Barbarians complete rugby 7s season with 4th place finish at regionals.

The Milwaukee Barbarians capped off their summer sevens campaign on Saturday at the Midwest regional championships in Cincinnati, OH.

Pool stage

The Barbarians began the day well in pool play with victories over both Cincinnati (17-10) and the Chicago Blaze (17-5).

The final pool stage match was against Metropolis. Despite being held scoreless, the Barbarians’ defense kept the Minneapolis outfit to just 3 tries, well below their average this season.

The final 17-0 score left Milwaukee as second in the pool and 4th overall. It earned them a ticket to their first Cup semifinals this season. 

Cup stage

In the Cup semifinal, the Barbarians met a well-organized Chicago Lions team. Clinical on both offense and defense, the Lions went ahead early and never looked back. The Lions won 36-7 and went on to win both the Championship and take the first Midwest seed to the National finals.

In the Cup consolation match, the Barbarians never recovered from the semifinal. Despite clearing the bench, Milwaukee was on the wrong end of a 36-7 scoreline.

In addition to winning 3 championships in Wisconsin this season (Leinie’s 7s, Lighthouse 7s, Harborfest 7s), the result in Cincinnati places the Milwaukee rugby team 4th in the Midwest.

“The guys really did a great job working hard in practice, especially over this past month,” said Head Coach Ryan Duklas. “We’ve had a goal all summer to be peaking around the Midwest Championships and that’s exactly what they did. Although we just missed our goal of making it to Nationals, I think we surprised a few people today and I couldn’t be more proud of all the players for the effort they put in.”

Roster

Head Coach: Ryan Duklas

1. Matt Drzewiecki
2. Robert D. Bartlett
3. Levi Van Lanen
4. Nick Vigder
5. Adam Regini
6. Trevor Hergert
7. Stuart Roche
8. Bryce Counsellor
9. Brian Klein
10. Anthony Sims
11. Kyle Cwiklis
12. Taylor Young