Spring 2000 season
Index article – April 6, 2000 (A big “Thank you” to Index writer Uriah Kiehl for his efforts on our behalf during the 1999-2000 seasons!)
Tim Russo and John Tarpoff represent Truman on the Western Rugby Union Collegiate All-Stars.
Tim Russo and John Tarpoff played with the WRFU Collegiates at the National Collegiate All-Conference Championships at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana Jun 9-11. The WRFU Team had its best performance in years, finishing with a 2-1 record and placing 3rd out of the 7 territorial unions. The West entered as the #7 and was unlucky to lose a close match to the Pacific Coast 17-20 in their opening match. They rebounded to defeat the Northeast 43-10, and then drubbed the Mid-Atlantic team 53-25 to take 3rd place. Tim Russo was one of eight West players to make the “probable vs. possibles” match. Four West players were selected to the All-American Team – all from Wyoming (flyhalf Gibson, flanker Gifford, center Patolo and wing Fitch).
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.
Truman falters at WRFU Division I Collegiate Championships
Truman traveled to Houston, TX last weekend for the Western Rugby Union Men’s Collegiate Final Four. Unfortunately, we were unable to defend our title after losing on Saturday to Rice University 17-46 in the semifinals. Full credit to Rice, who played very well. We made too many mistakes and did not capitalize on our chances to score. Unfortunately, we lost Tinnin, McQuillen, and Sinclair – three starting players – the week before Westerns and were without their presence on the field. We had quality reserves, but we lacked the experience, instincts, and impact of the more experienced players. We tried to play as many of the traveling squad as we could in our Sunday conslation match against Colorado. We started poorly, but got better as the game went on, and lost a close one 29-33. For some reason, the referee called the game moments after telling the captain there were three minutes left! We were attacking and playing well – a try would win it. Oh well. A tough trip to Houston. The re-building starts now! Note that this is the first time since 1993 that Truman has not been in the WRFU Collegiate Finals, and the first time since the inception of the USA Rugby Sweet 16 format (1996) – four straight appearances and a 4-4 record – that Truman will not be in the Sweet 16. The 2000-2001 season is not that far away!
Truman plays well but loses to KC Blues “B” – Killer B’s lose to Rockhurst College
Truman traveled to Kansas City last weekend for a doubleheader against the Kansas City Blues “B” and Rockhurst College. The Truman “B” team played well at times, but could not seem to get on-track long enough to take control. Missed tackles and squandered opportunities were the rule, as Rockhurst dominated play to win a comfortable 5-29 match. After watching the KC Blues and Old Blue of New York punish each other for 80 minutes (Blues 20 – Old Blue 12), Truman played the KC Blues “B” team – a team that featured three former Truman players – Guy Hagen, Dave Ethetton and dave Goring. Truman did a fine job in the set pieces and lineouts, and rucked well and retained possession. However, the experience of the Blues’ players showed as they converted their break-away opportunities into points, and pulled away at the end to win 19-46. It was a fun game to watch, with good skills and non-stop action.
Rosters for the Blues and Rockhurst Games:
| STARTING XV – KC Blues “B” | RESERVE XV – Rockhurst College | ||
| 1 – Loosehead Prop | Benji Tinnin | 1 – Loosehead Prop | Tomy Sauceda |
| 2 – Hooker | Tim Russo | 2 – Hooker | James Bredeman |
| 3 – Tighthead Prop | Harry Kuan | 3 – Tighthead Prop | Brian Newcomb |
| 4 – Lock | John Neudecker | 4 – Lock | Joel White |
| 5 – Lock | Paul McQuillen | 5 – Lock | Nick Welchert |
| 6 – Flanker (blind) | Kevin Hunn | 6 – Flanker (blind) | Matt Peiper ** |
| 7 – Flanker (strong) | Martin Garcia ** | 7 – Flanker (strong) | Sean DeCoursey |
| 8 – #8 | Zak Wilson (C) | 8 – #8 | Andy Holmes |
| 9 – Scrumhalf | Greg Gallagher | 9 – Scrumhalf | Peter Maurer |
| 10 – Flyhalf | Kevin Byerley | 10 – Flyhalf | Jason Scherfenberg |
| 12 – Inside Center | Turk Satterly | 12 – Inside Center | Derek Rohr |
| 13 – Outside Center | JP Melet * | 13 – Outside Center | Matt Strickland |
| 11 – Left Wing | Matt Pieper | 11 – Left Wing | Joe Rothermich ** |
| 14 – Right Wing | Ryan Adams | 14 – Right Wing | Kamron Ahmad |
| 15 – Fullback | Sam Merritt | 15 – Fullback | Phil Hart |
| Reserve | James Bredeman * | Reserve | Martin Garcia * |
| Reserve | Kamron Ahmad ** | Reserve | Nico Burger ** |
Index Article – Thursday, March 23 2000
Truman wins – Off to the WRFU Final Four!
Truman hosted Pool A of the Western Rugby Union Collegiate Championships this past weekend in Kirkville. The weather was cold and wet all weekend, and play was wet and muddy and at times sloppy. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln defeated the University of Missouri-Columbia 29-3 on Saturday. On Sunday, Truman defeated Nebraska 50-0 to earn a spot in the Western Collegiate Final Four to be played at Rice University, Houston, TX on April 1-2.
Final score: Truman 50 – UNL 0 (halftime: Truman 23 – UNL 0)
Scoring: Tries: Tarpoff (2), Lay (2), Sinclair (2), Neudecker, Kuan, Satterly
Conversions: Tarpoff (0/6), Russo (1/3)
Penalties: Tarpoff (1/1)
WRFU Round of 12 Collegiate Playoffs Information (Click on this link to get more information.)
Index Article – Thursday, March 16, 2000
Bombers match snowed out!
Our scheduled match against the St. Louis Bombers’ “B” side on March 11th was cancelled due to a blizzard!
Truman defeats KU
Truman defeated KU last weekend in Lawrence, KS 34-10. The win gave Truman their 7th consecutive Heart of America Collegiate Championship, and the #1 seed and hosting rights for Pool A of the Western Rugby Union Collegiate Round of 12 to be held March 18-19. Tries were scored by Bryan Lay, Ryan Adams, Kamron Amhad, Ben Sincclair, and John Tarpoff, while Tim Russo added a penalty kick and two conversions, and Tarpoff added a conversion.
Final score: Truman 34; KU 10(halftime: Truman 7- KU 7)
Scoring: Tries: Lay, Ahmad, Sinclair, Adams, Tarpoff
Conversions: Russo (2/3), Tarpoff (1/2)
Penalties: Russo (1/1)
Truman -vs- University of Nebraska-Lincoln – Cancelled!!
County and Northland Rugby Clubs visit Truman (Sat, Feb 26)
Truman defeated County RFC by a score of 27-17 in the first game, and the “Killers B’s” exacted some revenge on Northland RFC 22-5 for their 0-43 drubbing last fall. Despite the fact that this was County’s first game of the season, they played very well and created tremendous pressure. Truman had some trouble with the more experienced and larger club side, but created opressure and put away the win in the last 15 minutes. Truman put over 5 tries and 1 for 5 conversion (not good!). Truman scorers included wing Ryan Adams (from probably the best series of phases all year), scrumhalf Bryan Lay (2 tries), flanker Martin Garcia (a 70 m romp), and #8 John Tarpoff. We promoted several players to the first side in preparation for next week’s merit table game against KU (since some starters will be gone – some excuse about spring break).
The Killer B’s played really great, scoring 4 tries and a single conversion (also not good!). We got two tries each from prop Tony Sauceda and #8 Tim Russo (plus a conversion), and amazing support and defense from the team. The tackling was fierce and the back row of Russo, Deke, and freshman Chris Gray tackled like maniacs. Big kudos to the “B’s” !!!
