Quad Rugby/Story - Iron Horse Rumble

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

February, 2005

2nd Annual Iron Horse Rumble

Six teams gathered on the western shores of Lake Michigan early this month, meeting in unseasonably warm weather, as each vied for top honors in the 2nd Annual Iron Horse Rumble, hosted by the Milwaukee Iron. With Wisconsin temperatures reaching into the 50’s on Feb. 5, the first day of play, teams heated up the gym with close games prevailing throughout the majority of the morning and into the afternoon.

In the first two games of the day, Team Manitoba showed some Canadian know-how as they took the floor against the top-seeded Chicago Bears, narrowly losing to the tenacious wheelers from the windy city by a score of 32-30. Playing at the same time on the second court of the spacious gym, the St. Louis Rugby Rams and the Minnesota Ice battled in another two-point game, with 3.0 Kerri Morgan and the Rams giving the Ice’s Dominic Clemas (2.0) and Jodie Mines (3.0) a run for their money in gaining a narrow victory of 37-39.

With barely a breather between games, Manitoba rolled back on to the court to face off against the Great Lakes Storm. Canadian 3.5, Glen Nibay, and the predominant 2-pointer line up played hard against the speed of Michigan’s Brian Sheridan (2.5) and Jaffer Odeh (3.5), but in the end the Storm prevailed, squeaking out a victory of 48-47.

On the second court, the Rams played back-to-back as well, taking on the home team of Milwaukee. The Iron’s high-pointers, Arron Powless (3.0) and Ron Romero (3.5), flanked by low-pointers Dan Lehmann (0.5) and Chris Madden (1.0), took an early lead over the Rams with the game ending in the hosts’ favor, 39-29.

Going into the third set of games for Saturday, the Storm and the Iron entered into back-to-back competitions, with the Storm taking a beating by Nick Fonner (1.0), Brad Schramel (1.5) and Brian Muniz (2.5) of the Bears. In the first distanced win of the tourney, the Bears blew away the Storm, winning in a score of 56-33. Meanwhile, the Iron and the Ice were locked into a tight competition that brought the Minnesota team a three point victory of 33-36.

In the last games of the day, Manitoba won over the Rams, 40-38; the Storm triumphed over the Ice, 47-45, and the Bears trounced the Iron by 41-9, with the home team taking the opportunity to give rookies Brendan Regan (1.0) and Ken Matthews (1.5) some valuable real game experience in their debut tournament.

Teams retired for the night, with the Rams sitting in 6th place and the 5th place Canadians taking advantage of the Iron’s hospitality to use a provided bus to hit a local favorite steak house for a night out.

Sunday morning, the Iron was pitted against the Ice for a battle to secure 3rd place and the home team pulled it off to the cheers of a loyal crowd, winning in a well played game, 35-30.

The championship game came as the weekend’s biggest upset as the Bears and Storm knocked heads and chairs in fierce competition for first. With Odeh, of the Storm, hitting the ground hard on several occasions and the Bears fighting point-by-point, Michigan turned their weekend around, surprising many with a hard earned victory of 47-44 – first place.

With some seedings changed for the season, teams now look to Regionals and post season play and what are sure to be some tough fights in the Heartland.

Milwaukee Iron Quad Rugby

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