zone once.

"Going 6-0 on the weekend is great," Head Coach Tony Pacheco said. "We were able to get everyone on the field and I think that really shows our depth as a program. We played well as a team, Maverick Schirmer (North Bend, WA, Mount Si) stepped in for Tyler Coffman (Redmond, WA, Redmond) who got a little beat up, and did a great job winning kickoffs, carrying the ball and loading off, he was great."

In the semifinal matchup with Gonzaga University, the Wildcats held the Bulldogs scoreless, winning 52-0. Schirmer and Lindstrom both found the try zone twice as Ian Wright (Renton, WA, Liberty) made 6-of-8 conversions and finished with eight total conversions on the day coupled with a solo try.

The Wildcats made quick work of the Vikings in the championship match scoring early and often. The lone try for WWU came midway through the first half. Schirmer quickly answered the opposing score with a magnificent run down the center of the field, breaking two arm tackles and side stepping the Vikings' sweeper for the answering try. The senior wing, who was held scoreless yesterday, ended the day with four tries. Marek displayed his speed once again as he found the outside edge three times for three scores and finished the day with five tries. Crisp passing and aggressive forward movment kept the Vikings' defense off-balacned as the score inflated from 21-7 at the break to the final score of 50-7, ten minutes later.

"As a region we are getting better, the standard is getting better from where it was five years ago," Pacheco said. "I think the final score kind of flattered us, Western is a pretty good team and they had a couple of injuries that took them out of it."

Next up for the Wildcats will be the Battle in the Bay Sevens Tournament in San Fransico, California, which is set to begin Oct. 25.

"It was fantastic," Pacheco said of hosting the NCRC 7's quailfiers. "It's the first time we hosted the 7's tournament, and to get a good home crowd out there supporting us was nice to see. It was a great weekend."

Scoring Breakdown
Tries
Aladdin Schirmer - 4
Vili Toluta'u - 2
Cameron Marek - 5
Scott Dean - 2
Fitou Fisiiahi - 1
Trent Barnes - 1
Tyler Coffman - 1
Dominic Lindstrom - 1
Ian Wright - 1
Josh Bower - 1

Conversions
Ian Wright – 8
Scott Dean – 4
Josh Bower - 1