Fall 2000 Match Reports

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Fall 2000 season

Fall banquet Truman Rugby held their annual fall banquet Monday, December 4 at the Kirksville Country Club.

Award recipients for the fall 2000 season Outstanding Forward – John Tarpoff (award sponsored by Glen “Bull” Baumgarth, Alumni 1993) Outstanding Back – Greg Gallagher (award sponsored by Jim Rohr, Alumni 1997) Outstanding Rookie – Justin Carley (award sponsored by Scott Lay, Alumni 1994) Most Improved Player – Brian Newcomb (award sponsored by John Brooks, Alumni 1997) Allen Chapman (Service) Award – Brian Newcomb (award sponsored by Chris Geisert, Alumni 1992)

(L to R) Carley, Gallagher, Tarpoff, and Newcomb

New officers for 2001
President – Brian Newcomb
Treasurer – Justin Carley
Fields – Greg Gallagher
Public Relations – Joe Rothermich
Recruiting – John Neudecker and Matt Pieper

Click here for the fall season stats and recap.

Truman Alumni to Sponsor Player Awards
The response was swift and heartening, and we have sponsors for all five awards for already – in less than 24 hours!!  On behalf of Truman Rugby, I sincerely appreciate the consistent willingness of our Alumni to support the players. The purpose of this scholarship opportunity, where the sponsoring Alumnus volunteers to pay the next season’s club dues ($50) for the player winning an award, recognizes outstanding players and team contributors, and eases the financial burden of playing rugby.  But, remember, the financial burden of supporting this program does not have to fall to the same Alumni each semester, so begin thinking about which award you would like to sponsor for spring 2001 (we have one committed already).

There is always a comedic side to anything that goes with Truman Rugby, and I appreciated the response of those who stated that they would “sponsor anything, as long as it is not a back.”   I also appreciated Jim Rohr’s challenge of a $50 for a HOA Tournament Championship, and a full year’s dues for a West Collegiate Championship “MVP” winner. Thanks again to everyone who has agreed to sponsor an award in Fall 2000, and to those who did so in Spring 2000 (Bob Andresen ’95, Walter Jones ’94, Alvaro Duran ’90, and Chris Geisert ’92).

Truman Rugby elects new officers for 2001
Truman Rugby elected new officers at the end of the season meeting this week. Senior prop, Brian Newcomb was re-elected president. Brian is the only second term Truman Rugby president since our esteemed alumnus, Guy Hagen held office in 1993 and 1994. Justin Carley, a first season wing and finance major, was elected treasurer. Junior scrumhalf, Greg Gallagher was re-elected field secretary, as testament to his fine work on pitch. Sophomore scrumhalf, Joe Rothermich was elected to handle public relations – Joe is one of the most committed players on the team, and is excited to get to work. In considering the importance of recruiting, the club has separated recruiting and P.R., and has elected two people to handle the recruiting efforts this year – Matt Pieper (junior flanker) and Jon Neudecker (senior lock). The new officers will assume their offices at the annual fall banquet to be held Monday, December 4th at the Kirksville Country Club.

Index Article on Bulls Rugby (Nov 16th)

