College Men
Thomas More's road to a Men's DII National Championship was a story like that of many teams; they didn't know what they had at the beginning of the season, they didn't know how they matched up, and at a critical period in the season games were hard to come by.
It was a day of dramatic games in the NCR finals, and the Small-College Challenge bracket was no exception.
Western Oregon took third over College of Charleston in a game that was back and forth. Both teams seemed maybe a little run down early, but the action picked up as they sensed a chance for a strong end to the fall.
NCR’s D1 playoffs ended the way much of it had progressed, with the game on a knife edge.
St. Bonaventure had come into the game the highest ranked team, having already beaten Penn State and Kutztown in the Rugby East, and then beat Kutztown again in the semifinals. Penn State had escaped two one-point games—would it be another tight contest? Yes, yes it would.
Virginia Tech defeated West Chester 34-22 in the NCR DIAA final, capping off an improbably run for the self-coaches Hokies.
Wheeling University held off a comeback from Iowa Central CC to win the NCR bowl game between the two teams at Aveva Stadium in Houston Saturday.
Wheeling's pace and explosiveness saw them through, while Iowa Central will be ruiing a couple of errors and a couple of missed tackles, as the Cardinals emerged 29-24 winners over the Tritons.