Toreros Claim D1-AA Title with Victory Over Iowa State
The Toreros traveled out to Boulder, Colorado where they faced Iowa State in the D1-AA championship. Iowa State defeated Sam Houston State in the semi-final with USD defeating Western Washington. Both teams came into the match with undefeated 15s seasons and a desire to win their first national championship. In the end, the Toreros would be victorious with a 41-19 victory on the day.
The wind was a big factor on the day with strong gusts blowing diagonally across the field. The Toreros elected to take the wind in the first half. Michael Lewis used the wind in the first half to consistently flip field position for USD. Several booming kicks hung high in the air in the elevation and USD chased well to disrupt any counterattacks. The battle for field position eventually led to a USD scrum on the opposition 22. A big carry from Paul Habeeb got USD into the 22 before the ball was swung wide to Nate Leff. As he has done all year, Leff beat multiple players before touching down for the opening score. The kick would be pushed aside by the wind to give USD a 5-0 lead after ten minutes played. USD again used the wind to push the Cyclones deep into their own half. An Iowa State clearance kick was carried to midfield by Devin Hoovel before Michal Ramos picked the ball up at the ruck. Ramos was straight through the line and clear into the Cyclone 22 before he barreled over to Iowa State fullback and ran for the try line. The Cyclone winger brought down Ramos but it was a no-wrap tackle. The wing was shown a yellow card and USD had a penalty 5 meters out. Seni Fagbeni tapped and carried himself in for the Toreros second try. This would be converted by Lewis to put USD 12-0 up.
After the torrid start from the Toreros, the Cyclones started to find their footing. The tight 5 for ISU was big and powerful, and some strong carries moved them up the field. They made their way all the way up the 22 when the left winger saw space and called for a cross-field kick. The Cyclone flyhalf put a high kick up and the ISU wing leaped up to collect the ball. USD winger Jackson Short read the kick and outleaped his opposition to take the ball cleanly in the air. When he landed Short saw 90 meters of green grass in front of him and went coast to coast for an excellent score for USD. The USD wingers continued to put on a show with Nate Leff scoring again 5 minutes later. The Toreros spun the ball wide with Dan Suhr executing a great pass under pressure to put Leff in space. Again the speedy freshman beat 3+ players with his footwork and scored under the posts. The conversion made the score 24-0 for the Toreros. The Cyclones again went to work with their powerful pack, this time working the ball all the way down to the USD try line. As an ISU player reached over to score, the ball spilled free. After the Toreros gathered, Paul Habeeb recognized acres of space on the openside of the field. Lewis dished to him and Habeeb broke away and ran it all the way into the Cyclone 22. The ISU fullback tracked back for the tackle but Devin Hoovel was there in support to take the offload from Habeeb to score under the posts. 31-0 for USD. The Cyclones finally got on the board in the 35th minute with an excellent driving maul. The maul was heading for the try line when it collapsed, and the referee deemed the maul defense from USD to be intentional. The result was a penalty try to ISU and a yellow card to USD prop Fagbeni. On the last play of the half, Lewis knocked over a penalty for USD to put the score at 34-7.
The second half of play did not have the same attacking fireworks as the first half. Both teams began to feel the effects of the elevation, with tired bodies on both sides coming in to play. Iowa State would get another try on the board early in the half with USD countering with a try from Michael Ramos. The 41-14 would hold for the majority of the second half. Loose forwards Christian Welch and Anthony Bonilla entered the game for USD and played great defense to close things out. USD emptied the bench for the final 10 minutes after ISU scored off another maul to make the score 41-19. With time up, Micky O’Leary passed the ball back to Michael Lewis who kicked the ball dead and finalize the national championship win for USD.
Kevin Eaton, Director of USD Rugby, lauded his team after the whistle: “A special finish to a special season. Winning a 7s and 15s national championship in a six-day period is unheard of, and I am so proud of this group for what they have done. While the success can be seen over this six-day period, it is the result of years of hard work from this team. Heaps of respect for the Iowa State Cyclones on a fantastic season and a match well played, I have no doubt they will be back. This win belongs to anyone and everyone who has worn a USD Rugby jersey and to all those who have supported us.”
Meanwhile, Charlie Purdon, who must now be getting used to these trophy speeches, added this: “I am immensely proud of what we have achieved this season, but more than that, I am happy that this group of players were able to achieve something like this. All season this group of players played with grit and determination, showing genuine care for each other. They have played with pride and passion for the cub. On the day we executed our game plan well, starting with a heavy emphasis on getting off the line defensively. We consistently stopped the opposition behind the gain line and built pressure off of that. On attack, we were clinical with our opportunities and punished any mistakes the opposition made. Excited for next season!”
American College Rugby tabbed Nate Leff as the finals MVP. Leff scored two fantastic solo tries and was strong defensively. An impressive final stamp on a stellar freshman year for Leff. While Leff was named the MVP, the USD coaching staff selected Paul Habeeb as the LSKD man of the match. Habeeb was everywhere defensively for USD and was the initial spark for much of what went well for the USD attack. In just his second year of rugby, Habeeb has evolved into a do-it-all threat for USD.
Lineups and Stats
Torres Kapust
Logan Tatum ©
Seni Fagbeni
Dustin Braun
Sam Carlson
Shane Jamison
Jake Girard
Michael Ramos
Micky O’Leary
Michael Lewis
Nate Leff
Paul Habeeb
Daniel Suhr
Jackson Short
Devin Hoovel
sUBS
Cameron Mahdavifar (70’ Tatum)
Anthony Bonilla (65’ Jamison)
Hunter Lysholm (41’ Jamison/70’Fagbeni)
Christian Welch (60’ Girard)
Joey Varcoe (70’ Ramos)
Gavin Saville (60’ Morales)
Felix Morales (50’ Suhr)
Finn McCarthy (70’ Leff)
tRIES
2 Leff
Fagbeni
Short
Hoovel
Ramos
Conversions
4/6 Lewis
Penalties
1/1 Lewis