To Fellow Ruggers,

 

The Arizona Select Side Trial matches have been very helpful in identifying the players that will represent the Arizona Rugby Union. This squad listed below will represent the Arizona Union at the Pacific Coast Grizzly competition on October 30-31.

Congratulations to those players that have been selected. The selection committee expects all players to notify Alan Weber to accept the invitation. You can do this by email or phone. You can also notify your club administators, who should then notify Alan Weber.

            The selection committee has also listed a few alternates just in case a selected player is unable to particpate due to injury or other complications in the next  10 days. These players should be prepared to go on the trip if requested. If you cannot please notify Alan Weber, asap. 

            The efforts of all players involved in the practices and matches are greatly appreciated. The Select side can only benefit from your efforts and hopefully be better prepared for our next matches versus the NorCal Pelicans. If you did not make the squad this year, continue to improve and be prepared to try again next year. The process should be very similar next year.

            I would also like to thank Kevin McCaslin and Knute Knudson for taking the time to referee the matches and  thank the touch judges and the field helpers. I also would like to thank the selection committee for providing a their expertise in the selection process. The selectors were Pat Roach, Lee Goodman, Lee Redlegs, Rob VanSweeden and myself. I also want to thank J.B. Schonwald, Az Select Side manager, for the logistical assistance to make these matches possible.

            I would like to thank all the clubs and players in the Union for funding to the program. Your support has enabled the players to travel much cheaper this year.

Thank you. 

            The details of the trip are listed below:

Friday October 29: Players to be at Phoenix Skyharbor Airport at 6:15pm- Terminal 4

 

Depart Phoenix: Southwest Air to San Jose at 8:05pm  Arrive San Jose 9:55pm  nonstop

 

Hotel: LaQuinta, San Francisco Airport  650-583-2223

            Full breakfast provided by hotel, Jacuzzi and heated pool—4 players per room

 

Saturday October 30: Match versus NorCal at Treasure Island  2pm kickoff

                                    We will arrive at field between 11am-noon

 

Sunday October 31: Match versus NorCal II at Treasure Island  1pm kickoff

                        We will arrive at field between 11am-noon

Depart SanJose: Southwest Air to Phoenix at 6:25pm   Arrive 9:15pm  nonstop

 

Kit: The Az Union supplies jerseys, shorts, socks.

 

Any other questions, please ask.  Thank you      

Alan Weber, Az Select Side Coach

2004 Arizona Rugby Union Select Side

Hooker: Bret Fullerton  Tempe

Hooker: Shaun Hudson Red Mountain

Prop: Preston Gordon               Old Pueblo

Prop: Michal Wrobel                Tempe

Prop: Eric Chandler                  Northern Arizona

Lock: Nick Candeleria  Tempe

Lock: Nick Whitaker                Tempe

Lock: Sean Guard                    Tempe

#8: Kisione Taunamta               Camelback

Flanker:Aaron Halfpenny          Tempe

Flanker: Adolfo Sanchez           Red Mountain

Flanker: Matt Squires               Red Mountain

Scrumhalf: Brendan Freer         Red Mountain

Flyhalf: Pieter Hugo                  Tempe                          Captain

Flyhalf: Andrew Lebowitz         Red Mountain

Center: Matt Williams               Red Mountain

Center: August Clauss               Red Mountain

Center: Steve Garcia                 Camelback

Wing: Altar Mcue                     Red Mountain

Wing: Tony Carson                   Tempe

Wing: Matt Defrietas                 Northern Arizona

Fullback: Matt Dallow  Red Mountain

Back: Scott Mead                    Red Mountain

Alternates:

Hooker: Sean Snelling   Scottsdale

Prop: Glenn Rose                     Scottsdale

Lock: Ben Trapp                      Northern Arizona

Flanker: Ben Brown                  Red Mountain

Scrumhalf: Tom Landauer         Scottsdale

Back: Burt Taui’illi                    Red Mountain

 

 Arizona Select Side vs. Texas RFU

Houston, Texas

November 30-December 2

 

Final Squad Selections

 

Art Linke, Thunderbird

Dwayne Smyth, Phoenix

John Mapalcoutolo, Red Mountain

Michal Wrobel, Tempe

Ted Vigenzer, Camelback

Rick Rupkey, Old Pueblo

Denian Soleto, Tempe

Ethan Aumauck, Northern Arizona

Kyle Warren, Northern Arizona

Steve Politis, Phoenix…………………….…Captain

Jeff Gallegos, Red Mountain

Mark Speeding, Camelback

Pieter Hugo, Phoenix

Greg Lim, Phoenix

Josh Burch, Scottsdale

Steve Wrzesinske, Scottsdale

August Clauss, Red Mountain

Adolofo Sanchez, Camelback

Burt Tauili’ili, Red Mountain

Beau Farrell, Tucson Magpies

Scott Mead, Red Mountain

 