Truman defeats Kansas University 34-17.
On November 4th, Truman came out focused and determined against a steadily improving KU team, and their hard work and focus paid-off as they were able to put up 34 points and take their merit table match against KU. Just four weeks ago, KU had upset Truman in the final of the Heart of America Tournament, when after keeping it close all game, they scored a converted try with little time remaining and held on for the win. Had Truman underestimated KU at the Heart? Some probably did, however, that was certainly not the case this week. Soon after the KU loss, team captain Turk Satterly decided that Truman’s conditioning and focus were up to par, and he began running extremely hard conditioning sessions before each practice. In addition, Truman refined some tactics and worked on cleaner execution. Both Truman and KU played hard and fast for 80 minutes. Truman was able to dominate the scrums and the lineouts, taking a number of KU possessions. Both teams rucked hard and tackling was solid. The difference this day, was that Truman made many fewer mistakes and executed better. Truman tried to create more pressure on defense to reduce KU’s time and space. Truman was lead by junior flanker, John Tarpoff who scored four tries, two of which came off of coordinated forward movements, and senior wing Sam Merritt, who scored two tries. Center Tony Sauceda tallied two conversions. Full credit to KU for never giving up as they scored two fine tries in the last 15 minutes. The “Killer B’s” came out and played very well, dispatching KU’s 2nd team by a 24-10 score. Truman will play KU again in the spring for the second and final merit table game to determine the Heart of America RFU Division Champion and the seeding for the Western Championships (to win the #1 seed, Truman must either beat KU or lose by 17 points or less in spring). This was a fine way to end an up and down the fall season! Thanks to Kevin McCaslin, referee from Tucson, AZ, and Steve Glentzer, HOA Referee’s Society. Note, the referee, Mr. McCaslin, noted after the match that he was impressed by both teams’ sportsmanship while playing such an intenses match. Personally, I believe that is due to the respect and friendship among the players, of which 16 of the 30 players on the field are teammates on the Heart of American Collegiate All-Stars Team.

Halloween Havoc at Mizzou
Truman played three matches last weeken in the University of Missouri’s “Halloween Havoc Tournament” in Columbia Missouri. Some very interesting seeding resulted in Truman and the Outlaws, easily the best two teams in the tournament, being paired in first round action. Truman and the Outlaws were tied at the end of regulation 20-20, and an errant pass resulted in a try for the Outlaws and the over-time 20-25 win. Truman took 25 players was was determined to use them all. After a large number of substitutions, a combined Truman team won a close match over Scott AFB 24-22. In the last match of the day, a combined Truman team held off Central Missouri State to win a 15-12 decision. While the 2-1 result on the weekend is below expectations, the real focus on the weekend was playing everyone and making improvements in specific aspects of our game, better defense and better ball retention and recycling at the tackle. Both of these goals were met.

The 2000 Truman Alumni Match – The Alumni still rule!

The Truman team took early control of the match, and held a short-lived 17-5 lead after the first 20-min period. All of Truman’s points came from Senior outside center Tony Sauceda (2 tries, 2 conversions and a penalty), while Doug Bratcher flopped into the try zone for the Alumni. The 2nd period was a different story all-together. Truman subbed in 8 players, and the Alumni capitalized scoring 24 points to bring the half-time score to 17-29 in favor of the Alumni. Second period tries were scored by Rohr, Brady, Eichholz, and Goring, and conversions (in the “you score it – you convert it” format) were made by Rohr and Goring (…really, Dave made his kick!). More subs in the 3rd period, and the Alumni barrage did not let up, as they tacked-up 22 more points, while continuing to shut-out the mixed Truman side. Tries from Hankins, Hagen, Geisert (+conv), and another by Brady brought the score to 17-51 after three periods (Ouch!!). These old guys were playing some good rugby and doing a great job of attacking with ball in hand and controlling the ball in contact. Truman stepped-up the pressure in the final period, and put in 3 tries in the last period (Sinclair, Sauceda, and rookie Christian) and adding two conversions, and were unlucky not to have finished-off three others. Ethetton collected the last try for the Alumni – Final score : Truman 36 – Alumni 56.

Who’s the Fastest? In the featured match race of the day, senior Ben “Brady’s-lost-a-Step” Sinclair nipped Dan “Looks-like-I’ve-lost-a-Step” Brady in a 50 m challenge race. Truth be told, Ben later out distanced Brady for a try, too!

In the Annual Donut Relay, the heavily favored Alumni (Siems, Hamberg, and Sutton) were disqualified after they were discovered tossing their donuts to Paul Askeland’s “dog-mountain”, Hershey. The victorious Truman Rookies (Carley, Brown, and Christian) gloated as they left the field with their mouths packed full of powdered donuts!

The Old Man Award for the outstanding alumnus of the match went to Jim Rohr. Thanks to Mark Dodson who got us a new cane with brass name plates recalling the past winners. The Truman Player of the Match went to Tony Sauceda in recognition of his 3 try, 3 conv, and a penalty (for 24 points!) performance. Mark Dodson presented Tony with a new annual trophy, a large red statue of a raging bull, which Tony autographed dutifully (Note, this replaces the misplaced “Richard Cranium Trophy” of bygone days.)

