The Union Mudturtles out of New Jersey won the Hell’s Gate 7s tournament, defeating Greenwich in the final.

The Mudturles defeated Fairfield Prep out of Connecticut to make the final, while Greenwich won comfortably in two games and had to really work hard to beat Play Rugby 29-26. Their semi was a rout of Winged Foot.

In the final, Union ran out to a 15-0 lead, only to see Greenwich storm back with three tries to take the lead.

In the final minute, Brendan Cunningham chipped ahead and was taken out in the chase for the ball. A penalty try was awarded, and with the conversion Union won 22-17.

Mike Dabilas, Kevin Trotter, and Royal Jones all had strong days for the Mudturtles. Trotter and Dabulas are headed to Penn State.

For Greenwich, Jack Freiheit scored 11 tries, and Soh Nakayama scored five with 14 conversions.

On to Surfside

Both the Mudturtles and Greenwich will be in the Boys Elite bracket of the Surfside 7s in Stone Harbor, NJ, the national HS 7s championships. They will be joined by Atlantis, New Jersey Blaze, Bula Boys, and Maryland Exiles. There is room for two more teams in this tournament (http://www.surfsidesevens.com/2015/registered-stoneharbor-teams). There are 16 teams in the Boys open bracket, seven in the Boys Freshman bracket (room for one more team), and four teams in the Grade School bracket.

The girls HS bracket of Blaze, Mudturtles, North Bay, and Doylestown, is full.