Quad Rugby/Story - Halloween Havoc

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

October, 2004

Halloween Havoc Wheelchair Rugby Tournament

The St. Louis Rugby Rams hosted the first annual Halloween Havoc Wheelchair Rugby Tournament, October 23 & 24, 2004, at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. The tournament featured Kentucky TNT, Minnesota ICE, Michigan Great Lakes STORM, Jackson JAGS, and St. Louis Rugby RAMS. The tournament was played in conjunction with a USQRA Referee Clinic, led by Tim Davis, Mitch Carr, Kerin Kaspitzki and Donna Sebok. Referee candidates included Katie Allen, Tim Fornachon, Jen Savre, Kelly Schwan and Jim Spencer (all from St. Louis), Jeff Johnston (from Kansas City), and Will Mattern (from Brandon, MS). All of them attended the three-day referee clinic.

As for the games, well this was an early season tournament. Kentucky TNT was the dominant force, but Michigan really demonstrated their potential of what we would see throughout the season to come, with the stellar play of Brian Sheridan and Jaffer Odeh.

On Saturday, Game 1 saw TNT dispatch the Jackson Jags 38 to 16 on goals by Travis Smith (11), Mike Baker (12), Robbie Scott (8) and James Ezell (7). Wiley Clark and J Brasset accounted for all the scoring for Jackson. The game had NO penalties.

In Game 2, Minnesota ran away from St. Louis by a score of 50 to 24. The ICE had goals by Eddie Brosnan (16), Jody Mines (12) and Dominic Clemas (8). Kevin Brown and Kerri Morgan led St. Louis with 8 goals apiece. This hard fought game also had 13 penalties.

Game 3 was a pretty good match up on paper, but when the dust cleared, Michigan had just horsewhipped Jackson 57 to 31. Michigan had dominant performances by Brian Sheridan (21 goals) and Jaffer Odeh (20 goals). Meanwhile, Jackson had goals by Wiley Clark (12) and David Richard (11), but it wasn’t nearly enough. But the game sure had enough penalties…17 to be exact. Jaffer Odeh is now known as The Reacher and will probably have an award named in is honor for most penalized player at any tournament in North America.

Game 4 was another powerful performance by the TNT as they crushed the ICE 44 to 27. The ICE played tough with goals by Brosnan, Mines and Clemas, but TNT had too much firepower from Baker (18 goals), Ezell (12 goals), and Smith (8 goals). The game was well played by both sides and had only 6 penalties.

Game 5 brought out another horsewhipping at the hands of the STORM as they waylaid St. Louis 60 to 32. Michigan was simply too powerful with the performance of Sheridan (20 goals), Odeh (25 goals), and newcomer Scott “The Tank” Severn (12 goals). St. Louis scored over 30 goals with Brown (15 goals) and Morgan (8 goals) leading the way, but it wasn’t going to catch Michigan. Surprisingly, there were just 8 penalties in the game.

Game 6 was a Blue-White Low-Point Game. The White Team featured Eddie Crouch from TNT, Jeff Coupie and Nick Long from Michigan, and Kevin Brown from St. Louis. The Blue Team had J. Brasset and Steve Jones from Jackson, Adam McCord from Minnesota, and Vito Lucido (a class 3.0 who plays like a 1.5) from St. Louis. The White team prevailed in this contest 22 to 13. This game was crucial to the referee clinic and gave the refs in training a close game with low-point situations to deal with on the floor.

Game 7 was Blue-White High Point Game crucial to the referee clinic. The Blue Team featured Jaffer Odeh and Scott Severn from Michigan, David Richard from Jackson, John Ershek from TNT, and Vito Lucido from St. Louis. The White Team had Mike Baker and Travis Smith from TNT, Brian Sheridan from Michigan, and Kerri Morgan and Kevin Brown from St. Louis. In this game, the Blue prevailed over White, 26 to 21.

Game 8 on Sunday pitted TNT vs. Storm. This time the STORM could only chase from behind as TNT doubled up on STORM 47 to 28. Baker (20 goals) and Smith (14 goals) from TNT was more than Odeh (14 goals) and Sheridan (11 goals) from Michigan could counter. The game did have 12 men in the box (penalties).

Game 9 was another Get-Away Game. Minnesota easily topped Jackson 49 to 31. There were only 5 penalties in this well played match. Minnesota was led by Brosnan (21 goals), Mines (11 goals) and Clemas (10 goals), which was more than Clark (16 goals) and Richard (8 goals) could put together for the JAGS.

The final game was a running clock match between TNT and St. Louis. TNT easily dispatched the RAMS 27 to 16 with Baker (9 goals), Smith (8 goals) and Ezell (10 goals) leading a balanced attack. St. Louis was led by Brown (11 goals) and Morgan (5 goals). There were just 2 penalties in this short contest.

Halloween Havoc was a Round Robin format so as to better accommodate the referee clinic, which produced 7 new Class C referees (6 from St. Louis and 1 from Jackson), so there was not a first, second, third place finish. Teams just got games on Saturday and a Get-Away Game on Sunday. We hope everyone got enough rugby over the weekend and we hope they were well fed and accommodated while staying in St. Louis. Special thanks to Tim Davis for all his work and guidance to ensure that the referee clinic was such a success!

Thanks to all our volunteers and sponsors including St. Louis Community College at Meramec and Meramec Athletics for providing the gym at cost. Also, to St. Louis Wheelchair Athletic Association, SSM Rehab, Enabling Mobility Center, Gateway Chapter - Paralyzed Veterans of America, Fitz's Soda Bar, Bellacino’s, Pizza Hut, Steve Henry Family, Vito Lucido Family, Kerri Morgan Family, St. Louis Sportswear, St. Louis Workout, Talayna’s, West County Cycles, Schnucks, Coach Plus Software & Computer Repair, and the USQRA.

The 2004 Halloween Havoc All-Tournament Team also featured unique awards: Travis Smith, TNT (3.5 - Monster); Kerri Morgan, RAMS (3.0 – Punisher); Brian Sheridan, STORM (2.5 – Undertaker)); Mike Baker, TNT (2.0 - Terminator); Mike Norris, RAMS (1.5 – Dr. Jekyl); Adam McCord, ICE (1.0 – Mr. Hyde); Eddie Crouch, TNT (0.5 – Psycho); Jeff Coupie, STORM (Sportsmanship – The Friendly Ghost); and Mike Baker, TNT (MVP – The Ultimate Warrior).

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