Generosity The Alumni were extremely generous, with total donations received of $2980, which were placed in the Truman Endowment Account. In addition, several pledges were made which will take the total well over $3000 – THANKS!!! In return each Alumnus received a custom Truman Rugby Ball. Alumni who would like a ball can contact rugby@truman.edu with information and a donation.

We’re going on tour! What are you doing the first weekend in December 2001? Those in attendance this weekend echoed strong support for our long-awaited Truman-NMSU Alumni Tour. Everyone agreed that the Las Vegas Tournament was the place to go! Start making plans now. Once we get more details in order, we will begin accepting deposits and reservations. More later!!!

Heart of America Collegiate All-Stars take 3rd in Western Championships
The Heart of America Collegiate All-Stars took 3rd place in the 2000 WRFU Collegiate All-Stars Championships in Ft. Worth, TX. The 24-man team included ten Truman players and was captained by Truman #8 John Tarpoff. Other Truman players included Turk Satterly, Harry Kuan, Greg Gallagher, Kevin Hunn, John Neudecker, Martin Garcia, Matt Pieper, Kevin Byerley, and Sam Merritt (Tim Russo was unable to travel due to the passing of Grandmother last week.). The Heart Collegiates defeated the Missouri RFU 32-10 in the opening round, but lost to eventual championships Eastern Rockies in the semifinals 13-32. The game was much closer than is reflected in the score, as the Heart had trouble getting started with the referee interpretations. The team re-grouped to defeat the Eastern Rockies-II 29-20.

Truman stumbles to KU in closing minutes of Heart of America Tournament finals.
Truman held a slim lead over arch-rival Kansas University through 77 minutes of the championship match Sunday. However, with less than three minutes remaining, KU powered over for a try to pull within one point – the conversion made the score 18-19. With little time left Truman rallied and threatened in the closing minutes, but were unable to convert and time ran out. Credit to an aggressive young KU team who stayed close and who defended constantly and well. They have improved considerably in the last couple of semesters. Truman simply made too many mistakes, gave up too many penalties and lost too many balls in the tackle. Numerous spectators commented that it was without question the best match of the tournament – no let-down in action and close the whole way. Some consolation, I suppose.

On Truman’s account, we simply made too many mistakes and our judgement was suspect on several occassions. Several times we had what looked to be sure tries go begging as the ball was knocked-on, and there was a disturbing tendency for Truman ballcarriers to go into contact with defenders in the open field with unmarked support outside. Generally, we showed a lack of discipline at penalties, when at least three makeable penalties were quick-tapped and subsequently turned-over at the tackle. It is a tough lesson. However, if we can learn from this and set our egos aside, we will become a better team and get stronger as we move to the second half of the season and into spring.

NOTE: Truman plays KU in a Heart of America Collegiate league match November 4th at 1:30 PM in Kirksville. This is a critical match as it has strong bearing on post-season play in the spring towards the territorial and national championships. This is a most see!

Truman drops close one to Texas A&M
Despite being at home, Truman was unable to produce enough points in the second half to hold-off a determined Texas A&M team, who went on to win 20-27. The Truman – Texas A&M series now stands at 3-1, with Truman getting the best of A&M during last February’s trip to College Station. Poorly tackling and poor ball retention in the second half lead to the A&M control. On a positive note, however, Truman hosted a team from the 4th largest university in the U.S., and showed great hospitality to our Kirksville visitors. Players were billetted in our homes, and a big feed was haad post-match. Pretty good press for Truman Rugby. Thanks to Texas A&M and their coach Alec Klinghoffer for the effort to return the visit. We are looking for a re-match for spring 2001 at a mid-way venue!

