Milwaukee Lakefront 7's Results

Catholic Memorial High School won the high school girls division for the second year in a row with a 22-7 victory over Penn High School of Indiana.  This year's bracket was a much more competitive and diverse event, with two pools of teams from three different states competing.

While WGR is still awaiting full results, Catholic Memorial won their pool with victories over the Wisconsin Selectside and The Storm out of Tennessee.

Penn HS won their pool with victories over Brookfield and Storm's second team.

Championship
Catholic Memoral 22  Penn HS 7

3rd Place
Wisconsin Selects v Brookfield

5th Place
Storm v Yellow Storm

Pool Play
Catholic Memorial 46  Storm 0
Catholic Memorial 19  Wisconsin Selectside 5
Wisconsin Selects over Storm

Penn HS over Brookfield
Brookfield over Yellow Storm
Penn HS over Yellow Storm

A last minute ruling from USA Rugby prevented DSHA from competing in the Qualifier Division and defending their 3rd Place finish. It was unfortunate that what is widely regarded as the best high school sevens team in the country was unable to play one more time in their big local tournament.

All American Game Rosters

USA Rugby has announced the rosters for it's first ever High School All American game taking place at Infinity Park July 9th - 13th.  Invited girls had to fund thier travel to the event, but after that their expenses are covered by USA Rugby.

Congratulations to a talented group of young women!


Christie Albers Castle Rock High School


Dana Alimena Doylestown High School

Bridet Amoako North Suburban Girls

Shailah Anderson Lakewood High School

Kelsey Bourdon Algonquin Girls Rugby

Ashlee Byrge Herriman Girls Rugby

Gioanna Cruz Play Rugby USA

Sheila Decker Adirondacks Girls Rugby

Ali DeCrane St. Joseph Academy

Julie Else Catholic Memorial High School

Frieda Fatu'u Lowland High School

Tess Feury Morris Rugby

Emily Fulbrook Fairfax Police High School

Alanna Giardin Worcester High School

Michaela Haley Maryland Exiles U19 Girls Rugby Football Club

McKenzie Hawkins Maryville Rugby Football Club

Mata Queen Hingano Danville Oaks HS RFC

Kaleinani Isaacs Lowland Girls

Megan Johnson Budd Bay RFC

Casey Karl Fallbrook High School

Hedvig Karlsson Lowland High School

Cynthia Kelly Miami U19

McKenzie Lane Fullerton High School

Hannah Lewandowski Ranier Plateau Junior Rugby Club

Jasteny Luna Empire

Avery MacGillivray Essex High School

Isabel Manu Troy High School

Josie Markoff Budd Bay RFC

Neallie Payne Kingwood Girls

Katy Peoples Summit High School

Olivia Rasp Hempfiled Girls Rugby

Jamiya Richardson Cheshire Girls Rugby

Elida Rivas Bullard Girls High School Rugby

Ashley Rolsma Kent Crusaders

Megan Rom Kingston Mad Dogs Girls

Andrea Sanabria Hopkins Royals

Taylor Schussler West Carroll Marauders

Ashley Scott Lady Barbarians

Nate Serevi Kent Crusaders

Kiana Staffings Dixon Rugby Football Club

Richelle Stephens Fallbrook Girls High School Rugby Club

Jane Taumanupepe Herriman Girls Rugby Club

Kailyn Tilini Hilo Reign

Fina Toetuu Danville Oaks HS RFC

Nicole Valli Jupiter Rugby Girls

Abby Vogel Portland High School

Danielle Walko-Siu Hilo Reign

Lily Welcon Summit High School

Emma Workman Fallbrook High School

Madison Yates Snow Canyon Girls Rugby

Girls Rugby at Lakefront Sevens

The schedule for the Lakefront 7's girls division has been released:

2:20pm  Field 5  Penn (Ind.) v Yellow Storm (Tn)
2:40pm  Field 3  CMHS       v  Storm (Tn)
3:20pm  Field 5  Penn           v  Brookfield 2
3:40pm  Field 3  CMHS       v  Brookfield 1
4:20pm  Field 4  Brkfld 2      v Yellow Storm
4:20pm  Field 5  Storm         v  Brookfield 1
5:20pm  Field 3  Championship
5:20pm  Field 4  3rd Place
5:20pm  Field 5  5th Place

Unconfirmed sources tell us that one of the Brookfield teams may morph into the Wisconsin Selects 7's.

