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Tech Ruggers Capture Santa Fe Tournament
Dave Wheelock, NMT Director of Rugby The New Mexico Tech Rugby Club opened their 32nd year in fine fashion Sunday, winning four matches and the collegiate division championship of the Santa Fe Tens Tournament. Tech gained additional honors with the naming of two players to the all-tournament team, which also included players from the men’s club and women’s divisions. Denver’s Black Ice won the women’s division and Albuquerque’s Aardvarks came away with the club division trophy. The Socorro team outscored their opponents 64-20 over the course of the ten-man tournament, beating New Mexico State University, College of Santa Fe, and New Mexico Highlands (twice) on their way to the championship title. Ten-man rugby is a fast-paced, 20-minute version of a game normally featuring 15 players competing for 80 minutes. Tech opened their season with a surprisingly easy 19-5 win over traditional downstate rival New Mexico State University. Although the teams were locked at five points apiece at halftime on the strength of unconverted tries by Tech’s David Yazzie and NMSU’s Luke Clemmons, Tech appeared to have the upper hand as their five forwards drove their opponents’ scrums backwards and all ten players tackled fiercely. Two minutes into the second half the Pygmy backs uncorked a picture-pretty play from midfield to set sophomore center Josh Hanson free on a long romp to within five yards of the goal line. As he was dragged down fullback Matt Nelson, also a sophomore, was on the spot to scoop up the ball and plunge over for a try which was converted with a kick from captain Patrick Simons. Early season handling errors prevented Tech from capitalizing on their dominance
until one minute from full time, when Simons recovered the form that earned
him team MVP honors in 2003-2004. The big center, seemingly hemmed in on a broken
play, used his agility and speed to score between the posts, then slotted the
conversion kick for the final 19-5 margin. These two teams found themselves again squared off in the championship match two hours later by virtue of the Vatos’ favorable points differential over their preceding three games. A good crowd was treated to a well-played and competitive contest that saw NMT’s Simons and NMHU’s Joe Roebuck excused for a short cooling-off period in the first half following a near dustup. Tech struck first at three minutes of the first half when the compact Josh Hanson took a short pass from veteran center Michael Bauer and scampered home for a try converted by Simons. Highlands’ indiscipline stung them again early in the second half and David Yazzie rumbled across on a tap-and-run penalty play. Simons could not connect on a difficult conversion attempt from near the sideline. Highlands went on the offensive for much of the second half but were repeatedly repulsed through hustling positional play by Bauer and freshman John Rundberg coupled with strong tackling throughout the team. Although the Vatos were rewarded in the closing moments with an unconverted try by Castillo, it was not enough to deny New Mexico Tech a 12-7 victory and their first Santa Fe Tens championship. Junior captain Pat Simons and senior lock David Yazzie were named to the all-tournament team, as were former NMT players Lisa Deickmann of Denver Black Ice and Richard Jason Soto of host club Santa Fe Santos. New Mexico Tech will try to maintain the upper hand over a suddenly familiar foe Saturday September 11 as they travel to Las Vegas for a traditional 15-a-side match against Highlands University. Kickoff will be 1:00 p.m. at Perkins Stadium. -NMT- |
