After the U club rugby team topped Wyoming 38-12 for a chance to face the Goliath of collegiate rugby?Cal-State Berkeley?for the national championship, team captain Larry Gelwick said his teammates weren’t intimidated by Berkeley’s 11 straight national titles, or the fact that Berkeley hadn’t even been challenged for the title in five years.
“We went in to win, we believed we could,” Gelwick said.
After all, the U team had a strong contingent of former Salt Lake City Highland High School players, a school which is annually in the hunt for the national championship at the prep level.
However, a win was not in the cards for the Utes at the National Collegiate Final Four Tournament in Virginia Beach, Virginia, earlier this month.
Utah’s 43-22 loss included two late scores by Berkeley, which is sponsored by the university.
“It was too little, too late. With a couple more bounces of the ball, maybe we would have been champs,” he said.
The Utes trailed 33-22 with minutes to go before Berkeley added a couple scores.
The Utes got into the championship game by topping the Wyoming Cowboys 38-12 in the semi-finals. After a quiet and uneventful first 20-25 minutes, the Utes slowly lit up the board and led 20-5 at half.
The Utes were able to hold on to the advantage, avenging a 20-10 loss during the fall played in Laramie, Wyoming.
To get into the Final Four, the Utes had to advance at their regional tournament in California, and at a Sweet 16 tournament in Pennsylvania.
The run at the championship ended the U rugby’s team’s record at 17-4.