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January 7 - The Great Lakes Thunderbirds took home all the hardware from the Men’s All-Star Championship in Round Rock, Texas Sunday, winning both the Shield and Rising Stars titles. They lifted the former with a 34-0 win over the Midwest Barbarians in the Shield final, and the second side defeated the New England Independents (Blue), 31-7 in the Rising Stars final.
The Thunderbirds were perfect on the weekend, the top side finishing 6-0 and registering four shutouts, while the Rising Stars side went 4-0, not conceding a point in pool play, outscoring the Midwest and Tri-States, 74-0. Thomas More flier Tshepo Moselane was awarded the tournament MVP, as his blazing pace set Great Lakes teammates up for tries all weekend.
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2022 and 2023 champion New England’s top two sides going winless was the surprise of pool play, though the Independents (Red) rebounded to knock off the Southeast Bears in Sunday’s quarterfinal. The Bears were a perfect 3-0 in pool play.
In the Rising Stars final, New England scored first, before the Thunderbirds poured on 31 unanswered points. In the Shield final, the Midwest held the Great Lakes out of the try zone for the first 13 minutes, before a try from Marian flyhalf Tommaso Lorenzetti kicked open the floodgates. He quick-tapped a penalty inside the attacking 22 and weaved his way through an unwitting Midwest defense.
The Thunderbirds extended the lead in short order, with Clay Peters executing a give-and-go with the MVP, Moselane, that put them on the tryline. Bowling Green’s Phil Tracey slammed over the score from short range, and Wheeling center Joseph Ayi added another after an impressive break from Thomas More fly half Luca Mattasini.
The Great Lakes carried the momentum through halftime, scoring off an errant goal-line dropout from Iowa Central flyhalf Koen Webb. The ball sailed high and toward the try line, and Wheeling’s Lawula Bata took it under pressure and dove over, putting the Thunderbirds up 20-0.
Moselane added to the lead, catching a flat pass at pace to score from distance. And Wheeling flanker Aaron Juma piled on another, taking an offload from Ayi after he picked off a floating pass from Southern Nazarene hooker Luis Camacho.
The Midwest was dominant in its 19-0 quarterfinal win over Pacific Coast. Principia Thunderchickens chipped in two of the Barbarians’ three tries, with centers Bradley Mayekiso and Andy Naringo scoring, alongside Minnesota-Duluth flanker Matthew Carda.
The Midwest’s semifinal was a different story, as New England (Red) held an 11-point second-half lead on the back of two penalties from Boston College flyhalf Bobby Voth and a try from Eagle teammate Patrick McMahon. But the Barbarians scored a pair of tries in the final six minutes of the match, the first by Naringo and the last one at the death by Wayne State’s Asante Rikhotso. Iowa Central flyhalf Koen Webb nailed the conversion to steal victory.
Like the final, the Great Lakes piled on the points in bracket play, blanking New England (White) 34-0 in the quarterfinal and outscoring Tri-State 24-17 in the semifinal. Nazareth fullback Tony Robinson picked off Lorenzetti for a try to put the Foundry up 17-12 in the second half, but a pair of late scores from Tracey and Juma put the Thunderbirds through to the final.
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