Men's rugby good for second in recent tournament
Chuck Platt '10 / Managing Editor
Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Sports
Not every Friday night for the gentlemen of the Wheaton men's rugby team consists of auctioning themselves off, as they did this past weekend with their second annual fund-raising Date Auction.
On another recent Friday night, Feb. 12, the "ruggers" traveled up to Grantham, N.H. to participate in the 11th annual Balls to the Walls Tournament (masculine), an indoor "7s" event on Feb. 13 hosted by Colby-Sawyer College. The team took second-place in the 20-team event, losing their only game, 15-0, to Yale in the tournament's championship match.
The Lyons went 2-0-1 in their pool to earn their match-up with Yale Graduate School. They beat Lyndon State 20-0, tied American International College 10-10, and beat UMass-Lowell 20-5.
"We didn't know how well we would do," said senior Nick Welter. "When we were up here [for last year's Balls to the Walls Tournament] we struggled."
7s, played with seven a side and two seven-minute halves, is a variant of traditional rugby union, which is played with 15 a side and two 40-minute halves. 7s teams line up with three forwards. They set up the scrum. Behind them are four backs.
"Playing back in 7s is exciting,"
said Welter. "It's very fluid, you never stop running."
Besides the variants in how the game itself is played, there were differences is this tournament in who could play. Since the Balls to the Walls Tournament lies outside of the rugby competition season (September through November), alumni are allowed to play with college teams.
"Playing with the alumni is a great motivator," said senior Jeff Crimmin, who plays as a forward in 7s. "Many seniors in the tournament remember when we were underclassmen playing with them when they were students themselves."
One such young alumnus is Dave Ostman, who graduated in 2008 and now works in the Admissions Office. Ostman finds time to play with Old Gold, a club team based in Boston, however he always relishes the chance to lace up with the Lyons.
On another recent Friday night, Feb. 12, the "ruggers" traveled up to Grantham, N.H. to participate in the 11th annual Balls to the Walls Tournament (masculine), an indoor "7s" event on Feb. 13 hosted by Colby-Sawyer College. The team took second-place in the 20-team event, losing their only game, 15-0, to Yale in the tournament's championship match.
The Lyons went 2-0-1 in their pool to earn their match-up with Yale Graduate School. They beat Lyndon State 20-0, tied American International College 10-10, and beat UMass-Lowell 20-5.
"We didn't know how well we would do," said senior Nick Welter. "When we were up here [for last year's Balls to the Walls Tournament] we struggled."
7s, played with seven a side and two seven-minute halves, is a variant of traditional rugby union, which is played with 15 a side and two 40-minute halves. 7s teams line up with three forwards. They set up the scrum. Behind them are four backs.
"Playing back in 7s is exciting,"
said Welter. "It's very fluid, you never stop running."
Besides the variants in how the game itself is played, there were differences is this tournament in who could play. Since the Balls to the Walls Tournament lies outside of the rugby competition season (September through November), alumni are allowed to play with college teams.
"Playing with the alumni is a great motivator," said senior Jeff Crimmin, who plays as a forward in 7s. "Many seniors in the tournament remember when we were underclassmen playing with them when they were students themselves."
One such young alumnus is Dave Ostman, who graduated in 2008 and now works in the Admissions Office. Ostman finds time to play with Old Gold, a club team based in Boston, however he always relishes the chance to lace up with the Lyons.
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