Semifinals Set in Men’s Premier

Maryland started the day as a lowly eight seed, but tried on Cinderella’s slipper for a few hours, beating the top-seeded Bears, 22-17, before No. 4 Southern Virginia, 12-10, to advance to the semifinals against Iowa Central, who beat Iona 31-12 and nabbed a close 17-14 win over Belmont Abbey to get to the quarterfinals. 

Unfortunately for Maryland, they could not get their storybook ending, losing to the Tritons 30-8. They’re still in the running for their best ever finish at the CRC. 

In the other regions, the top seeds made good. In the West, Wheeling beat Fordham 36-0, then exacted revenge from the team that knocked them out of last year’s tournament, 2023 champs Mount St. Marys, 31-12, thanks to two tries each from Aaron Juma and Shadreck Mandaza. 

One of the reasons for the Mountaineer's struggles was the loss of reigning MVP Chris Cleland, who transferred to Kutztown, the one seed in the East. Although Cleland has yet to score a try this tournament, the Golden Bears aren’t lacking for offense, beating Southern Nazerene, 30-7, and Dartmouth, 28-12. 

Another great story this year is Babson, who won last year's men's Small College final and claimed the top seed in the Midwest. The move did not phase the Beavers, who beat Harvard, 28-7, and Sienna, 19-7, to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Babson was able to get past Mary Washington, 19-12. Wheeling took down second-seeded Indiana, thanks to two more tries by Mandaza and another from Juma. As for Kutztown, they took down Michigan 31-7, with 5 different players scoring tries. 

In the Plate and Bowl Brackets, many teams looked to move past their early morning defeats. Mount and Notre Dame College both came out with a vengeance; the Mountaineers beating Marian, 31-12, and the Falcons beating Sienna, 36-7. Dartmouth and Belmont Abbey both were able to win in tight games to get to the Plate Semifinal. 

One team that faced a tough road getting to the Bowl semifinal was Clemson. First, they had to score a late try to tie the game against Principia, which they won in overtime. They then had to face their archrival, South Carolina, in the quarterfinal. The game was very back in fourth, but Clemson was able to score late, and a handling mistake on the ensuing kickoff by South Carolina helped give the Tigers a 19-12 win.

In tomorrow's matchups, Wheeling will face Babson in the Cup semifinal at 4:51, followed by Kutztown and Iowa Central at 5:12. The men's Cup final will be at 8:30. For the Plate semifinals, Mt. St. Marys takes on Notre Dame College at 4:09, and Dartmouth plays Belmont Abbey right after at 4:30. The Plate final will be held at 7:35. As for the Bowl semifinals and final, Virginia Tech plays Notre Dame at 3:27, followed by Clemson and Aquinas at 3:48, with the final being held at 7:14. All of these games will take place in the main stadium. 

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