Arkansas State won the regional held at MTSU, and went all the way to the Final Four before losing to eventual national champion Cal.
During the last weekend in March, the MTSU Sports Complex hosted the South Collegiate Rugby Championships for both the men’s and women’s squads. The last teams standing headed to the next round of the USA Rugby National Championship.
The teams were broken into three divisions for the men and two for the women. The winners in the top division both have MTSU connections.
College rugby is not sanctioned by the NCAA, but ASU and MTSU belong in the Sun Belt Conference in those NCAA sports. The Red Wolves, ranked in the top five in the nation by two separate rugby polls, won both of their games during the weekend by a combined score of 99-24. On March 27, they took care of South Carolina 64-10, and then on the following day they beat the Vols for the regional title.
The field conditions for the championship were terrible, because of the heavy rain from the previous night. Both teams, however, were for the most part able to use their wide-open style to move the ball up and down the pitch (the playing surface).
In this case, the pitch for the finals was a big mud puddle. Even with the conditions, ASU jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half. Each rugby match is broken into two 40-minute halves.
On the other field, the women’s Division I title game matched ACC rivals, North Carolina and Clemson. The Tar Heels had a 10-0 advantage during the opening half. Their head coach, Johnathan Atkeison, used to play for the MTSU Moosemen from 2002-20005.
Back to the men’s game, the Vols scored early to cut the advantage to 21-7. Then a few minutes later, Tennessee intercepted an ASU pass and took it in for a try. In rugby, scoring works with the player going across the try line for five points, and then a conversion kick is attempted which is worth two points. Tennessee cut the score to 21-14, but that would be the closest they would get. ASU scored two more times to make the final, 35-14.
“It was a fun game to watch,” ASU head coach Matt Huckaby said. “I had to remember; I was coaching and not spectating.”
In the women’s finals, UNC held off Clemson for a 20-0 victory. The Tar Heels did not allow a point in both of their wins over the weekend. According to Atkeison, he has been back to MTSU on several occasions since he had left the program, including playing in a couple of alumni matches.
“I love coming back every time I can,” Atkeison said. “The school has done a great job with the faculties.”
During the tournament, the MTSU Sports Complex had two matches going on at once, and there also was a warm-up area for those teams that were preparing for their upcoming match. That was one of many reasons USA Rugby decided to award MTSU the rights to host the regional tournament.
“The faculties are very nice and we are very proud of them,” MTSU men’s head coach Jody Hensley said.
The Tennessee High School Championships will be held on the same field on May 8-9.
Hensley, who took over the reins of the program last May, added he is looking to bring the Moosemen back to the status in which they were ranked as high as No. 6 in the Division I standings. In 2000, the Moosemen made it to the round of eight before losing to the eventual national champion, University of California-Berkeley. In 1999 and 2002, they lost to Cal in the round of 16; both times Cal won the title.
“We are excited about the future,” Hensley said. “We have a lot of new recruits coming in.”
Currently, the men’s team plays in the five-team Independent League in Division II. The members include Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State and Western Kentucky. This past season, the Moosemen lost narrowly to both Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State, who both made the tournament out of the league.