 

 

 

Grizzly Trials November 17-18

Grizzly Selections for Interterritorial Championships in Tampa Dec 7-9 Hooker Bret Fullerton (Arizona-Tempe) Travis Schulze (PNRFU-Seattle)  Coach and General Manager John Tyler (Mission) Loose Prop Will Bauer (PNRFU-Seattle) Paul Still (Nor CAL-Olympic)  Asst. Coach and Tour Manager George Marshall Tight Prop Brian Tax (PNRFU-Seattle)     Lock Dave Piedrahita (PNRFU-Seattle) Kyle Warren (Arizona-Northern Arizona)   Lock Jan Ledford (PNRFU-Oregon Sports Union)     #8 Alex Walterspeil (Nor CAL-Olympic) Aaron Satchwell (Nor CAL-Golden Gate)   Flanker Matt Schoener (PNRFU-Seattle) Anthony Chafee (PNRFU-Oregon Sports Union)   Flanker Olo Fifita (Nor CAL-Hayward/Blues)  Ramsey (Nor Cal-Fresno)   Scrum half Mose Timoteo (Nor CAL-Hayward/Blues) Pieter Hugo (Arizona-Phoenix)   Fly half Greg Lim (Arizona –Phoenix)     Inside center Karl Thompson (Nor CAL-Golden Gate) Taki Uluiakepa (PNRFU- Old Puget Sound Beach)   Outside center Eric Stacey (PNRFU-Seattle) Neil Clasen (PNRFU-Oregon Sports Union)   Wing Mike Patolo (Nor CAL-Olympic) Adolfo Sanchez (Arizona-Camelback)   Wing Tony Ursino (PNRFU-) Scott Mead (Arizona-Red Mountain)   Fullback Ryan Bishop (PNRFU-Seattle)

 

2001 Arizona Select Side To Grizzly Trials

 

      Alan Weber, Coach

 

      Jason Nimark, Manager

 

      Rob Van Zweeden, Doctor/ Trainer

 

 

Bret Fullerton, Tempe

Wynard Tonga, Red Mountain

Scott Cornelius, Phoenix

John Mapacuotolo, Red Mountain

Art Linke, Thunderbird

Michal Wrobel, Tempe

John Hoffman, Red Mountain

Kyle Warren, Northern Arizona

Denian Sotelo, Tempe

Ethan Aumauck, Northern Arizona

Kevin Torkelson, Red Mountain

Steve Politis, Phoenix

Rob Erich, Tempe

Kone Aumua, Old Pueblo

Brian Friesen, Northern Arizona

Pieter Hugo, Phoenix

Andy Young, Scottsdale

Greg Lim, Phoenix

Aaron Jones, Tempe

Loren Broussard, Tempe

Josh Burch, Scottsdale

Adolfo Sanchez, Camelback

Pati Uiagalelei, Old Pueblo

Dave Hall, Phoenix

Scott Mead, Red Mountain

August Clauss, Red Mountain

 

 

Arizona Select Side Albuquerque Tournament October 20-21

 

 

The Arizona select side traveled to Albuquerque for the 3^rd straight year. With 13 new players on the 23 man squad who have never played for Arizona the goal Saturday was to get the group playing together as quick as possible so that they could advance to the Sunday matches. Led by captain Steve Politis, the sides’ expectations were to play the Denver Barbarians in the finals on Sunday.

 

The first match Saturday morning unfortunately was against an undermanned Scottsdale side. A halftime score of 45-0 was surprising as Scottsdale actually played competitively for the first 10 minutes. Then the Az Select found their rhythm and scored 7 tries. The second half was cut short by the referee. But even with stopping 12-minute short, the Az selects scored 4 tries. The side did find a new game breaker as winger Pati Uiagalelei (Old Pueblo) had a hat trick in the first half before being replaced at the half.

 

The second match of the day just after noon was a spirited match versus the University of New Mexico. This university side is not your usual undergrad rugby club. The UNM gave the AZ selects all they could handle as the first half finished 7-3. The Az selects dominated field position but could never finish because of a good aggressive defense. The second half started off with both sides playing very seriously. But within 10 minutes a fight broke out and it escalated into a major situation as players from UNM sidelines joined into the fray and the referee stopped the match. It is very unfortunate that things like this happen. The final score was 7-3.