Women's Qualifier
1:00pm  Field 6  DSHA v NOVA1
2:40pm  Field     DSHA v Wisconsin Women's Rugby Club
3:40pm  Field 2  DSHA v  Lions
4:40pm  Quarterfinals Begin

Lakefront Sevens Girls Division Grows

This year's high school girls division of the annual Milwaukee Lakefront 7s Tournament has expanded significantly.  With a full pool of competitive teams, it seems girls teams are catching on to the huge boom in collegiate and club level sevens.  The Crusader Cup back in May exposed some WGR teams to sevens earlier this spring and that may have jump-started some more interest in Milwaukee's biggest rugby festival of the year.  But the bracket features more than just Wisconsin teams and could develop into the premier high school girls sevens event in the Midwest.

Catholic Memorial and two Brookfield teams will represent Wisconsin in the high school division. Other participants include Storm out of Tennessee; they play a wide open game already and with a lot of athleticism in a young team, sevens fits them perfectly.  They play a fall conference sevens season and should be a challenger for the title.  They've entered two sides in the tournament.  Another experienced participant will be the Penn High School girls out of Indiana.  They perennially look to play at the highest level possible and continue to earn a lot of respect with their play every year in the Midwest Championships in April.  They were really athletic in the spring, with a big midfield and that should translate to success in sevens as well.

 Fresh off their 41-0 victory over Fallbrook at the Philadelphia CRC High School Challenge, DSHA will once again compete in the senior level Midwest Qualifier bracket with the collegiate and adult womens players.  Kudos to them for having the guts to play at the highest level possible.  The bracket features some of the top women's programs in the Midwest and NOVA from the East Coast.

Youngbloodz
Chicago Lions
Wisconsin Women's Rugby Football Club
Detroit Women's Rugby Club
Milwaukee Scylla
NOVA WOMEN 1
NOVA WOMEN 2
DSHA

Wisconsin Boys Selectside

A quick shout out to our brothers with the Wisconsin Boys Selectside as they emerged Champions of the Rocky Mountain All-Star Challenge last weekend for the 2nd time.  The 2003 Championship team is pictured above.  The 13^th annual RMC featured 18 regional all star teams playing in 3 brackets, the largest field in tournament history.  In the Boys Varsity Championship match, Wisconsin scored 2 late tries to surge past a strong Southern California side 24-22.

 In the final match in the Girls division, the Utah- North side triumphed over Colorado's Summitt County, 28-10 top claim the championship. Interestingly, Colorado fielded two teams in the girls tournament:  Rugby Colorado/Glendale and Summitt's team.  It is also exciting to see Texas getting involved in developing more girls rugby and fielding a side in the event.

 The tournament also featured a Boys Junior Varsity bracket, where Southern California defeated Wisconsin 59-0 to remain undefeated and win the bracket.

Final Standings and Match Scores

Boys Varsity

1.       Wisconsin
2.       Southern California
3.       Colorado
4.       Oklahoma
5.       Heart of America
6.       Texas
7.       Nebraska
8.       New Mexico

Championship Match    Wisconsin 24      Southern California 22

3^rd Place                               Colorado 39        Oklahoma 13

5^th Place                               Heart of America 26        Texas 24              
7^th Place                               Nebraska 31                       New Mexico 17
Pool A Matches
Southern California 16   Colorado 10                        Texas 25               Nebraska 5
Colorado 33        Texas 15                                               Southern California 60      Nebraska 0
Colorado 26        Nebraska 5                                         Southern California 36   Texas 0
Pool B Matches
Wisconsin 38      New Mexico 0                                   Oklahoma 22      Heart of America 20
Heart of America 21        New Mexico 7                   Wisconsin 24      Oklahoma 7
Wisconsin 27      Heart of America 22                        Oklahoma 39      New Mexico 12

Girls Pool

1.       Utah-North (4-0)

2.       APEX Mountain All Stars (Summit County Colorado)  (3-1)

3.       Rugby Colorado/Glendale Select Side   (2-2)

4.        Utah- South  (1-3)

5.       Texas  (0-4)

Pool Play Scores

Utah- North 19     RC/Glendale 10                              APEX 55   Texas 0

APEX 36   Utah- South  5                                                RC/Glendale 36    Utah-South  5

Utah- North 56     Texas 0                                              Utah- North 67    Utah-South 5

APEX 10     RC/Glendale 3                                              RC/Glendale 54     Texas 7

Utah- North 28  APEX 10                                                Utah- South 17     Texas 15                                          

Wisconsin 2013-2014 Conferences Announced

The 2013-2014 Wisconsin Girls Rugby Fall Conferences have been announced.  Seeking a balance of competitive and developing programs sees a Division I and Division II competition planned for the next school year.

Featuring in Division One are three teams that competed at the National Tournament in 2013.

