May 4, 2016
USA Rugby Men’s Club DIII Playoffs
Doug Coil
The National Division III Quarterfinals and Semi-finals are rapidly approaching. The Eastern Regional is being held at Founders Field in Pittsburgh, PA, May 21-22, 2016. The Western Regional is being held the same time at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. The National Championship then will be held at Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado on June 5th.
Western Region
The Pacific Northwest Champion was the 43rd State Crimson Lions and had a bye into the Round of 16.
The Northern California playoffs began with Napa Valley defeating the Reno Zephyrs in a semi-final. In the other, Colusa County beat Modesto 35-33. The final then had Napa Valley meeting Colusa County. When these teams met in a regular season match, a 36-36 tie resulted. This time Napa Valley won 27-10.
This weekend the Pacific North Champion will determined as 43rd State Crimson Lions plays Napa Valley.
The Southern California playoffs began with Beaumont Bluehawks defeating the Orange County Bucks 47-0 in a semi-final. In the other, Orange County Ravens won over Empire by forfeit. The Orange County Ravens then beat Beaumont Bluehawks 37-12 in the Final.
The Arizona playoffs began with Northern Arizona winning 80-0 against Old Pueblo and Phoenix winning 38-29 against the Tucson Magpies. Then in crossover matches between the Arizona and Rio Grande Rugby Unions Northern Arizona beat Las Cruses Horny Toads 46-22 and Phoenix won against New Mexico Brujos 28-12. Northern Arizona then beat Phoenix 75-5 in the Final.
This set up this week’s Pacific South Championship between Orange County Ravens and Northern Arizona. The winner will play the Pacific North Champion in the National quarterfinals May 21.
Mid-America Missouri playoff match results were, St Louis Royals 64-10 St Louis Ramblers, St Louis Bombers D3 beat the St Louis Hornets and the Final was St Louis Royals 54-7 St Louis Bombers D3.
Mid-America HOA playoff results were, Wichita Barbarians 72-17 Springfield Mudpuppies, Columbia Outlaws winning against the Arkansas Gryphons and in the final, Wichita Barbarians beat the Columbia Outlaws 43-5.
The Rocky Mountains Champion was decided last Sunday as the Denver Highlanders beat the Queen City Rams 25-11. The Denver Highlanders now face the Columbia Outlaws in the Frontier playoffs this weekend. In the other semi-final, Wichita Barbarians plays the St Louis Royals. The winners play Sunday with the Champion to play the Red River Champion at the National Quarterfinals May 21 in Tucson, Arizona.
The Red River Championship is also this weekend. Euless Texans play San Marcos Greys in one semi-final, while Austin Blacks D3 and Houston United D3 play in the other semi-final. The winners then play on Sunday.
Eastern Region
The Midwest West and East Regions were held last weekend. In the West, Grand Rapids Gazelles won 35-0 against the Cleveland Rovers and the Columbus Castaways beat Fort Wayne 44-30 in the semi-finals. In the final Grand Rapids then won 55-5 against the Columbus Castaways. In the East, Milwaukee withdrew prior to the weekend, causing a change in semi-final matches. Bremer County Bucks the number 1 seed, received a bye and Fox Valley Maoris beat the Milwaukee Barbarians D3 side 66-7. In the finals Bremer County won 25-12 against Fox Valley.
In this weekend’s Midwest Championship, the Bremer County Bucks face the Grand Rapids Gazelles. The winner will play the Savannah Shamrocks May 21st.
In the South, the Savannah Shamrocks beat Montgomery Yellowhammers 33-21 and Southern Pines won 37-20 against Sarasota. In the final Savannah won 53-26 against Southern Pines.
The Empire GU Rugby playoffs began April 16th. In quarterfinal match results, had Buffalo 34-7 Rochester Aardvarks, Rockaway 42-14 Danbury, Fairfield Yankees 47-12 Brooklyn and North Jersey 41-10 Union. In the semi-finals, Rockaway won 27-27 over top seed Buffalo and Fairfield won 83-7 over second seed North Jersey.
Both the New England and Empire Championships occurred last weekend. MIT beat Old Gold 29-25 to win the New England Championship, while the Fairfield Yankees won a 47-46 thriller against the Rockaway. On Saturday, MIT faces Fairfield Yankees with the winner to face the Mid-Atlantic Champions in the National Quarterfinals.
Finally, the Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals are this weekend. The Semi-finals and finals will be next weekend. Reading plays Blacksburg and Schuylkill River D3 plays Newport News. These winners will face each other the semi-finals. The Washington Renegades play South Jersey and Virginia Beach play Rocky Gorge D3 with the winners also advancing to the semi-finals.
On May 22, the winner between the Midwest Champion, either Bremer Couny Bucks and Grand Valley Gazelles and the South Champion, Savannah Shamrocks will play the Atlantic North v Mid-Atlantic winner to advance to the National Championship.
