Wake Places 3rd in North Carolina Rugby Union Tournament

Wake Forest finished third in the 2008 North Carolina Rugby Union Tournament, besting North Carolina State 24-0 on Sunday morning in the tournament consolation game.

Wake began the tournament with its second side taking on the East Carolina second side in the B Division of the tournament. Wake won the match 17-14, with tries being scored by freshman flanker Jeff Millar and freshman scrumhalf Kip Lewis. Junior flyhalf JD Harrison converted both tries and added a penalty to lead Wake to the victory.

The Wake first side opened the tournament against Elon and the result was never in doubt as the Demon Deacons completely dominated territory and possession, running out 24-0 winners. Wake led 19-0 at the half behind a try from sophomore flanker Hunter Lostan, a brace from senior #8 Timo Kawira and two conversion from sophomore wing Scott Gillespe. After the break Wake tacked on another 5 points courtesy of a penalty try after they drove a 5 meter scrum across the tryline where an Elon defender infringed and prevented Kawira from touching down for a third time.

The second side was then back in action against the UNC-Chapel Hill second side and lost a heartbreaker 19-14 as UNC ran in a converted try on the game's final play. Wake tries were scored by flyhalf Harrison and sophomore center Kyle Rate. Harrison was again perfect with the boot, nailing both conversions.

In the A Division semifinal, Wake took on familiar foe East Carolina, ranked #3 in the country in Division II by eRugbyNews.com. ECU beat Wake twice last spring, including the South Championship game and Wake was eager to avenge those defeats. ECU opened the scoring with a try in the corner from NCRU All-Star wing Bobby Allen. The difficult sideline conversion was good and Wake trailed 7-0. The Demon Deacons responded with an impressive try from their forwards who drove a 5 meter scrum across the line for #8 Kawira to touch down. Gillespe was good with the conversion to knot the score at 7 apiece. A handling error in the Wake backline inside its own 22 allowed ECU to regain the lead and the teams went into the half with ECU ahead 14-7.

The second half began with ECU pressuring the Wake tryline, but a strong defensive stand turned into a Wake counterattack, culminating in junior lock Christian Jewett touching down between the posts. Gillespe's conversion tied the game at 14. Off the ensuing restart, Wake continued to pressure and the forwards notched their seventh try of the day with freshman flanker Brendan Shea this time doing the honors. Gillespe's touchline conversion was no good and Wake led 19-14. Finding themselves down in the second half for the first time all season, the experienced ECU side shifted into another gear. A try from NCRU All-Star center Matt Hughston tied the game at 19 and with 5 minutes remaining in the match ECU took the lead 26-19 with another converted try from Allen. With time running down Wake could muster very little in terms of an offensive attack and the match ended with Hughston scoring another try on an impressive individual effort. Final score ECU 33 Wake 19.

The loss to ECU meant Wake would play for third place on Sunday against NC State, who were unlucky to have lost to UNC-Chapel Hill 8-3 in the other semifinal. The third place match was all Wake Forest, as they defeated a less than full-strength Wolfpack side 24-0. Gillespe started the scoring with a try in the corner and followed that up by converting a try from senior scrumhalf Drew Legge for a 12-0 lead at the half. After withstanding a strong NC State start to the second half, Wake finished the day with tries from freshman wing Ben Cohen and junior prop Kenton Forte.

In the championship game, ECU picked up where it left off on Saturday against Wake, winning 49-14 over UNC-Chapel Hill. It was an extremely impressive display of rugby from the Pirates who proved this weekend that they are head and shoulders above the rest of the teams in the union.

Wake's fall season will come to an end in two weekends as the first side plays the Wake Forest Rugby Alumni on Homecoming weekend and the second side takes on UNC-Pembroke.