Steubenville, Ohio - The Franciscan Men's Rugby team have been patiently waiting for an opportunity to play this season, but with COVID-19 protocols for rugby have been quite strict, many clubs took the year off. The Barons were able to scrimmage Wheeling University a couple of times in the spring semester, which was great experience for a young talented roster. The team is very excited to have the chance to go to New Orleans this weekend to play in the Collegiate Rugby Championships May Madness 7s Tournament. 

They are scheduled to play Iowa State University at 12:04 p.m. on Saturday May 29th in their first matchup. This is a 32 team tournament comprised of teams from DI, DII and DIII institutions from all across the country. With a win, Franciscan will play the winner of Wayne State and Western Michigan on Sunday morning. With a loss, they will play the loser of the same matchup between the pair of Michigan schools.

Games this weekend will be played at the Gold Mine on Airline, home of Major League Rugby's NOLA Gold. Games will also be streamed on The Rugby Network, just like all Major League Rugby games. To play games on a professional field and get the same exposure as them, is an amazing opportunity for the team and Franciscan University as a whole.  

The #2 ranked Men's Rugby team had an outstanding 2019-2020 campaign that saw the team capture a 3 Rivers Rugby Conference (3RRC) Championship, a Central Region Championship, and berth in the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) Final Four. Unfortunately the Final Four had to be canceled and the trip to California to win a National Championship was axed. The team was able to earn some individual honors, as PJ Ernst, Josh Leatherby, and David Prezzia became the first Barons in school history to earn NSCRO All-American Honors and Zachary Barnes earned Rising Star Honors. 

Prezzia will be the only Baron of that bunch that is on the roster for this weekend, as he looks to lead this younger group. Rafe Lewis, the junior fly-half, is another upperclassman that will have a huge impact on the team's success this weekend  This will be the first time we see just seven players on the pitch for second year Head Coach Jason Adams, so it will be interesting to see if he can keep up the success they left off with last season with the traditional 15 man games.

Tune in to all action on The Rugby Network 
Click Here for the Schedule for the Weekend

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