Final score: Truman 27; County 17 (halftime: Truman 12 – County 12)
Scoring: Tries: Lay (2), Tarpoff, Adams, Garcia
Conversions: Tarpoff (1/5)
Penalties: Tarpoff (0/1)Final score: Truman 22; Northland 5 (halftime: Truman 15 – Northland 0)
Scoring: Tries: Sauceda (2), Russo (2)
Conversions: Sauceda (0/2), Russo (1/2)
Penalties: Sauceda (0/1)
Texas A&M Trip (Feb 17-20)
Was that fun or what? The trip was long – very long. We got to La Plata (15 miles) and found Kevin Hunn’s car with a flat. (Of course, he had no spare of even a lug wrench, so his car sat there all weekend!) We finally got out of Columbia, MO about 7:40 PM on Thursday night. Good thing we had a videotape player and three monitors on-board. Over the weekend, we watched Rugby World Cup matches (thanks Garth!) and numerous movies. We arived in College Station, TX at noon on Friday, and went straight out for a run to loosen up the “road-legs”. We were met by members of Texas A&M Rugby – who billetted the players and who were gracious hosts. We had a low-key get together on Friday night, while most players caught up on sleep. Sobering was the site of the “bonfire” that collapsed last fall claiming 12 Aggies not more than 100 yards from the rugby pitch. The logs are still stacked on the site as the investigation goes on.
We played Texas A&M at 2:00 PM Saturday, and continued to improve, as we posted a 34-17 victory in the “A” game. Tries by Paul McQuillen, John Tarpoff, Bryan Lay, Kevin Byerley, Ben Sinclair, and JP Melet and two conversions by Tim Russo paced the Bulls. The game was tied 10-10 at 5′ into the second half, when Truman found their rhythm and took control of the match, and notched four tries in a twelve minute period. Truman’s second team played an outstanding game, winning over A&M’s B-team 36-0. Tries were scored by Kevin Hunn (2 tries), Matt Peiper, Josh Luetkemeyer, Sean DeCoursey, and Martin Garcia. Tony Sauceda added two conversions.
Final score: Truman 34; Texas A&M 17
Scoring: Tries: Lay, Tarpoff, McQuillen, Sinclair, Byerley, Melet
Conversions: Russo (2/4), Melet (0/2)
Penalties: Russo (0/0)
Index Article – February 10, 2000
Pre-season article about upcoming first game, by Index writer, Uriah Kiehl.
Arkansas State (Saturday, February 12th, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO)
Score: Truman 49 – Arkansas State 27 (Half-time: 20-15). Referee: John Tarpoff. Truman opened their first match of the spring 2000 season a little slow and a little sloppy. Truman put over eight tries (and 3 from 8 conversions) and a penalty to out-distance Arkansas State (5 tires and one conversion). Some defensive lapses allowed payoff for a talented and aggressive ASU team in the form of three unconverted tries in the first half. ASU held a 10-0 lead with 17 min gone on two tries in the right corner, both coming from mulitphase movements. First half tries from John Tarpoff, Tim Russo and Bryan Lay, plus a conversion and penalty from Russo lead to the 20-15 halftime score. Truman had begun to exert more control over the match late in the first half, and began the second half in the same manner – reducing mistakes, and making better decisions. Second half tries by Tarpoff (2), Lay, Kamron Ahmad, and Benji Tinnin, and two conversions by JP Melet, completed the scoring. ASU put over two more tries (one conversion) in the second half to close out the match.
Final score: Truman 49; Arkansas State 27
Scoring: Tries: Tarpoff (3), Lay (2), Russo, Ahmad, Tinnin
Conversions: Russo (1/3), Melet (2/5)
Penalties: Russo (1/1)
Link to Fall 1999 stats and information and Fall 1999 photos
Fall 1999 Season match review – Read the match-by-match reviews from last fall.