Division I:  DSHA, Catholic Memorial, Vernon, Oak Creek, Brookfield, and Kettle Moraine

Division II: Appleton, DSHA JV, Fond Du Lac, Menomonee Falls, and Muskego

Stay tuned for the release of the conference schedules and a possible change in location for the annual state tournament.

Midwest State Championship Update

As the 2012-2013 Year has drawn to a close, here's brief review of the State Championships that occurred:

Ohio:      St Joseph's defeated rivals Parma 12-5.  St Joe's JV defeated Highland 8-7 for the D2 title.
Illinois:   Plainfield, as clear favorites, won their second consecutive state title
Iowa:      7s Champions Southeast Polk High School over Valley 14-7.
Michigan:   Traverse City won their 4th consecutive title over Berkley High School.
Minnesota:  Armstrong won their 4th consecutive, 62-0 over Orono. 
Wisconsin:  DSHA over CMHS in their Fall State Championship.

MIdwest Select Tournament Wrap Up

From Coach Noe of the Wisconsin High School Selectside:

"With the playoffs and crazy spring weather, the WI Girls High School All Star team was finally able to get together for a quick practice before heading to Indiana.  As the sun set on our last night in WI, the pieces were beginning to fall into place.  Saturday morning was our first match against Michigan.  Many of the girls had never played on a select side and were anxious to see how things would fit together.  Things could not have gone better, communication was great, it took nearly 14 minutes before we even had a knock on in the match.  We had tries by 9 different players and huge runs all over the field.  It was a huge confidence boost, showing that we could play together before the afternoon Ohio match. 

The Ohio match was much different, they were well organized and had a bunch of athletic talent.  We were able to strike first with a penalty kick from Anisa Feto (OC).  However the resulting kickoff was poorly fielded and led to a stolen lineout and quick try and conversion for Ohio.  Fighting back into the match, Maggie Wesolowski (CMH) disrupted a ruck that sent a lazy pass from the scrumhalf into the hands of inside center, Cassie Schultz (KM) as she was able to avoid the fullback and get in under the posts.  Anisa’s conversion split the posts and WI was back up 10-7.  Ohio was able to answer just before half time to make it 12-10.  A fired up WI team was able to come out after half time and Maggie Wesolowski (CMH) was able to get the lead again with a try making it 15-12.  After some back and forth play, Ohio was able to get WI to commit a penalty around the breakdown and wisely opted for the points, and drawing even at 15.  With time winding down both sides were looking for the last points.  After a few big runs by the Ohio #8, WI found itself with their backs to the wall, after holding up one attempt by the #8, the 2^nd pick off the back of a scrum found space for her to touch down.  The conversion made it 22-15 with only a few minutes remaining. 

 

     WI worked hard to get a turnover off of the kickoff and then were able to put Ohio under pressure.  A few penalties kept the game alive until Maggie Wesolowski was able to find some space down the far sideline.  As she kept getting slowed down by the defense it looked as though she would end up a few meters shy of the try line.  At the last moment, captain Lindey Wise (DSHA) came through in support to gather a quick pop pass and dive through the defense to score.  The attempt at the conversion went wide and the opportunity to tie was missed.  It was by far the best match of the weekend, and the heart and passion of the smaller Wisconsin side gave Ohio everything they could handle. 

      On the final match of the weekend, the WI forwards took to a very physical Indiana side.  The extra scrum work from Thursday night paid off as WI was able to control the set piece.  With the great platform to work from, it led to a quick scamper around a ruck for a try by scrumhalf Julie Else (CMH).  Anisa Feto saw another of her big runs breaking tackles on her way into the try zone as well.  Indiana were able to sneak a quick score around the front of the lineout just before half to keep it close at 10-7.  After halftime, junior Beth Pokorny (DSHA) was able to loop around the back line on her way to the try zone and build on the WI lead.  A few minutes later, off of the same backline play, Beth was able to find freshman Aliana Cervera (Brookfield) on the wing for Wisconsin’s last score of the weekend.  With a comfortable lead and time running down on the long weekend, WI grew a bit sloppy allowing several penalties as IN made one last push and found the try line in the far corner.  The game would end 20-12 Wisconsin.  After a long weekend of some great rugby, the team was satisfied with their performance and eager to see what is possible next year. 

      Thanks to the coaching staff, the parents that helped drive down and the teams that sponsored us: Milwaukee Scylla, Wisconsin Women, Winona State Women and UW Oshkosh Women. 

Conference Scheduling Meeting Wednesday Night

All WGR Conference Teams meet for their 2013-2014 scheduling meeting this Wednesday at Oak Creek High School. 

Bylaw updates will be provided by the board of directors prior to working out conference schedules.

