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UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION Related Pages |
1998 National Tournament Most Competitive Yet In recent years, the United States Quad Rugby Association's National Tournament had been a two team race. In the early nineties, it was Tampa and Quadzilla which then evolved into Tampa-Tennessee battles. In 1996, Sharp Shadow joined the elite company when they not only made their first final game but upset the three- time National Champion Tampa Generals. That was their first win of the 1996 season against Tampa which couldn't have come at a better time for the Southern Californians. Last year's National Tournament saw the Tennessee Quad Crushers beat the 2nd seeded Tampa Generals for the first time of the season to advance to the title game. Shadow was able to prevent the Quad Crushers from pulling off an improbable upset in an exciting Championship game. This year's tournament held in Salt Lake City, Utah was hosted by the Utah Extreme Quad Rugby team April 3-5th. Although Shadow was favored, three other teams had a realistic shot at the title. The Tampa Generals had defeated Shadow in the Championship game at Houston's tournament in late February. The 3rd seed Lakeshore Demolition from Birmingham, Alabama had reason to believe that they could contend after an impressive overtime victory over Shadow at their own tournament in early February. The fourth seeded TIRR Hurricanes from Houston liked their chances after giving Shadow two close calls in February. Twice, in those games they led going into the fourth period. Sharp Shadow knew that an unprecedented third consecutive National Championship would not be easy. Despite the addition of Dean MacCabe, a National teamer 2.5, this season was tougher than last years when they went undefeated. Did the two regular season losses have Shadow concerned? Well they definitely weren't going to take Tampa, Lakeshore, or the Hurricanes lightly. In Shadow's first pool game, they played the fifth seed Atlanta Rolling Thunder, who they easily beat a month earlier. This game was alot different as Kiwi sensation, Curtis Palmer, led the Atlanta squad to an early two goal advantage. Shadow kept it's composure and eventually took the lead late in the 4th period as the Thunder showed signs of fatigue. Lack of endurance seemed to plague Atlanta all season. They basically relied on five players and were only able to substitute their number three players, Bert Burns and Bob Lujano. Palmer led all scorers with 16 goals while teammate Mark Zupan added 14 more. Shadow's Mike Wyatt was their only player in double figures with 11 goals, an example of Shadow's balanced attack. Next up, Shadow took out Chicago with ease to win their pool as Atlanta took Chicago out of the elite eight contention wit a 34-19 win. The 2nd seed Tampa was not threatened in their pool as they cruised past San Antonio and Tennessee who had lost standout Cliff Chunn in the off season and Lee Moore to illness just before the tournament. Wayne Romero led the Quad Crushers to a narrow victory over San Antonio despite playing with less than eight points most of the way. Pool C, which many Rugby experts called the toughest of the four pools, opened with Lakeshore convincingly beating Team AllNight from Seattle. AllNight's attack was centered around Canada's top player, Garret Hickling playing in his first USQRA National. Lakeshore's class 2.0 phenom, Cliff Chunn, was able to neutralize Hickling while his teammates over matched AllNight's supporting cast. Lakeshore had a deceivingly close game with San Diego's Bushwhackers in their other pool contest. The Demolition was able to rest their top players throughout the contest which they won by four. The first upset of Nationals occurred when the 10th seeded Bushwhackers defeated the 7th seeded Team AllNight. The Bushwhacker's played a very controlled game as they elected to open with a key defense. This slowed the pace resulting in only 7 goals scored in the first period. The snails pace ended in the second period as the two teams combined for 19 points. A Bushwacker three -goal run enabled them to take a two goal edge at half time. The tempo continued to increase with both teams employing a full court press. Twenty four goals were added to the books in the third period, but AllNight couldn't close the two goal gap. Hickling's two unanswered goals starting the fourth period tied the game for the first time since the midway through the second period. The Bushwhackers responded by coming back with a two goal run to go up by two. AllNight couldn't climb back despite Hickling's efforts. Hickling, who scored all of AllNight's fourth period goals led all scorers with thirty. The Australian Brad (The