Grandville joins the regional tournament this year. /// Photo: Bobby Gable
Elkhart, Ind., is a destination for elite girls’ high school rugby this spring. Before the club and single-school national championships arrive in late May, the Girls’ High School Midwest Championship will vivify the Moose Rugby Grounds this Saturday-Sunday, April 29-30. Twenty-three sides will compete in four divisions, marking the largest Midwest championship to date.
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Several teams competing in the single-school and club brackets will be attending nationals, and the event will aid seedings into those May 19-21 tournaments. The regional championship is about providing more playing opportunities for high school teams, and Midwest Youth Coordinator Bob Cronquist is at the helm.
Four states have contributed teams to the eight-team, single-school bracket. Reigning Midwest and Wisconsin champion Divine Savior Holy Angels (DSHA) will face three-time reigning Michigan state champion Grandville in the quarterfinals. The victor will play the winner of Ohio runner-up Hudson vs. Indiana champion Warsaw in the semifinals.
On the other side of the bracket, Wisconsin runner-up Catholic Memorial will kick off the regional tournament against DII single-school champion Penn (Ind.) in the first round, and the victor will face the winner of St. Joseph Academy vs. Oak Creek. The former is the reigning single-school national champion, and the latter finished third in Wisconsin.
The competition follows a Cup/Plate format, where quarterfinal winners continue in a championship bracket, and losers filter into a fifth-place bracket. Everyone gets three games, with the placing matches held Sunday.
The six-team club division is split into two pools: Hopkins (Minn.), Brookfield (Wisc.) and Brunswick (Ohio) in one group, and Plainfield (Ill.), Pulaski (Wisc.) and Arsenal Tech (Ind.) in the other. Arsenal Tech is actually a single-school team but as Indiana’s third squad, it’s filling out the club ranks. Teams play two pool games Saturday and play for place on Sunday.
Five teams comprise the open division: Parma (Ohio), South Bend (Ind.), Brownsburg (Ind.), Knightmares (Wisc.) and Walnut Hills (Ohio). Teams will contest three games each and no placing matches will be held. Penn, DSHA, Brunswick and St. Joseph have contributed teams to the JV division, which is a round-robin competition.