Saint Mary’s rugby team takes Div. III Minnesota championship

The Saint Mary's Rugby Club Division III State Champions

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University rugby team won the Div. III Minnesota state tournament on Oct. 18 and 19 in Eagan.

The Saint Mary’s club entered the four-team tournament with a 4-0 season record. The men’s team finished the weekend 6-0 and celebrated its first Minnesota state championship.

Other clubs competing included St. Olaf College, Bemidji State University, and Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

In its first game on Saturday, SMU controlled play for much of the second half to defeat Saint Olaf, 43-12.

On Sunday, the championship game matched SMU against Bemidji State. SMU scored a five-point try but missed the two-point conversion kick, while Bemidji scored two tries and one conversion to lead at the half, 12-5. Saint Mary’s dominated the scrums and rucks of the second half, aggressively running and passing the ball on its way to a 22-19 victory.

The Saint Mary’s team includes Eric Anthaney, Josh Barrett, T.J. Bollis, D.J. Brey, Joe Bush, Ryan Bush, Brian Driscoll, Marty Erfort, Joseph Haynes, Dustan Hoffman, Paul Lambert, Gerry Lentino, Dan Lewis, Andrew Noyes, John O'Malley, Nick Powers, Stewart Schuster, Ryan Soukup, Jack Sullivan, Kevin Sweeney, Mitch Swartout, James Tandberg, Jesse Valdez, Kevin Voris and Anthony Wolfe.