The high school rugby teams from Battle Ground and Prairie each advanced to the semifinals of the Rugby Oregon Varsity Premiership state tournament for high school boys.
The Battle Ground Bulls beat West Linn 66-15 on Saturday to open the Oregon Youth Rugby playoffs. The win sets up a showdown with defending champion Reynolds in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. on May 11 at Delta Park.
The Prairie Wolf Pack defeated Oregon City on Saturday and will face top-seeded Lincoln at noon on May 11 on the other Varsity Premiership semifinal. Details from the win over Oregon City were not available.
In Battle Ground’s win over West Linn, tries were scored by Trevor Ingram, Jake Sachen, Verno Boespflug, John Cormican, Daniel Monen, Ben Wheeler, Tony Dierking, Brandon Paprska, and Wyatt Webb. Man of the match was John McMahon, according to Bulls’ coach Daniel Simental.
In the Club Championship Division for teams that draw players from multiple high schools, the Clark County Warriors completed an unbeaten regular season with a 41-17 win on Saturday in Pendleton, Ore. Because Pendleton did not have a full roster, some Clark County players played for Pendleton. Warriors who scored tries were Thomas Hudson (two), Jesse Kiesser, Jesse Saulo, Justin Straup, Matt Walser, Michael DiGenova, Ian Dea, Brendon Curle, and Julian Svaricek.
Last week, Clark County was No. 20 in the RugbyMag national rankings of high school boys club programs.
The Warriors will play at noon on May 11 at Delta Park in the semifinals of the top bracket in the Club Championship state tournament. If the Warriors beat Central Catholic/Eastside, they advance to battle for the state title on May 18.
In girls rugby, Battle Ground lost to North Clackamas on Saturday and will face Reynolds on May 11 for fifth place in the Rugby Oregon High School Girls Division 1 state tournament.