 

The last match Saturday pitted the Az selects against Santa Fe. A win would put the Az selects into the semi-finals. The 3-½ hour break between matches seemed the reason for the sluggish first half effort by the selects. Late in the 1^st half Pati U. scored and gave the Az selects a 7-0 lead at the half. The second half saw a much more determined AZ side and 4 tries later the match ended (5 minutes early again) with an Arizona victory 33-0.

 

Sunday morning found the Az selects matched against the Denver Highlanders. Both were pool winners and it was expected to be a tight match. The 1^st half saw Arizona build a 21-5 lead. The forwards were dominant in the scrums (as they had been all weekend). Pati scored 2 more tries and Scott Mead had one of the more spectacular tries as he counterattacked down the sideline 75 meters outrunning every tackler. The second half was still a dominating effort by the forwards but as the lead grew to 31-10,but the strategy became one of slowing the pace to conserve energy for the final.

 

The final came down to the expected match up against the Denver Barbarians. The Arizona side was very ready for this match. They were aggressive from the start----too aggressive. Six minutes and 3 penalty kicks into the match and Denver led 9-0. The Az selects finally got settled and were more effective with their possession and almost scored as #8 Torkelson was almost through for a 30 meter try when a defender dove and caught his toe to trip him up. Those 7 s points could have erased the bad karma of the early game mistakes. The tactics of the Barbarians were to put the ball deep into Arizona territory from flyhalf kicks. Arizona counterattacked these very poorly and thus caused a tremendous territorial advantage to the Barbarians. Arizona also had to many solo efforts that resulted in turnovers and sometimes penalties. The result was 2 more penalty kicks and 2 tries as a result of the field position and miscommunication in the centers on defense. Pati scored for Arizona late in the half to bring the score to 29-5. The Az selects made a few replacements at the half and started the uphill battle if they were to win the match. The scrummaging continued to be dominate for Arizona but Denver still had territorial advantage a pushed the score to 35-5 on 2 beautiful drop goal efforts. Arizona stayed determined and their efforts resulted in 2 tries. But eventually time does run out and it did with Denver winning the Championship 35-19.

 

Prop John Mapacuotolo (Red Mountain) earned the Forward of the Tournament Trophy. I believe that the Denver’s Australian flyhalf earned the back award but I believe the award should have gone to Winger Pati Uiagalelei (Old Pueblo) who only scored 9 tries!!!! on the weekend.

 

The squad was not successful on its stated mission to win the tournament but the program identified players for future events. The squad was also able to work on playing together and this will help at the Grizzly Trials November 17 in San Francisco.

 

 

 

 

Albuquerque Scoring Summary

 

Scottsdale		Uni.  of New Mexico	Sante Fe	Denver Highlanders	Denver Barbarians
LP	Linke	Linke	Tonga	Linke	Linke
H	Freizen	Smyth	Freizen	Smyth	Smyth
TP	Mapacuotolo	Mapacuotolo	Schild	Schild	Mapacuotolo
L	Yakaitis	Aumauck	Rupkey	Aumauck	Rupkey
L	Rupkey	Yakaitis	Aumauck	Yakaitis	Aumauck
F	Aumua	Politis    Cpt.	Politis   Cpt.	Politis      Cpt.	Politis   Cpt.
F	Smyth	Aumua	Rubel	Aumua	Aumua
#8	Rubel	Torkelson	Torkelson	Torkelson	Torkelson
SH	Mead	Butler	Butler	Lim	Butler
FH	Lim   Cpt.	Lim	Lim	Jones	Lim
IC	Allen	Allen	Pameka	Allen	Allen
OC	Sanchez	Sanchez	Jones	Sanchez	Sanchez
W	Pati U.	Broussard	Broussard	Broussard	Broussard
W	Clinkenbeard	Pati U	Clinkenbeard	Pati U.	Pati U.
FB	Jones	Mead	Mead	Mead	Mead
R	Tonga to LP		Linke to LP	Tonga to LP	Yakaitis to L
R	Schild to TP		Pati U. to W	Rubel to #8	Freizen to F
R	Pameka to IC		Sanchez to OC for Butler	Freizen to F	Tonga to H
R	Broussard to W		Mapa to TP	Pameka to IC	Pameka to F
R	Butler to SH			Rupkey to L	Ellis to OC for Allen
R				Mapa to #8	Ny to W
R
	Arizona Scoring	Arizona Scoring	Arizona Scoring	Arizona Scoring	Arizona Scoring
	Win 71-5   Try:   Pati U.  3 Sanchez 2 Smyth 1 Lim 2 Mead 1 Broussard 1 Pameka 1   Conversion:   Lim 9 of 11	Win 7-3   Try:   Politis 1     Conversion:   Lim 1 of 1	Win 33-0   Try:   Pati U. 2 Jones 1 Broussard 1 Rupkey 1   Conversion:   Lim 3 of 4 Broussard 1 of 1	Win 31-10   Try:   Pati U. 3 Mead 1     Conversion:   Lim 4 of 4   Drop Goal:   Jones 1	Lose 35-19   Try: Barbarians 2   Pati U.   1 Mapacuotolo 1 Ny 1   Conversion:   Barbarians 2 of 2 Lim 2 of 3     Penalty Kick:   Barbarians 5   Drop goal:   Barbarians 2

