ELLENSBURG, Wash. (May 21) – The Central Washington University men's rugby team heads to Tucson, Arizona to take part in the USA Rugby College 7's National Championships.
FIXTURE INFORMATION
Friday, May 24 at 2:20 p.m.
vs. Cal Poly
Tucson, Ariz.
Friday, May 24 at 4:40 p.m.
vs. Davenport University
Tucson, Ariz.
*All games after pool play will be determined by match outcome.
All games will be streamed on FloRugby,
HERE.
FROM THE COACH
"A great opportunity lies ahead for our group to finish the year on a high," CWU Head Coach
Todd Thornley said. "We are down on experience and outside competition but we have an exciting 12-man roster that will work together and stay in the moment in hope of continuing our proud performances historically in this format of the game. We have adjusted our preparation going into this tournament so I'm excited to see how we fair against opponents who have played multiple tournaments this year."
SCOUTING CAL POLY
The Central Washington University men's rugby team routed Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 66-10 on January 19, 2019.
Captain Alex Mackenzie opened the scoring and gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead after the conversion from
Lewis Hollidge. Mackenzie scored a second try later in the contest.
Cal Poly responded with a penalty goal, cutting the deficit to 7-3. A try from
Max Riseham brought the Crimson and Black's lead to 12-3.
Marques Fuala'au found the try zone next, while
Henry Foster added the conversion for a 19-3 advantage. After Mackenzie's second try, and the subsequent conversion from Foster,
Cole Zarcone made his way in for the try. Foster tacked on his third conversion for the 33-3 advantage.
Jack Wendling was the next over the line for the Wildcats, advancing the lead to 40-3 after Foster's conversion.
Cal Poly scored its only try after Wendling, bringing the fixture to 40-10. Fuala'au made his way in for a second time, giving Central a 45-10 lead.
Makani Mafua gave the Wildcats a 52-10 advantage with a try and conversion from
Jake Szumski. Youth Olympian Alex Cleary score his first collegiate try in his debut. Szumski knocked through the conversion for a 59-10 lead. Zarcone scored the Wildcats' final try, allowing Szumski to complete his third conversion.
SCOUTING DAVENPORT
The Panthers have competed in two 7's tournaments prior to this weekends USA Rugby Collegiate 7's National Championships. The team swept the Big 10 7's tournament, picking up five wins on the day. In the championship game, the Panthers picked up a narrow 14-12 win over Lindenwood-Belleville. The Panthers also competed in the Northwestern 7's, going 6-1 at the event. The team lost a rematch to Lindenwood-Belleville 12-10 in the semifinals. They'd return triumphant in the third place match, beating Minnesota 47-5.
2018 PENN Mutual CRC 7's
The last time the Central Washington University men's rugby team competed in 7's was at the Penn Mutual CRC 7's a season ago. The Wildcats faced off against Army, Maryland, and the United States Naval academy during day one of the 2018 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship 7's tournament hosted at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia.
In the first fixture, the Wildcats picked up a 17-7 victory over Army. The Black Knights scored first, staking out a 7-0 lead with the conversion.
The Wildcats responded with a try from the captain,
Scott Dean. The captain added the conversion to his own try, levelling the score at 7-7.
Dominic Lindstrom broke the tie with his first try of the CRC's, giving the Wildcats a 12-7 lead. The nail in the coffin came when Wendling salted the fixture away with his first try, giving the Wildcats a 17-7 advantage.
In fixture number two, the Wildcats took down Maryland 19-7. Zarcone found his way over the try line early in the first half, while Dean added the conversion, to give CWU a 7-0 lead. Mafua added his first try of the weekend just minutes later, extending the Wildcats' lead to 14-0 after the conversion from Dean. The Wildcats tallied once more in the second half, before Maryland found its only try during the match's final phase.
In their final pool game of day one, the Wildcats fell to the United States Naval Academy 24-7.
Zarcone opened the scoring, cutting through the Midshipmen's defensive line and breezing his way in for the try. Unfortunately, it was the only offense the Wildcats got against Navy.
Navy responded quickly, leveling the score at 7-7, before taking a 12-7 lead. At the final whistle in the first half, Navy struck again for a 17-7 advantage. They added one more try in the second half.
The Central Washington University men's rugby team fell in the plate quarterfinals to Army, 15-12. Army opened the scoring with a pair of tries and dominant possession, before the Wildcats' Zarcone found his way in for Central's first try.
Ian Wright added the conversion.
The Black Knights drove their way into the try zone a third time, staking out a 15-7 lead.
Max Riseham added a try as time expired, cutting the deficit to 15-12. The final whistle blew before the ensuing kick-off, sealing the Wildcats' fate.
CWU USA Rugby Collegiate 7's National Championship Roster
Alex Cleary
John DuPree
Marques Fuala'au
Falani Jennings
Tresten Keys
Alex Mackenzie
Siddique Newkirk
Max Riseham
Jake Szumski
Jack Wendling
Noah Wright
Cole Zarcone
