Four teams remain in the hunt for a New York state Boys DI championship, as the semifinals will be held this weekend.

The DI championship is named the Mike Tolkin Cup, after the current USA Men’s 15s Coach, who coached Xavier HS for many years, and also helped Xavier to a national championship as a player several million years ago.

Xavier was 5th at the Boys NIT. Tamara Tidey photo.

Tolkin’s Xavier HS will be in the semis once again. Fresh off a Plate win in the Boys National Championships in the single-school bracket, Xavier went 2-1, beating Brownsburg and Greenwich, and losing to Penn in overtime in the quarterfinals. Xavier is a strong favorite, and will face off with Kenmore.

The Buffalo-area team didn’t lose a game all league season, but they tied two, against Fairport and McQuaid Jesuit, and vince Fairport beat McQuaid, it is Fairport (just south of Rochester) that takes the #1 seed out of Western NY.

“Drawing Xavier isn’t an easy thing,” said Kenmore Coach Bill Conrad. “But we’ll be as prepared as we can be. We’ve been working hard and putting the guys through a lot of game situations in preparation.”

Kenmore is led by scrumhalf Corey Ratka, and No. 8 Mitch Currey, who have been getting higher-level looks, and inside center Will Rusch is a uniting defender.

The team that pushed them into the less-desirable semifinal is Fairport. They will take on Met NY #2 The Harvey School, which just barely beat out Pelham for a place in the semis.

“I think we are peaking at the right time,” said Fairport Coach Joe Kirsch. “Our best 15 players will be on the pitch for the semifinal. My team is healthier than we were the first time we played Kenmore. We have high expectations for this weekend.”

Kirsch said his team is as focused and as hard-working as any team he has coached.

“Our pack has stepped up the game the last two weeks particularly inside the 22s,” he added.  “We have a highly-skilled and experienced backline that can score on anyone.” 

Captains David Levy and Ronnie Castellano have led by example and on the scoresheet, while flankers Sean Bacha and Cullen Phipps lead the team in tackles every game.

The winners of the semifinals will play off for the state championship on Sunday, while the losing teams will play for 3rd.

Also on the slate for the playoffs to be held at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, NY will be a DI Tier 2 playoff, and a Division 2 playoff.

Here is the full list of games:

Tony Canali-Tom O’Hara Founders Cup Girls Semis

Orchard Park (2) v City Honors (3)

Play Rugby Academy (1) v Hamburg (4)

Boys DII Semis

Play Rugby Academy (2) v Rochester Barbarians (3)

Saratoga Mustangs (1) v (4)

Mike Tolkin Cup Boys DI Semis

Kenmore (4) v Xavier (1)              

Fairport (2) v Harvey (3)

Boys DI Tier 2 Semis

Pelham (1) v Syracuse (4)

McQuaid (2) v New Rochelle (3)

Sunday Finals

9:30 AM    Division 2 Boys Championship & 3rd/4th Game

11:15 AM    Division 1 Tier 2 Boys Championship & 3rd/4th Game

1:00 PM    Tony Canali-Tom O’Hara Founders Cup Girls Championship & 3rd/4th Game

2:45 PM    Mike Tolkin Cup Boys Championship & 3rd/4th Game