Article/Quad Rugby - 7th Reno Rugby Rumble

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

7th ANNUAL QUICKIE RENO RUGBY RUMBLE

by Dave Van Cleave

On November 15th, quads from all over the west rolled into the Biggest Little City in the World to do battle on the rugby court to test themselves against the machines and dealers in the casinos. Some teams fared better on the court and others, such as the hosts, might have been better off at the tables.

Friday's games went as expected with Washington spanking Reno, Ballard beating San Jose by seventeen, Quad Zilla getting the best or the Dukes of St. Luke's 42-28, and Oregon beating a much improved Utah team, 36-19. *The Ballard Blaze was a team made up of five players from Sharp Shadow and three from Casa Colina, who were coached by Reggie Richner, a longtime friend of the tournament.

Saturday morning brought the first truly competitive game of the tourney with the Dukes getting all they could handle from Utah, who possibly played the best game in their history. The Dukes led 8-4 after one, and 20-9 at the half. Utah began to chip away in the third, outscoring the Dukes 10-8, bringing the score to 27-19. Utah continued to whittle away at the lead, scoring five more goals than their opponents, but they ran out of time, falling 37-34. The Dukes were led by Chad Farrington with 23 goals (tourney high scorer, 82 goals) and Utah was led by Clay Egan with 16.

The day continued pretty much as expected with the higher seeds winning all of the games. But, the last two games were extremely competitive. The Washington-San Jose match-up was very interesting. Both teams realize that to play with the big boys it is necessary to play a lot of rugby and good coaching is important. Steve Wagner of Washington has grown with his team and his understanding of the game is right up there. San Jose has made a great acquisition in Dave Efferson as coach. A wheelchair basketball legend, Dave has a ton or wisdom to offer the Sting which has a load of potential. The Warriors led 13-10 after one and only 21-19 at the half. Washington was able to pick up two more goals in the third to bring the score to 31-27. The fourth was a low scoring defensive battle with only 11 goals scored. Final score: Washington 37- San Jose 32. Gary Kanazawa scored 23 goals for the victors and Don Moreci and Rick Mason tallied 15 and 13 respectively for the Sting.

The Oregon Trail-Quadzilla game was also compelling as it matched up long-time rivals and it would determine which team would meet Ballard in the finals on Sunday. The Trail jumped out to a two goal lead and held it through the first, 8-6. In a low scoring second quarter, Zilla grabbed those two goals back to tie it at the half, 13-all. The third quarter saw a lot of emotion which translated to Zilla penalty time and Oregon retrieved the lead 23-19, The four goal margin couldn't be cut into or extended and the game ended with the score of 30-24. Fred Williams and Al Seals led the trail with 13 and 12 and Quadzilla's Nils Jorgensen and Enrique Madrinan had 10 and 8.

Championship Sunday started with Utah handing the host Reno Crush a nine point defeat, 35-26 for seventh place. San Jose took out the Dukes of St. Luke's, 51-35 for fifth. In the third place game, Quadzilla won a close one over Washington 25-21, led by Madrinan with 18 goals. The championship was won by Ballard, 46-22 over the Oregon Trail. Ballard was led by Troy McGuirk with 14 goals.

The Ballard team played outstanding rugby, scoring 41.7 goals a game while giving up only 21.2, with their high point players playing only short stints in many instances. The Blaze was manned by McGuirk. Mike Wyatt, Dean Maccabe, Dan Shawl Steve Kaliszewski, Bob Martinson, Ralph Shadowen and Dan Guillou who were a class-act all weekend. We had expected a couple more top teams, but Ballard still showed up and showed great sportsmanship, as evidenced by their use or a five-point line-up numerous times. While that line-up continued to score, it wasn't a case of running up the score, rather it was testament to their excellence of play. They love rugby and can't seem to get enough. As tournament director I would like to thank them and the teams for loving the game and attending our tournament.

Tournament sponsor Quickie Designs awarded a Shadow Heat rugby chair to a very deserving local player, Dennis Smith. It will definitely improve his game and that of the Reno Crush. Thanks Quickie!

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