Doylestown Rugby Football Club News – May 18th, 2015
High School Boys’ Team
The Doylestown Rugby High School Boys’ team brought home the gold, finishing first place in the Pennsylvania State championships on Sunday, May 17, 2015. Marking thirty years since the beginning of high school rugby in Doylestown, the Dragons turned in an impressive performance at the playoffs, which were held at Montgomery County Community College, over the weekend of May 16-17, 2015. In the state semi-final match against Kutztown on Saturday, May 16, 2015, Doylestown posted a 74-0 shutout. Try scorers for Doylestown were: Tom Capriotti (2), Billy Stermel (2), Vince Iacobone, Kenny Rickards, Lance Hendrie, Sam Devine, Kevin Reilly Jr., Tom McCoy, Ryan Cornell, and Ashton McGovern. Mike Weir kicked seven conversions. In the finals on Sunday, May 17, 2015, the Dragons faced off against Downingtown to come away with a 38-10. Try scorers were: Angel Santiago, Lance Hendrie, Mike Weir, Brian Stella, Kenny Rickards, and Vince Iacobone. Mike Weir kicked four conversions. The hs boys completed an undefeated season with the state championship. They were not scored upon in league play until the championship match. The team played fantastic defense all weekend. The senior forwards (7 of the 8 are seniors) set the platform and the backs used the space brilliantly. The hs boys will close out the season on Saturday, May 23, 2015, at home at noon against West Shore. It should be an exciting match, as West Shore was also undefeated in league play, but decided to bypass the state tournament to play in a National Invitational Tournament.
In the photo:
Kneeling left to right: Assistant coach Mark Weir, Dominic DeFonso, Kevin Reilly, Brian Stella, Ashton McGovern, Sam Devine, Mike Weir, Billy Stermel, Lance Hendrie, Luis Zamora, Vince Iacobone, Grant Eden, Jake Smith, Assistant Coach Bob Cassidy.
Standing left to right: Malcolm Price, Angelo Vitantonio, Jack Armogast, Alex Armogast, Angus Price, Matt Tur, Dylan Pfaff, Ryan McElhattan, Ryheem Powell, Hunter Smith, Captain Angel Santiago, Tom Capriotti, Aubrey Mabone, Tom Koch, Ryan Cornell, Roman Boell, Kenny Rickards, Conor Ellis, Rasul Arymbaev, Vince Johnston, Assistant Coach Kevin Reilly
Missing from picture: Tom McCoy and head coach Mike McCandless
Junior (U15) Boys’ Team
The Doylestown U15 boys’ team took the gold on Sunday, May 17, 2015, in the Pennsylvania State championships. In the semi-final match on Saturday, May 16, 2015, at Montgomery County Community College, Doylestown took on Cumberland Valley. The first part of the match saw both teams move the ball, but defenses held. Cumberland Valley scored first and took an early lead. Doylestown’s Jesse Capriotti then scored twice on nice corner runs, and Jack Brady’s try gave Doylestown a 15 -7 halftime lead. In the second half, Matt Cooper scored on an inside run for a 20-7 lead. Cumberland Valley finally answered to tighten the game to 20-14.
With a power try by Trent Petro, and a back line run try by Michael Richards and a conversion by David Cooper, the Doylestown U15 team advanced to the Pennsylvania State title game with a 32-19 victory. In the championship game on Sunday, May 17, 2015, the Doylestown U15s were matched against Kiski Valley from Pittsburgh. The game pitted two unbeaten teams for the state title. The teams battled all game, with strong tackling and hard running. Kiski Valley scored first to take a lead. Then, the Doylestown backs moved the ball down field and the forwards powered to the goal line, with Trent Petro scoring for Doylestown. Matt Cooper then broke a 15 meter run to score next, giving Doylestown a 10-7 half time lead. The second half was another fierce clash between two very good teams, each having opportunities to score, but defenses held. Doylestown’s Ryan Hieber scored on a wide run to increase the lead to 15-7. Kiski Valley came back to score to close the gap to 15-12. The last 9 minutes was a clash of survival and heart. The Doylestown boys held off the opposition to win the Pennsylvania State Junior Rugby title by a final score of 15-12. It is the second consecutive year Doylestown has won the Junior crown.
In the photo:
Kneeling (left to right): Tyler Skillman, Jesse Capriotti, Blaze Hutkin, David Cooper, Colin Patrick, Austin Keil
Standing (left to right): Coach Kevin Lynott, Joey Hamrick, Michael Richards, Trent Petro, Matthew Cooper, Adam Mandzy, Thomas Devlin, Juan Compos, Nick Baldwin, Hudson Stoup, Jack Watson, Ryan Hieber, Kevin Mirales, Jack Brady, Coach Joe Moors
Youth (U13) Boys’ Team
The Doylestown U13 team made its first state playoff appearance in three years. During the last two years, the team has struggled with numbers, and did not win a game. With over half of the players never having touched a rugby ball before this January, this season was an unprecedented success as the U13s were runners-up in the Pennsylvania State Championships on Sunday, May 17, 2015, at Montgomery County Community College. The kids came together as a team, and they grew tremendously as rugby players. They all encouraged one another, and played a solid championship game against Media, ultimately losing 29-12. As team captain, Caleb Tyksinski, was the only forward to score tries in both the semi-finals and the final championship games. First year player, Dalton Reinheimer, was the lone back to score a try in the championship game, and also added a conversion kick, which together with Caleb Tyksinski’s try, gave the U13s their 12 points. With all of Doylestown’s effort, the Media team that the Dragons faced played an almost mistake -free game, and took the championship from Dragons. Second place overall in the Pennsylvania U13 division is a great accomplishment, and a tremendous way to return to the playoffs. With 13 returning players, next year is already looking promising. As Caleb Tyksinski said after the final match, “Doylestown U13 rugby is back in town!”
In the photo:
Back row (standing), left to right: Agnes Price, Ben Callanan, Joey Capriotti, Coach Matt Watson, Jackson Mckinny, Brenda Price, Josh Acker, Brian Price,John Stremel, Jack Ulrich, Danny Boell, Coach Jamie Tyksinski, Aidan Tyksinski, Caleb Tyksinski, Bill Burbage, Coach Chris Dennis, Ben Armagost
Front row (kneeling), left to right: Nakai Miller, Dalton Reinheimer, Jack Czarnecki, Aidan Mcnair, Kellen Johnston, Joey Mignon, Christopher Cleland, Josh Smith, Salvador Costa, Santino Waschbusch
High School Girls’ Team
The Doylestown high school girls’ team lost a hard fought semi-final playoff match to North Penn in the Pennsylvania State Championships. The final score was 12-5. Doylestown had previously lost to North Penn two times during the regular season, in decisive North Penn wins. However, over the last few weeks, the young Doylestown team really came together. The Doylestown girls were down 5-0 at the half, but tied it up halfway through the second half. Unfortunately for Doylestown, North Penn kicked the ball and it bounced just right for them to score the go-ahead try in the last 5 minutes of the match. The high school girls are now preparing for the High School’s Tournament, to be held at PPL Park the weekend of May 29-31, 2015, in conjunction with the Collegiate Rugby Championships (7s).
All of the Doylestown Rugby teams play home matches at the Maennerchor Field, Cold Spring Creamery Road, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. For more information about Doylestown Rugby Football Club, go to www.doylestownrugby.com.