Kid) Dubberly with 17 goals had help from fellow high pointer Albert Moscona 2.5 and low pointers Sheehan Verner 1.5 and Paul Richardson .5. In Pool D, the TIRR Hurricanes had no trouble, as they defeated 8th seed Casa Colina and the 9th seed California Quake. Casa Colina's Buccaneers used their bench sparingly as they dismantled Quake 43-36 to move into the elite eight. Saturdays schedule featured the start of crossover play. The top two teams in each pool advanced to quarterfinal play while the third place finishers began round robin play to determine 9th through 12th place. The #4 seed TIRR Hurricanes had to go through #5 Atlanta Rolling Thunder for a final four berth. They were quite confident after beating Atlanta by seven in their last meeting a month ago. The Cane's were undefeated against them during the 97-98 season and hoped to keep their record perfect. The Thunder couldn't keep up with the lightning fast Brad UpDegrove and when they did stop him, he was able to utilize his class 2.0's Sam Gloor and Steve Kearly. Coach Alan Bailey showed confidence in his bench by subbing class 3.0 Dave Bynum and 1.0 Terry Gumbert for the twos effectively. Atlanta gave the Texas team all they wanted early, but faded down the stretch. With a 48-44 victory, the Cane's moved into the final four while Atlanta went to the 5th through 8th place bracket. Sharp Shadow predictably downed Casa Colina, although the Buccaneers challenged them early. These teams are no strangers to each other as they are based about an hour apart. Tennessee, hard pressed to win a game without their full lineup, fell victim to Lakeshore 16-38. The Bushwhackers who played Tampa closely at the Eastern Sectional were surprised by a 9-3 run by the Generals to open the game. The Generals were able to cruise to a 38-26 win and position themselves for a semi-final match with the Demolition. Saturday closed with the strongest semi-final field in USQRA National tournament history. Unfortunately the gyms were separated so the ardent Rugby fan could not watch both games simultaneously. The traffic between both courts was continuous as spectators tried to take in as much top level Rugby action as possible. The Demolition came out on fire to take a 4-1 lead over Tampa. Tampa did not fold, as the veteran team battled back and managed to go up by two in the first half. When the halftime horn blew, the scoreboard had Tampa leading 16-14. However, referee Bob Lopez corrected it after Lakeshore pointed out an error. This cut Tampa's lead to one. Tampa maintained their momentum and pushed their lead to three goals in the third period. The turning point of the game came when Tampa's 3.5 Joe Soares was trapped against the sideline with the ball leading 20-18. Lakeshore aggressively went for the ball, which prompted Soares to question the ref's for a foul call. Lopez's whistle blew, but it was for a ten second no dribble call which gave the Demolition the ball and a chance to pull within one. Lakeshore eventually tied the Generals at the end of the third period. The final eight minutes would decide who would go on to the final. Lakeshore took the first possession and took their first lead of the half. A turnover at the 3 minute mark gave the Demolition a two goal advantage. With less than three minutes remaining, Lakeshore caused another turnover and capitalized with a goal to go up by three. The former champions showed great heart as they battled back in the final ninety seconds using the same lineup. After three straight goals by Tampa's Darren Ransome to tie the game, the Demolition scored to make it 32-31. The Generals broke the press and looked to score the tying goal and send it into over time. With, Lakeshore's 2.5 Willard Brooks in the penalty box, Generals player coach Joe Soares went into the key for what looked to be the tying goal. With 18 seconds left, Soares elected not to score and pulled out of the key along the baseline. He hoped to get the goal on the short handed Lakeshore lineup closer to the buzzer, which would have left them less time to score. The strategy backfired as Soares was knocked out of bounds as he was releasing a pass to an open teammate. Lakeshore now had the ball and only needed to kill the clock for the win. Utilizing Brian Kirkland's height, the Demolition easily inbounded and successfully ran out the clock to advance to the finals. On the other court, Shadow and TIRR Hurricanes were battling for a title game birth. Before the game, the Cane's received good news about their veteran class 2.0 Steve Kearly. Kearly had protested his classification and won the protest which enabled him to play as a 1.5. This enabled the Canes to play their class 1.0, instead of their .5, which was essentially their old lineup when Brad UpDegrove