The annual Midwest High School 15s Championship unfolds this weekend at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind. Traditionally this tournament is a nice primer and preview for the single-school national tournament, but this year’s Championship bracket is a bit more modest than years’ past. The Open Bracket is more robust, and altogether the tournament will put three grass rugby pitches in motion.

RELATED: Tournament schedule & results

Catholic Memorial High (Wis.), Divine Savior Holy Angels (Wis.), Chargers (Ind.), Westside (Ind.) and St. Joseph Academy (Ohio) comprise the Championship bracket. Three of those five teams will feature at nationals (May 16-18, Madison, Wis.); however, Westside Revenge is a multi-school team and making its debut at club nationals this year. There is already a point of comparison with Charger, which played Westside to a 39-26 loss on April 12. Claire Woenker scored three tries for Charger in that match.

The Wisconsin teams play their 15s rugby in the fall so this weekend’s runout is crucial for nationals-bound DSHA and Catholic Memorial. St. Joseph is very undefeated in Ohio and looking strong. The Jaguars have played at nationals before, and won the very first single-school title in 2016, but that mid-May date often conflicts with senior activities.

In the Open bracket, there’s Grandville (Mich.), Ft. Wayne (Ind.), Hamilton (Wis.), North Central (Ind.), Pendleton (Ind.), Penn (Ind.), Perrysburg (Ohio), and JV sides from DSHA and St. Joseph.

Games begin at 10 a.m. Central on Saturday with three pitches in motion. The final game of the day kicks off at 5 p.m., and then Sunday restarts at 10 a.m. again. The championship match is at 1 p.m. on the White field. For the full schedule and results, click here. For all this Midwest championships, visit https://mwyouthrugby.com.

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY

10 a.m.
Champ: DSHA v Chargers (red field)
Champ: Catholic Memorial v Westside (white)
Open: Penn v Grandville (blue)

11 a.m.
Open: Ft. Wayne v Perrysburg (white)
Open: DSHA JV v St. Joseph JV (blue)

1 p.m.
Champ: DSHA v Westside (red)
Champ: Catholic Memorial v St. Joseph (white)

2 p.m.
Open: DHSA JV v Grandville (red)
Open: Pendleton v Ft. Wayne (white)

3 p.m.
Open: Penn v St. Joseph JV (red)
Open: North Central v Perrysburg (white)

4 p.m. Champ: St. Joseph v Chargers (red)
5 p.m. Open: Pendleton v Hamilton (red)

SUNDAY

10 a.m.
Open: DSHA JV v Penn (red)
Open: Grandville v St. Joseph JV (white)

11 a.m.
Open: North Central v Ft. Wayne (red)
Open: Pendleton v Perrysburg (white)

12 p.m.
Open: Hamilton v #4/5 in champ pool (red)
Champ: 3rd Place (white)

1 p.m. Championship (white)