 

 

 

 

Arizona Select Side Albuquerque Tournament
Hooker	Brian Freizen   (Northern Arizona)	Dwayne Smyth   (Phoenix)	Alternates if someone is unable to attend:
Loose Prop	Arthur Linke (Thunderbird)	Wynard F. P. Tonga (Red Mountain)	Joe Forhand
Tight Prop	John Mapalcuotolo (Red Mountain)	Clint Schild (Old Pueblo)
Lock	Rick Rupkey (Old Pueblo)
Lock	Ethan Aumauck (Northern Arizona)	Steve Yakaitis  (Old Pueblo)
#8	Kevin Torkelson  (Scottsdale)
Flanker	Mike Rubel (Thunderbird)	Kona Aumua  (Old Pueblo)
Flanker	Steve Politis   (Captain)  (Phoenix)
Scrum half	Vaha Koloumantangi (Red Mountain)	Darren Butler (Sin City)
Fly half	Greg Lim (Phoenix)		Mark Speeding
Inside center	Josh Allen (Magpies)	Salesi Pameka (Red Mountain)
Outside center	Adolfo Sanchez (Camelback)	Aaron Jones (Tempe)
Wing	Loren Broussard (Tempe)	Bob Clinkenbeard  (Phoenix)
Wing	Pati Uiagileti (Old Pueblo)
Fullback	Scott Mead       (Red Mountain)

 

 Arizona vs. Nor Cal 

1:00pm Saturday

 

        The Arizona Select Side traveled to San Francisco the weekend of November 17-18. The players were not only looking for the Arizona union’s first win since the early 90’s but also the individual glory of being picked to represent the prestigious Pacific Coast Grizzly Select Side. The weather was a beautiful 65 degrees with a slight breeze, no clouds and a backdrop of downtown San Francisco to the west of the Treasure Island Field. The pitch was almost too soft for the Arizona group.

 

      Saturdays match pitted Arizona against the host Nor Cal Pelicans. The Pelicans fielded a combination side of first and second team players, but still strong enough to expect a win against the recently winless Arizona side. The first ten minutes was a back and forth testing by both squads until #8 Kevin Torkelson took a ball from a loose ruck and sprinted across field from the 20-meter line. With the defense concentrating on the crashing backs Torkelson, he accelerated through a seam and scored near the posts. Lim converted to give Arizona the lead 7-0.

       The Pelicans moved back into AZ territory missed a penalty kick and then 5 minutes later followed with a converted try by winger Mike Patolo to notch the score at 7-7. At the 18-minute mark the pelicans took their first lead with a penalty kick by Hinken and were up 10-7. With both teams know getting a feel for each other the match settled into a rucking battle that went up and down the field but with no reward. The Arizona pack seemed to dominate late in the half and eventually received their reward when at the 38-minute mark Center Josh Burch stretched to score to the right of the posts on a 10-meter crashing run. Lim again converted and Arizona had a 14-10 halftime lead.

       After half the Arizona lead was short lived as the Pelican forwards came out with a vengeance and moved up field and scored an unconverted try to move to a lead 15-14 with only 2 minutes off the clock. The sides settled their play again until 12 minutes later flyhalf Greg Lim notched his first penalty kick from right in front and put Arizona back in the lead 17-14. For those of you not keeping track this was the 4^th lead change of the match. But this match was so even either team could win the match and at the 22 minute mark the Pelicans regained the lead with a converted try 22-17. Most of the match Arizona had struggled to handle the Nor Cal style of having forwards fill to the backs and create many overloads. Unfortunately many of these opportunities went to waste. With fresh forward reserves joining the Arizona pack the tide seemed to shifting slightly. The Pelicans took their last shot at points with 14 minutes left but the penalty kick was wide.