was a class 3.0. The two semi-finalists exchanged goals for the first five minutes of play. Shadow started to bend a little when the Cane's hit them with a four goal run. The Champs did not break, as they came back with a three goal run to pull within one. The Cane's started the second period with the ball and a 15-14 lead. They pushed the lead to two on a Sam Gloor goal. At the 3:35 mark, Shadow created a turnover and scored to tie the game for the eleventh time in the first half. The Cane's "Delco Line" of UpDegrove 3.5, Dave Bynum 3.0 and low pointers Terry Gumbert 1.0, and Rob Krows .5 forced another Shadow turnover and scored to take a two goal lead. This was short lived as Shadow scored and then stole an inbound pass to tie the game once more. They also scored the last goal of the half to tie the game at 22- all. The second half opened with the game's first lead change as Shadow took the first possession in for a score. Eight tying goals were scored in the period until Shadow closed the period with a flurry. Shadow rallied and scored five of the last six goals in the third period surging to a four goal-lead. With a large contingent of Shadow fans erupting, the Canes faced an up-hill battle. They were not able to gain any ground on Shadow in the final eight minutes as their admirable effort fell short, 41-45. This fast paced game between two Rugby giants set a record for goals by both teams in a semi-final. Speaking of great efforts, how about Tennessee taking the Bushwhackers to overtime, before succumbing 47-50? Tennessee was without the services of class 3.0 Lee Moore, a National Tournament Most Valuable Player in 1994 and 1995. His go-to guy Wayne Romero had a colossal challenge of facing the nation's best Rugby teams. He lived up to the challenge and in this writer's eye could have been named MVP. In Sunday's final placing games, they ended up playing Casa Colina's Buccaneers who attacked the QuadCrushers like a vengeful pack of wolves who had never tasted victory against them. The Buc's finished seventh with the 45-26 win. In the 5th/6th place game Atlanta figured to cruise to their best finish in three National Tournament appearances. After all they beat the Bushwhackers just three weeks earlier at the Eastern Sectional. Atlanta took a 9-7 lead into the second period and expanded the lead to three at half time. Atlanta coach Wendy Gumbert attempted to rest class 3.0 Mark Zupan after opening a four goal lead. Curtis Palmer, Barry Leavel, and both the class 2.0s couldn't hold their own against the Whackers as they scored three unanswered goals to pull within one. Gumbert was forced to go back to her starters who stayed even with the Bushwhackers during the final four minutes of the third period. The Bushwhackers started the final period with the ball and basically sat on their possession using a whopping four minutes of clock before scoring. Atlanta beat the press and scored quickly. The Bushwhackers broke the Atlanta press and took two minutes to score and knot the game at 27. Atlanta scored the go ahead goal with about thirty seconds left which gave the Bushwhackers plenty of time to tie the game and send it into overtime. The strategy almost paid off. However, Moscona was trapped at the goal line with one wheel over. With the cone on one side and Palmer on the other he had nowhere to go. Palmer reached in and got the held ball. Fortunately for Atlanta, it was pointing their direction. They now had to kill the clock which they did to take fifth place. The TIRR Hurricanes had to beat Tampa to improve on their second consecutive fourth place finishes. Tampa, who had high hopes of a title game showdown with Shadow, now had to face a strong Hurricane team just to get third. The last time these two battled, it ended up going to overtime before the Generals could leave Houston with a 50-49 win. Despite the great let down after losing to Lakeshore, the Generals came to play and rolled to 5-1 lead to start the game. The Cane's were able to sneak back into the game in the third period when Bynum's goal tied the game at 18. Tampa weathered the storm ending the third period with a three goal lead. The Cane's would get no closer as Tampa earned third place with a 34-31 victory. At the end of the 3rd/4th place game you could see the anticipation of the fans as they jockeyed for a good viewing spot. The sidelines were completely surrounded with chair users and video camera's, including ESPN's In Pursuit. Most of the other competing teams were hoping to see a new champion rise in the Lakeshore Demolition. Shadow's contingent of fans were there to counter the cheers of those pulling for the underdog. Shadow started the game with 3.0 Troy McGuirk, 2.5 Mike Wyatt, 2.0 Dan McCualey, and .5 Dan Guillou