The Mudfest trophy remains in Platteville for another year after the UW-Platteville Men’s Rugby Club A-side won the 2009 Mudfest Tournament April 4.

The UW-P ruggers took the tournament with a 3-0 record by defeating UW-Stevens Point, Ripon and their own B-side squad. The B-side squad didn’t fair so well as they held a 0-3 record losing to Stevens Point, Ripon and the A-side squad.

Sophomore rugger Ross McAbee said his first Mudfest was a great experience for him and the B-side team.

“It was my first Mudfest while on the team and it was an awesome experience,” McAbee said. “B-side put up a good fight against Stevens Point only losing by a kick at the end of regulation. Against Ripon, we had played back- to- back games and ended up losing by a few tries, but I think they were just more rested.”

There is a different story for the A-side squad. Senior back captain Santino Zizzo said he thought Platteville did awesome in the Mudfest Tournament. The ruggers took everything they did in practice and made good use of it, and almost every little thing they had done bad in the past was not shown in any of the games.

“Our defense was stopping everything and our offence was unstoppable,” Zizzo said. We won our first game by 10 or 11 tries to 0 tries. Against Ripon we only allowed a kick at post for 3 points. The only team that scored a try on us the whole day was our B-Side.”

Senior rugger Connor Weisner said Mudfest was a good experience and it was a great way for the younger guys on the team to get their first real taste of what a rugby tournament is really like.

“It seemed like the team, as a whole, meshed very well at practice leading up to Mudfest, and you could tell by both of our teams play,” Wiesner said. “You could tell that they were ready and eager to play as soon as the tournament had started, making solid tackles and hard runs. As soon as they get used to the pace of the game they will be a hard team to beat.”

Mudfest is UW-P’s annual rugby tournament, and was founded in 1995. Mudfest has includes  collegiate teams from all over the state. Each year, Mudfest attracts more and more fans and the team gains notoriety in the eyes of rugby organizations in Wisconsin. Besides having a collegiate tournament this year, there was also a Men’s League tournament that took place at Miners Field.

The UW-P Men’s Rugby Club Alumni team held a 2-0-1 record tying only with the Milwaukee Black and Blues while defeating UW-Oshkosh and UW-Fond Du Lac.

“Having the men’s league teams there to participate at Mudfest was great,” Zizzo said. “It gives our fans a different level of rugby to watch and also it was nice to have the alumni here on Friday to practice with us.”

The number of fans that showed up to watch and support UW-P rugby and Mudfest was outstanding Wiesner said.

“It is great to see all the old faces from all the past years along with all the new ones that come down to see their first rugby match,” Wiesner said. “Next year we hope to expand the tournament to more teams, maybe include some out of state competition and see some new teams that we haven’t played before. It is always something we are working and hoping for.”

The UW-P Men’s Rugby Club plays in the Milwaukee Cup tournament Saturday, April 18 and they are ready to play at full force.

“I think that at the Milwaukee Cup most teams will be shocked to see us competing the way we have,” Zizzo said. “I don’t mean to sound arrogant but I have a lot of faith in the team we have right now and I see us going places.”