Fools Fest at Winona State in Minnesota kicked off the upper Midwest 7s spring this past Saturday, and with both DII and NSCRO men's college brackets in the tournament, there were some interesting matchups.  

The tournament included two former USA DII 7s champions, and plenty of other contenders. In the DII bracket, several of the teams were familiar with each other. Minnesota-Duluth (2016 DII 7s champs), Principia (2013 DII 7s champs), and Wisconsin-Whitewater (2016-17 15s DII champs) all made it deep into the national DII 15s playoffs.

Previous national champions Duluth went 3 and 1 in pool play where they went on to take 2nd in the tournament falling handedly to a tough Principia side who took the close finish in pool play to heart and capitalized in the final. 

***OK so this is fine but a little disjointed. I would say 3-1 not 3 and 1 ... and "falling handedly" isn't quite what you want to say. I'd start with Principia ... except I looked at this and Duluth went 4-0 in pool play didn't they? ***

*** So ... maybe you're right, we start with Duluth

Last year's DII 7s national champions, UM-Duluth, went 3-0 in pool play, beating UW-Milwaukee, Principia, and Whitewater. 

Principia finished pool play 2-1, beating UW-Platteville and UW-Milwaukee.

Whitewater performed well in the tournament, but had trouble in beating UNI, who was the only team to beat them in the weekend. In the third place game UNI beat Whitewater 26 - 5.

Additionally Milwaukee threw their names into the hat of potential national contenders after a strong showing against Duluth, Principia, and Platteville. Where they lost by one try to Duluth, three points to Principia, and beating Platteville 24 - 7. UWM then went on to beat NDSU 12 - 5 to take 4th. 

The top two teams from pool play faced off in the final, and there Principia garnered revenge on Duluth, winning handily 34-12. Principia traditionally plays a wide open style, and when they are able to move the ball, they cause defenses problems, especially late in a tournament when tacklers could be tired.

Principia will now have an automatic qualifier into the national tournament after winning Fools Fest. 

In the NSCRO bracket UW Stevens Point won their automatic bid into the national tournament by defeating St. Johns in the championship match. 

The NSCRO bracket wasn't all Midwest, as Southern California's Occidental College made the trip to Minnesota. Oxy took 5th and there were good showings from UWEC, UWSP, and St. Johns, who all played won by sizeable margins in their matches. 

The next national qualifier will take place in Madison Wisc. on May 6. 

Fools Fest Scores:

SJU 22-5 Simpson NSCRO                              

UWEC 36-14  Occidental  NSCRO                                     

UWSP 28-7 Winona NSCRO                         

UST 12-15 Wayne NSCRO 

SJU 14-14 OXY NSCRO

UWEC 26-10 Simpson  NSCRO

UWSP 29-12 Wayne NSCRO 

UST 0-5 Winona NSCRO 

SJU 20-12 UWEC NSCRO

OXY 17-14 Simpson NSCRO

UWSP 29-24 UST NSCRO     

Wayne 17-5 Winona NSCRO

                             

La Crosse 0-50 UNI D2

Whitewater 19-7 NDSU D2

Principia 36-5 Platteville D2                           

Duluth 17-12 Milwaukee D2                         

La Crosse 0-17 Whitewater D2                        

UNI 38-5 NDSU D2

Principia 22-19 Milwaukee D2                       

Duluth 29-0 Platteville D2

La Crosse 0-14 NDSU D2

Whitewater 10-19 UNI D2

Principia 19-24 Duluth D2                                 

Milwaukee 24-7 Platteville D2                                                                                                         

Wayne 5-32 SJU  NSCRO

UST 27-5 Simpson  NSCRO

UWSP 32-10 UWEC   NSCRO

Place WSU 7-47 Oxy  NSCRO

Principia 29-17 UNI D2  

Duluth 32-7 Whitewater D2

Milwaukee 12-5 NDSU D2 (5th/6th)

SJU 14-22  UWSP   NSCRO Final 

Wayne 28-0 Forfeit UWEC NSCRO  (3rd/4th)

UNI 26-5 Whitewater D2 (3rd/4th)

Principia 34-12 Duluth D2 Final

 

-- Andrew Buntrock