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Bitter-sweet season for rugby team

UA wins conference, has early exit from playoffs

After capping off a successful regular season by winning the SoCal conference, the Arizona rugby team had an early exit in the first round of college rugby's Sweet 16.

The Wildcats lost a close game to the Wyoming Cowboys by a score of 13-8.

"The playoff loss was totally unexpected," head coach Dave Sitton said. "It left us with a significant feeling of emptiness."

After achieving a 7-1 record in the SoCal conference, the Wildcats were expecting big things once playoff time came.

Even with the lack of achievement in the playoffs, Sitton still thinks the season was a success.

"Anytime you win a conference title and get to the Sweet 16 you can call it a successful season," Sitton said. "We did not achieve our goal, but we did have a lot of positives through recruiting and fundraising."

Due to the rugby team's fundraising efforts, it was awarded the Outstanding Campus Organization of the Year by the Student Recreation Center.

The Wildcats' most successful game of the season was beating Long Beach State by a score of 65-21 on March 5.

"The game versus Long Beach State was definitely our top game of the season," junior fly half Rod Penney said. "Beating them by such a large score was a surprise since whoever won that game was going to the playoffs."

Sitton agreed.

"They have been a powerhouse in rugby and beating them by such a big score was surprising," Sitton said.

The Wildcats lose six players to graduation - lock Robert Colville, fullback Adam Dick, halfback Tim Hughes, lock Rob Ternes, prop Matt Woods and fullback Chris Kron.

Kron, was named the campus' "Outstanding Sportsman of the Year." Kron only played a couple games for the UA this season, as he spent most of his time playing with the U.S. National Sevens Team in different tournaments around the world.

Kron will be missed by the team, as he was named team captain, All-American, National Team player, and was starting fullback during all five years of his time at Arizona.

The rugby team will be at full strength next season as they recruited nine players to replace the graduating seniors.

Maxx Wolfson can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu.