Tournament at Elkhart begins Hoosier season

Big Ten play is not just starting in IU varsity sports this weekend. 

The IU men’s and women’s rugby teams will play in the Big Ten Plus One tournament to begin competition.

The games this weekend are the first official events of the men’s rugby season. The tournament takes place at Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind., and features Big Ten teams and Notre Dame. 

The tournament allows for the team to enter both the A- and B-sides into competition. 

The A-side is the competitive team that competes for standings in the Midwest Area Rugby Football Union. The B-side is comprised of mostly rookies who are playing to gain experience. 

Last year the men’s team lost to the high-ranked Penn State team 5-7 in the quarterfinals. IU went on to finish third by beating Illinois 38-15. 

Sophomore tight head prop Tyler Jackson is looking for a better result this year.  
“The bare minimum goal is to play in the championship game,” he said. “We are shooting to win the tournament, but we expect nothing less than the championship game.”

The A-side will open play at 11 on Saturday against Illinois. The rest of men’s play is based on finishes.  

Dave Harbeck, president of the IU men’s rugby team, knows the competition in their pool will be tough. 

“The pool we are in has Minnesota and Ohio State, who finished one and two in the Midwest last year,” he said. 

The IU women’s rugby team opens its season by participating in the tournament, too. The women’s first match is against Purdue at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The women’s team finished last year ranked first in the Midwest. They also received an invitation to participate in the USA National Collegiate Division I tournament for the second year in a row. 

Junior fullback Tyra McGrady said the team has been doing a lot of preparation for the tournament this week in practice.

“We’ll play Purdue and Michigan State and then hopefully Penn State, who finished No. 1 in the nation,” she said. “We’re all really excited to get another chance to play great competition.”