which was the same starting lineup that brought them their first title in 96. Lakeshore went with their height advantage, starting with the twin towers 2.5 Willard Brooks and 2.0 Brian Kirkland along with the quick cutting 2.0 Cliff Chunn and 1.0 Lawrence Lee. Shadow stole the tip and Wyatt crossed the goal line for the first goal. Lakeshore came back with three straight goals by Kirkland, Brooks and Chunn showing they also had possessed a strong balanced attack. The two teams exchanged goals before Wyatt was called for a holding call caused by Kirkland's hit. The Demolition failed to capitalize on the opportunity when Kirkland was called for 10 seconds no dribble. Shadow subbed in "The Tennis line" of 2.5 Rick Draney and 2.0 Brent Poppin for Wyatt and McCualey. They cut the lead to one as Poppin assisted Draney on a goal. On the press Draney created a loose ball which Poppin picked up and called a time out before rolling over half court to avoid an over and back call. Shadow tied the game when McGuirk took the inbound in for a goal. The two finalist traded goals until the six minute mark when Shadow went on three goal run to take an 11-9 lead into the second period. The boy's from Bama fought back to tie the game twice in the second period against Shadows MacCabe, Wyatt, McCauley, and Ralph Shadowens line. Similar to the first period, Shadow ended the second period with another big run. This time they put together a four goal run with tenacious defense and their characteristic big two handed chest passes. Both teams were sensational on defense as they both used up three timeouts a piece to save possessions. Each team produced back to back turnovers before Lakeshore scored the last goal of the half, trailing 15-18. The two powerhouse's dueled evenly in the third period, however Shadow scored the first and the last goal to take a 25-21 lead into the final eight minutes. With both teams having exhausted their timeouts, turnovers would be easier to produce. Lakeshore threw away their first possession when Kirkland's long pass went off of Brook's foot plate. Lakeshore redeemed themselves by forcing a ten second inbound violation the next play. They scored closing the gap to three and set up a chance for another score when Shadow couldn't connect on a pass to Draney. Shadow's defense came back strong by preventing Lakeshore from crossing half court in the 15 seconds. The Demolition then scored off another Shadow turnover to pull within two. MacCabe's goal pushed the Shadow lead to three. After breaking Shadow's press Willard Brooks rammed his way past Draney at midcourt and then MacCabe at the goal line for the goal. Poppin's inbound to Draney was intercepted by Brooks who took it in for a quick score to trail 27-28. With 3:26 remaining, Shadow gave up a held ball, but kept possession via the arrow. They eventually scored to move to three ahead. An equipment timeout enabled the Demolition to substitute two unseasoned players for Brooks and Lee. Twenty three year old class 3.5 Bart Troxell and .5 Tommy Vanzant entered the game for the first time. Kirkland became the new inbounder and immediately tried a long bump to the speedy Troxell. The long bump sailed towards the right sideline just over half court and barely out of reach of Troxell. Shadow knew a goal could all but ice the game. They also knew that time was on their side as they used over thirty seconds to score. Lakeshore would only score once more as time was running out for the challengers. Shadow scored the final goal to win the 1998 USQRA National Championship game 32-29. Shadow's jubilant Coach Reggie Richner was asked about the contrast of this game from the one they lost in Alabama to Lakeshore. He responded by saying, "We actually had the crowd in our advantage which was great, McCualey's family came again this year and really made a lot of noise for us." High scores for Shadow, Draney 8, McGuirk, McCabe, and Wyatt had 7 each. Lakeshore Chunn 9, Kirkland and Brooks 8 each. Kevin Orr coaching in his first final game credited Rick Draney for sparking Shadow. "He was MVP of the game as far as I was concerned" He also humbly stated "My lack of experience in Championship games may have hurt us. "I think our turning the ball over right after creating a turnover contributed alot to their success". Look for more success from Lakeshore as they are probably one of the youngest teams in the league. We all should look forward to some great battles next season. Thanks to both teams for giving the crowd a great final. Special thanks to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Invictus Communication, Sportaid, Colours by Permobil, Action/Invacare, Quickie, Eagle Sportchairs, AllNight Wheelchairs
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