       With possession at the 50 meter line and 11 minutes left the Pelicans seemed to have an overlap again but Winger Scott Mead intercepted a stray pass. A horrified home crowd watched as Mead used his Grizzly level speed to touch down under the posts. Lim converted for a 3^rd time and Arizona had a uncomfortable 2 point advantage 24-22. But the fresh legs and minds in the Arizona pack took control of the match and for the final 10 minutes they dominated as they had in the first half. They were rewarded with a Lim penalty kick right in front, which was caused from great pressure from crashing forward runs and dominating scrummaging. Arizona closed out the match 10 meters from the Pelicans line and won 27-22.

       The whistle blew; arms of he Arizona players flew into the air, a loud roar from the whole squad and then the silence of satisfaction. For the first time since the early 90’s the Arizona union had won a Saturday match at the Grizzly trials. The win was as beautiful as the sunlight blue sky and now Captain Steve Politis, coach Alan Weber and all the players could look to tomorrow with a greater challenge on the table…defeating the very strong PNRFU selects.

 

Position            Arizona                                     N. Cal Pelicans

Hooker             Fullerton                                    Redman

Loose Prop      Mapalcoutolo                           Gordon

Tight Prop       Cornelius                                   Kirsch

Lock                  Aumauck                                   Walker

Lock                  Warren                                       Taylor

# 8                      Torkelson                                  Walterspeil

Flanker              Politis…Capt.                              Satchwell

Flanker              Erich                                            Doerhman

Scrumhalf          Hugo                                          Sharin

Flyhalf               Lim                                              Hinkin

In center            Burch                                         Archibald

Out Center        Jones                                          Morrison

Wing                 Sanchez                                      Patolo

Wing                 Broussard                                  Scott

Fullback            Mead                                          Jamie 

 

Reserves       

Minute 40        Linke for Cornelius                     Unknown

              40        Tonga for Erich

              55        Smyth for Torkelson

              60        Clauss for Broussard

72            Wrobel for Mapalcoutolo

 

 

Try:  Arizona: Torkelson, Burch, Mead

         Nor cal: 3

 

Conversion: Lim 3 for 3

                       Hinkin 2 for 3

 

Penalty kick: Lim 2 for 2

                       Hinkin 1 for 3

 

 

 

Sunday Morning 10:00am

Arizona vs. PNRFU

 

This match looked to be a very difficult one for the Arizona side as the Loggers had dominated the Pelicans yesterday by 3 tries. The weather was the same as yesterday and Arizona had its hopes high. It was not long before the Loggers proved why they have dominated this competition the last few years. The Loggers scored tries at the 6, 10, and 25-minute marks, with a penalty kick tacked on at the 15-minute mark, and thus the halftime lead was 18-0 to the Loggers. The second half saw the Loggers continue their dominance with 3 tries in the first 12 minutes to push the score to 37-0 and then suddenly Arizona decided to play better and I assume the Loggers started to coast. The final 28 minutes saw no further scoring. Not the result that Captain Politis had expected but he defends the effort of his players and Thanked them for a reasonably successful weekend.

 

Position                                     Arizona                                PNRFU Loggers

Hooker                                      Smyth                                   Schulze

Lose Prop                                 Linke                                     Justin

Tight prop                                Wrobel                                 Glenn

Lock                                          Tonga                                   Knapp

Lock                                          Aumauck                              Figard

# 8                                             Politis                                    Zemke

Flanker                                     Erich                                       Chafee

Flanker                                     Freisen                                   Joley

Scrum half                               Young                                    Smith

Fly half                                     Jones                                     Flynn

In Center                                  Broussard                             Clasen

Out Center                               Clauss                                   Castillo

Wing                                        Tauil’ili                                  Pond

Wing                                        Burch                                     Ursino

Fullback                                   Mead                                      Hansen

 

Reserves

Minute        40                         Warren for Aumauck   

                     40                          Cornelius for Linke

                    50                          Sanchez for Brousard

55                                       Mapalcoutolo for Tonga

56                          Fullerton for Smyth

                    60                          Lim for Jones

 

 

Scoring

Try: PNRFU: 6

 

Conversion: PNRFU 4 for 6

 

Penalty Kick: PNRFU 1 for 1