Any new teams or groups interested in developing a program should contact the board and send a representative to the meeting.  Contact info is provided at the left of our blog page for individual teams and the board.

Midwest Selectside Results

This past weekend, high school selectsides from five Midwestern states competed at the Moose Rugby Grounds in the Midwest all-star challenge.  Scores from the boys teams and middle school teams involved can be found at midwestyouthrugby.com

Saturday June 8th
Michigan 0 Wisconsin 85
Michigan 0 Illinois 39
Ohio 22 Wisconsin 20
Indiana 19 Illinois 10
Ohio 50 Indiana 0

Sunday June 9th
Indiana 56 Michigan 0
Ohio 32 Illinois 0
Wisconsin 20 Indiana 12

Final Records:
Ohio 3-0
Wisconsin 2-1
Indiana 1-2
Illinois 1-2
Michigan 0-3

In the buildup to the matches, Wisconsin scrimmaged Illinois.  Here's Coach Noe's report:

The WI Select side held a friendly match against a new Illinois Select side.  With CMH and DSHA in Philadelphia for the national 7s championship, many of the alternate players stepped up to help fill out the side.  The game started slow with players trying to get a feel for their new teammates.  Some ball handling and miscommunication is to be expected for the first time together. 

However it didn’t take long for the tough center combination of Cassie Schultz (KM) and Anisa Feto (Oak Creek) to begin to produce results.  After several hard runs, through multiple tackles, Illinois began to worry about Anisa on the outside and left a large gap up the center for Cassie to find the first points of the day.  The forwards realizing the trouble those 2 were causing were able to gain possession and again get it out to Cassie for a 2^nd try before halftime.  Anisa would make the conversion. 

Quickly into the 2^nd half, Cassie again had a big run through the middle that resulted in her third try of the match and a 2^nd conversion for Anisa.  With a shallow bench and a growing lead, the effort dropped for a brief period, and in that time Illinois was able to capitalize on a quick turnover and move the ball to their speedy flyhalf who would break through the defense on her way to score.  The scrumhalf drop kicked the conversion over to make it 19-7.  That woke WI back up and they controlled the rest of the match.  Through several physical runs throughout the day, Anisa was finally able to find the corner and get her first try.  The final points on the day left Wisconsin the winners, 24-7, and eagerly awaiting the challenge of Midwest.

Midwest High School Selectside Challenge

The Boys and Girls Midwest High School Selectside Challenge takes place this weekend at a place familiar to many of the WGR players: the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Indiana. 

The girls brackets are broken into two pools of teams, with Minnesota and Iowa not represented this year.

Pool A:  Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin
Pool B:  Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana JV

Wisconsin scrimmaged Illinois last week and won something like 28-5.  They will be looking to improve on last year's finish under new coach Jeff Noe.
 
The 2012 Standings from last year look like this:
1st   Ohio
2nd  Minnesota
3rd  Wisconsin
4th  Minnesota
5th  Indiana
6th  Michigan

Good luck to all the participants representing WGR!

DSHA Win's 7's Championship

With a convincing 41-0 victory over previously undefeated Fallbrook, California, Divine Savior Holy Angels High School won their first 7's title at the CRC High School Challenge this past weekend in Philadelphia.  In 2012 DSHA lost to Fallbrook in the final.

DSHA ended pool play 3-0 on Friday with victories over Downingtown 17-5, West Shore United 59-0 and Berkshire United 29-0.  After driving through the night to get to the event, the girls stepped off their team bus @6am and showed resilience throughout the day.  Held on the turf fields of the University of Pennsylvania, the games were fast.

In the other pool, Catholic Memorial and Fallbrook met in the first match of the day, with Fallbrook coming away 22-5 winners.  Catholic Memorial would go on to lose to Doylestown and tie Hempfield for the second year in a row.  Fallbrook would later tie the New Jersey Blaze and then defeat Hempfield, Pa. on their way to the semifinals.

On Saturday the semifinals were played at Drexel University and DSHA defeated Doylestown, while Fallbrook defeated Downingtown to set up the finals between two of the most successful programs in the country.

DSHA held off Fallbrook for the first minute of the game, making tackles from one sideline to the other.  Once the Dashers got the ball, they were able to score in the second minute of the match and never looked back.

Beth Pokorny, Catharine Trowbidge, and Maggie Brennan each scored two tries for DSHA in the final.  Even more exciting for the champions is that all three of them will be back playing with DSHA next year.

Next up for DSHA is the Midwest Women's Qualifier bracket at the Lakefront 7's.  With a successful debut on the senior circuit in 2012, they proved to everyone that they belonged.  It'll be fascinating to see how the high school powerhouse does in the upper brackets of the prestigious tournament this summer.