Wheeling Lone 1 Seed Standing in Premier Cup

The first round was mostly chalk in the Men’s Premier Cup at the Collegiate Rugby Championship.  14 of the top 16 seeds survived their first opponent. As the day wore on, however, the upsets began to pile up. When the dust settled, the only top-seed remaining was the Wheeling Cardinals. 

The upsets began in the round of 16 when Kutztown, the top seed in the Midwest, dropped a 19-5 decision to fourth seed Siena. In the quarterfinals the upsets continued with two No. 1 seeds falling in about a 40-minute span.

In the first quarterfinal of the afternoon, top seed Iowa Central lost a hard-fought 12-7 battle to St. Bonaventure, failing to capitalize on two late opportunities to win the game. In the next match, Dartmouth, top seed in the South Region, fell to the No. 3 seed in the region, Belmont Abbey, 19-10, with star Jamie Phillips suffering a knee injury earlier in the day.. 

The upset train momentarily paused as Wheeling held serve in the West Region with a 19-10 victory over the No. 2 Brown. In the final quarterfinal of the afternoon, the No. 2 seeded Queens upended No. 4 Siena, 38-14, to claim the Midwest Region.

In Friday’s action, Shadreck Mandaza of Wheeling led all scorers with 36 points in three games. His afternoon was highlighted by a two-try and five conversion performance against Babson. Mandaza also shares the lead of four tries with Takudzwa Musingwini of Iowa Central and Zak Banton of Notre Dame. 

In tomorrow’s Cup semifinals, St. Bonaventure will take on Belmont Abbey at 3:35 p.m. ET.  Queens and Wheeling meet in the other semi immediately after. The winners will play for a national title at 6:20 p.m. E.T.

All matches are streamed on TRN and YouTube.