USA Wheelchair Rugby Squad & Schedule: 2019 World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge

The USA Wheelchair Rugby will attend the World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge, October 16-20 in Tokyo Japan. The team won the IWRF 2019 Wheelchair Rugby Americas Championship at the 2019 Parapan American Olympic Games in Lima, Peru in August. That qualified them for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

The World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge tournament is held every four years and in 2019 the event is being contested in conjunction with the Rugby World Cup which runs September 20th – November 2nd.

James Gumbert, Head Coach of the USA Wheelchair Rugby Team, named a 12 player squad for the WWRC. He commented about the tournament indicating that “coming off a great competition at the Parapan American Games Lima 2019 we looked at how we wanted to set the table for the next 12 months and beyond. The group we are taking reflect a solid core of leadership and experience infused with raw skills and next-generation talent. We are excited to return to the competition and see the team lay the foundation for Tokyo2020.”

The U.S. took second at the 2015 World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge losing to Canada 50-54 in the final and they seek to top the podium in 2019.

The U.S., currently ranked 3rd in the world by IWRF, are in Pool B along with Australia (#1), Canada (#5), and New Zealand (#9). Pool A consists of Japan (#2), Great Britain (#4), France (#6), and Brazil (#10).

The U.S. kicks off the competition on October 16th with Canada at 19:15 local time (6:15 am ET). For details on the 2019 World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge visit https://wwrc2019.jp/en/. The matches appear to be available on the WWRC Tokyo 2019 YouTube Channel. For daily recaps, U.S. scores and highlights, also visit usawr.org

USA Wheelchair Rugby Squad

2019 USA Wheelchair Rugby WWRC Roster
3.0 Chuck Aoki
0.5 Clayton Braun
0.5 Jeff Butler
2.0 Ernie Chun
2.0 Joe Delagrave
1.0 Lee Fredette
3.0 Kevin Hamilton
3.5 Ray Hennagir
1.0 Joe Jackson
2.0 Chuck Melton
1.5 Adam Scaturro
2.5 Josh Wheeler

Match Schedule

1. Japan v Brazil 10:15 Oct 16 (21:15 ET Oct 15)
2. Australia v New Zealand 12:45 Oct 16 (23:45 ET Oct 15)
3. Great Britain v France 16:15 Oct 16  (03:15 ET Oct 16)
4. USA v Canada 19:15 Oct 16 (06:15 ET Oct 16)
5. Japan v France 10:15 Oct 17 (21:15 ET Oct 16)
6. Canada v Australia 12:45 Oct 17 (23:45 ET Oct 16)
7. Great Britain v Brazil 16:15 Oct 17  (03:15 ET Oct 17)
8. USA v New Zealand 19:15 Oct 17 (06:15 ET Oct 17)
9. Brazil v France 10:15 Oct 18 (21:15 ET Oct 17)
10. New Zealand v Canada 12:45 Oct 18 (23:45 ET Oct 17)
11. Australia v USA 16:15 Oct 18  (03:15 ET Oct 18)
12. Japan v Great Britain 19:15 Oct 18 (06:15 ET Oct 18)
13. Pool B4vA4 10:15 Oct 19 (21:15 ET Oct 18)
14. Pool A3vB3 12:45 Oct 19 (23:45 ET Oct 18)
15. SF1 16:15 Oct 19  (03:15 ET Oct 19)
16. SF2 19:15 Oct 19 (06:15 ET Oct 19)
17. Bronze Medal 12:30 Oct 20 (11:30 ET Oct 19)
18. Gold Medal 16:00 Oct 20 (03:00 ET Oct 20)

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