Truman Rugby splits double-header in Champaign, IL
Truman Rugby traveled to Champaign, IL last weekend to get some early season high-level competition and we got what we were looking for! On Saturday, Truman stayed close to powerful Indiana University through about 50 min of action (17-22), mostly through tough and tenacious defense. However, Indiana was too strong and began to open-up the game late and although playing valiantly, Truman were unable to contain Indiana. The final score of 17-58 is testament to Indiana’s open aggressive style. Truman never quit and were quite disappointed with their overall performance. The “B” team lost to Indiana “B” 7-34. There was some fine play from our young rookies, who were outmatched by a more experienced Indiana team. Unfortunately, rookie wing, Bobby Ready – in only his second game – broke his collar bone in an unlucky tackle.

Despite being tired and sore from Saturday, Truman improved their overall play and gained some degree of retribution in defeating the University of Illinois 24-12 (half: 5-5). Truman used Saturday’s mistakes as a positive lesson and many players played their best of the young season. Inspired, the “B” team played brilliantly and notched their first win of the season over Illinois “B” 15-0.

A big “Thanks” to the University of Illinois RFC and their coach, Ben Montez, for their gracious hospitality in hosting us.

Truman has an open weekend Sept 23, and a Heart of America training and scrimmage on Sunday, Sept 24th. Our next home game is Sept 30 when we will host Texas A&M University (“A” 1:30 and “B” 3:00 PM) at the Rugby Field at Florence and LaHarpe, south of the Truman tennis courts.

Index Article on Bulls Rugby (Sept 15th)

Truman opens Fall 2000 season with a victory!
Truman came from a 0-19 deficit to defeat the County Sundogs 21-19. Down 0-19 at 12 min into the second half, Truman got on the board with a try from junior scrumhalf Greg Gallagher and conversion by senior outside center, Tony Sauceda. Senior hooker, Tim Russo touched-down five minutes later after a nice bit of continuity, and Sauceda’s conversion made it 14-19. The play of the day, saw the backs execute a perfect “miss 2, 5 out” where Sauceda popped the ball to fullback Ben Sinclair as he exploded into space and went 20 meters for the center-post try. Sauceda slotted his third conversion of the day to give Truman the lead. County never quit and Truman’s defense withstood the late charges. In the “B” game against Rockhurst College, Truman’s thin numbers were shored-up by some guest players from Northland RFC and “A” players who wanted more conditioning. Rockhurst is an improving team, and got out to a 17-0 lead. Truman scored two late tries to bring the final to 12-17. Three talented young rookies got their first action against Rockhurst (see * below), while sophomore Joe Rothermich showed how a summer of hard work and rugby can pay-off as he had a great to start the fall season.

While a win is a win, Truman has lot’s of work to do to achieve past form and to contend for a WRFU and USA Rugby Championship spot. Numbers are low this season, and a number of injuries has depleted the pool of experienced players. Recruiting remains a big concern. Truman travels to Champaign, IL for a doubel-header against Indiana University and University of Illinois this weekend. Truman will have to execute better and improve their fitness.

Columbia Outlaws’ 10’s Tournament Despite the heat and humidity, fourteen hearty current and alumni players showed-up last Saturday in Columbia, MO for the Outlaws’ Annual 10-a-side tournament. Alumni included Dan Brady, Pat Kozemski, and Bryan Lay. Matt Pieper was a couple hours late, Bryan Lay didn’t puke this year (although he looked pretty close a couple of times!), Zak Wilson played with the Outlaws (boo!), and Rednut and Avery never showed! On the field, we did “OK”, but not great. We won two and lost two. We beat the Outlaws (even with Wilson playing for them!) and Fort Leonard Wood. We lost in sudden-death over-time to Springfield, who won it all, and we lost a close one to the Ramblers. It was a good run and a lot of fun. See you next year.

Satterly and Kuan elected Captain and Vice Captain for the 2000-2001 season.
Turk Satterly, Truman’s hard-running inside center, was elected captain for the 2000-2001 season. Junior tighthead prop, Harry Kuan, was elected vice-captain. Satterly, a junior biology major, is completing his second year of rugby and has developed into a strong and intelligent player and team leader. Kuan, an art major, is in his third year of rugby at Truman, and has been the anchor of the Truman scrum for the past three years. Harry played high school rugby at Park Hill (Kansas City, MO). Both players were recognized by their peers for their playing ability, dedication to the club, and leadership skills on and off the field.