Christen Wilson Memorial Classic

Tournament played on September 11, 2010 at Oklahoma State University

This was a great weekend for the club. Special thanks to Quentin Hoover's family for hosting the whole team on Friday night at their house. Hopefully all of the new players were able to find out a little bit more of what rugby is about. The team did a great job of overcoming the adversity of being without their co-captain, captain, and a few other good players for the weekend, and still found a way to come out victorious.

Tournament Standings:

1. Kansas State - Fort Riley RFC (3-0)

2. Oklahoma City Men's Club (2-1)

3. Oklahoma State University (0-2)

3. Oklahoma State Alumni / B (0-2)

Game Summaries:

Game 1 vs. Oklahoma State Alumni / B

KSUFR wins 5 - 0

This was a hard fought defensive battle, as both teams struggled with sloppy play, a stiff wind, and a sloped pitch. KSUFR took some time to adjust to some new players playing and some veterans playing in new positions. The first half was scoreless despite much of the half being played with KSUFR attacking on the OSU side of the field. In the second half, KSU finally capitalized on a break made by the loose forwards off the weak side of a ruck. Number 8 Tyler Hodges made a break and then offloaded to openside flanker Evan Talbott who took the ball the last 20 meters and scored in the corner. This proved to be the only score of the game, as it finished 5-0.

Game 2 vs. Oklahoma State University

KSUFR wins 12 - 5

The Oklahoma State "A-side" did not prove to be as tough an opponent for KSUFR. On the opening kickoff, KSUFR was able to spin the ball wide to the back line and score on the first phase. Fullback Kenny Scott was able to dot the ball down for his first try of the day. Later in the first half it looked as if flanker Lee Skiver would be able to score, but the ball was lost backwards in a tackle. Hooker Tommy Knapp scooped up the ball and scored it under the posts. John Knutsen hit the conversion to go into halftime with a 12-0 lead. The game was never in question from then on, but OSU was able to score a meaningless try as time expired and the game ended 12-5.

Game 3 vs. Oklahoma City Men's Club

KSUFR wins 19-7

The Oklahoma City team was very strong, athletic, and organized, and early on it looked like they might emerge as tournament champions. They had KSUFR backed up in its own half for the first 10 minutes of the game by dominating the set-pieces and rucks. KSUFR got a break when they stole the ball at a ruck, passed to wing Eric Looft, who passed to fullback Kenny Scott who was off to the races for his second try of the day. As this happened there was a bit of a skirmish on the other side of the field between a few players on each team, but that passed and was the last bit of bad blood for the game. John Knutsen nailed the centered conversion to give KSUFR a 7-0 lead. Oklahoma City was not going to quit, however, and managed to answer with a try of their own on a tough run by their #7 with a couple broken tackles on the way.The teams went to halftime with the score tied 7-7. About 10 minutes in to the second half, KSUFR scored its second try on a great team effort. A solid kick counter including several players gave KSUFR the ball deep in OKC territory. After getting tackled out of bounds, KSUFR was able to steal the Oklahoma City lineout. After a few phases of crash ball, Lee Skiver created some open space by hurdling a defender. After he was tackled, prop Faddy Khamis took a quick pick and go. When he went down, hooker Tommy Knapp alertly picked up the ball and passed out to #8 Tyler Hodges who scored on the outside. John Knutsen hit the conversion to make it 14-7. KSUFR would later seal the game when rookie wing Cool Mike Polzin scored his zulu try on an overload.

Weekend Roster:

Quentin Hoover
Tommy Knapp
Faddy Khamis
Clay Reinecke
Parker Staats
Evan Talbott
Lee Skiver
Tyler Hodges (c)
Jake Dull
John Knutsen
Eric Looft
Scuba Filckenger
Chris Stafford
Mike Polzin
Kenny Scott
Ryan Jordan
Dave Dragunas
Austin Verble
Taran Carl
Rhys Davies