Home-field advantage guides Mavs to victory
Saturday, five different schools gathered to take part in the Mavericks 10s tournament, hosted in the All-Sports Dome in Mankato. Call it home field advantage, call it scripted, but the Mavs were the team that emerged victorious when it was all said and done.
The tournament was composed of Minnesota State, the University of Minnesota Duluth, Winona State and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. All schools had the opportunity to play each other, and the team with the most wins was named champion.
To start the tournament off, MSU took on UMD for their first match. The first half was a bit of a struggle for both teams, but the Mavericks seemed to flip a switch when the second half arrived. With the Mavs starting to feel a strong sense of composure as of late, the battle against Duluth ended up being no challenge, finishing the match on top with a score of 34-7.
“As a team, we really started to put together ourself and really understand more than you just gotta tackle and run,” said Mavs team captain Alex Wehrman. “We’re really getting our formations down and how to play with each other.”
The Mavericks’ second matchup was an even easier task than their first. While going head to head with Winona, it was all about MSU right from the start. Throughout the entire match, the Warriors couldn’t put anything together, leaving them scoreless. However, the Mavs were still on fire, completing the match with a final score of 50-0.
As the tournament matches were going on, players that weren’t involved in the matches formed two teams, each consisting of all four schools. These two teams competed against each other in a scrimmage format as a way to make sure everyone was involved.
“We really wanted to keep everyone involved,” said Wehrman. “That’s the main thing we’re focused on so we can stay as a functioning unit.”
For the Mavericks’ third and final match, they found themselves facing a much more fierce opponent, in Stevens Point. This matchup was the deciding factor of who took home the championship, and it ended as a one-score game.
The Pointers were able to get on the board first, making it 5-0 for a while. After some regrouping, the Mavs pulled together and scored two tries, closing out the tournament with a 10-5 win.
“We were not a first half team,” said Mavs wing Dominic Bothe. “It took us over the first quarter of the match against Stevens Point to get it together.”
The Bulldogs, Pointers and Warriors all left empty-handed Saturday afternoon, while the Mavs took home the honor of dominating their own tournament. Coming up, the Mavs will host their alumni game April 8 before heading to Otsego April 15.
Write to Hayden Lee at Hayden.Lee@my.smsu.edu
Header Photo: MSU Men’s Rugby team are tournament champions after defeating U of M Duluth, Winona, and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point last Saturday, April 1st. (Lilly Anderson)