Tier 3 title match a central Illinois showcase
By Phil Gautschy
For the first time, the Illinois Youth Rugby Association is holding a Tier 3 championship on Memorial Day at the Chicago Blaze facility in Lemont. Tier 3 is a group of teams that haven’t played rugby for long. It stretches across a wide geographic area that includes teams from Springfield, the Quad Cities and Chicago.
But the title game will have a decided central Illinois feel. The finalists, Chillicothe and Metamora are 28 miles apart, north and northeast of Peoria respectively.
The Tier 3 playoff was fashioned with the top eight teams split into two brackets. The Chillicothe Barbarians beat Chicago’s Pritzker College Prep Jaguars 20-0 and Bloomington’s Twin City Tornados 28-0. The Metamora All Reds beat Chicago’s Hope Academy 5-0 and Naperville-Neuqua Valley 29-24.
The Tier 3 finalists met on May 1 with Chillicothe the 14-5 victor.
The Barbarians (11-0) use conditioning as an asset. It is not unusual for the players to run 5-7 miles before a two-hour practice. They are led by team captain and fly half Shane Hornibrook. He is also the team’s kicker. Shannon Zwicky provides a lot of speed on the wing and is one of the leading scorers. Seniors Brandon Phelps, Cody Witherspoon, Vince Robinson and Zack Murphy are the forwards.
“We are a team that likes to use our speed and conditioning to our advantage,” Barbarians coach Brian Weller said. “We like long games in hot weather.”
Metamora (8-1) on the other hand has its strength in the forwards. They are led by Grant Dingelbine. The group, including wing forwards Luc Joseph and Andrew Jones, respond well to him. Prop Nate Jones leads the team with 13 tries and number eight Randy Bertelsen has nine tries.
The All Reds have players from East Peoria, Washington and Metamora high schools. The three are big rivals in football. Most of the All Reds also play football, but they put any animosity aside on the rugby pitch.
“It should be a great game,” All Reds coach John Huschen said. “The two teams play totally different styles. If we can keep possession of the ball and keep it away from their backs, we should do okay.”
