USA Wheelchair Rugby Wins Gold at Americas Championship & Secures Spot at World’s
By Doug Coil
The USA Wheelchair Rugby team went undefeated in the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Americas Championship to qualify for the IWRF 2018 World Championship August 4-10 at the Sydney Olympic Park Complex
in Sydney, Australia.
In the Gold medal game, the United States beat Canada 54-43. In addition to Canada earning silver, they will qualified for the World’s in Sydney. In the bronze medal match, Brazil beat Colombia 48-42.
- United States (2)
- Canada (4)
- Brazil (19)
- Colombia (18)
- Argentina (20)
- Chile (24)
- Paraguay (unranked)
At the IWRF 2018 World Championship, host Australia will be joined by eleven other teams determined through a regional qualification process. The USA and Canada qualified as the Americas representative. Japan qualified as the result of finishing second to Australia at the Asia-Oceania qualifier, while bronze medalist New Zealand and 4th place Korea will be invited to a world qualifier tournament. Brazil and Colombia, the Americas third and fourth placed teams will also participate in the world qualifier.
The European Qualifier will determine the last of the three zone participants before a final world qualifier tournament is held.
IWRF 2017 Americas Championship Schedule & Squads
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017
- 09:00 Opening Ceremony
- 10:30 Paraguay 14-63 United States
- 12:15 Canada 64-25 Chile
- 2:00 Argentina 41-61 Colombia
- 3:45 Brazil 43-61 United States
- 5:30 Paraguay 18-65 Canada
- 7:15 Chile 36-68 Columbia
Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017
- 09:00 Brazil 59-25 Argentina
- 10:45 Canada 58-41 Colombia
- 12:30 United States 62-21 Chile
- 2:15 Canada 50-45 Brazil
- 4:00 Paraguay 31-62 Argentina
- 5:45 Colombia 27-57 United States
Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017
- 09:00 Argentina 53-38 Chile
- 10:45 Brazil 80-7 Paraguay
- 12:30 United States 58-27 Canada
- 2:15 Chile 15-66 Brazil
- 4:00 Colombia 37-15 Paraguay
- 5:45 Argentina 40-69 Canada
Friday, Sept. 8, 2017
- 09:00 Colombia 47-53 Brazil
- 10:45 United States 57-27 Argentina
- 12:30 Chile 60-44 Paraguay
- 2:00 2nd vs. 3rd Canada 59-46 Brazil
- 3:45 1st vs. 4th USA 66-23 Colombia
- 5:45 5th vs. 7th Argentina 56-31 Paraguay
Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017
- 09:00 6th vs. 7th Chile 52-34 Paraguay
- 2:15 5th vs. 6th Argentina 56-36 Chile
- 4:00 Bronze Medal Game Brazil 48-42 Colombia
- 5:45 Gold Medal Game USA 54-43 Canada
- 7:30 Awards Ceremony
United States Squad
- Chuck Aoki, 3.0, Minneapolis, MN
- Clayton Brackett, 2.5, Birmingham, AL
- Jeff Butler, 0.5, Austin, TX
- Ernie Chun, 2.0, Phoenix, AZ
- Chad Cohn, 1.0, Tucson, AZ
- Jake Daily, 3.0, Belleville, IL
- Joe Delagrave, 2.0, Chandler, AZ
- Lee Fredette, 1.0, East Moriches, NY
- Joe Jackson, 1.0, Chandler, AZ
- Chuck Melton, 2.0, Richview, IL
- Alejandro Pabon, 2.5, Arlington, TX
- Josh Wheeler, 2.5, San Tan Valley, AZ
USA Staff
- Mandy Goff, High Performance Manager
- James Gumbert, Head Coach
- Sue Tucker, Assistant Coach
- Jim Murdock, Medical/ATC
- Chuck French, Equipment
- Sharon Moskowitz, Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Meg Smith, Sports Psychology
