Photographs by Jessica Vretenar
Women’s Rugby held the first Balls Out Brawl on March 26 at Memorial Park.

The UW-Platteville Women’s Rugby Club hosted the Balls Out Brawl Rugby tournament March 27 at the pitch in Memorial Park.

This was the inaugural year of the tournament and UW-P welcomed women’s teams from UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, Winona State University and a combined team from UW-Stout and UW-Stevens Point.

“The tournament went smoothly, we just wish we could get more teams,” said Bryn Callen, junior criminal justice major. “There were some minor communication issues through emails but otherwise the other teams said they enjoyed coming to the tournament and that it [was] run well.”

The women’s team dropped both games to worthy opponents in UW-L and UW-Eau Claire. UW-L beat the ruggers 24-7, while UW-Eau Claire downed the women 30-10.

The UW-L women are among the top of the league every year and advanced to Rugby nationals last fall.

“I think we did really well overall. Yes, there are things we need to work on but we played some tough teams and only having practiced for about two weeks, we played well,” Callen said.

Kit Sargent, junior criminal justice major, stood out for the Pioneers, breaking from the pack for long runs and tries in both games.

Emily Kern, junior animal science major, was impressed with how the team stayed in both games.

“The competitive level at the beginning of this season to last is one hundred percent better, we are coming together as a team,” Kern said.
Winona State and UW-L advanced to the championship match, where UW-L was victorious 31-0.

The Platteville Women’s Rugby Club will travel to the Ruck the Dub rugby tournament in Whitewater, on Saturday, April 10, the Ironwomen on Saturday, April 17 and then will play an Alumni Match on Saturday, May 1.

“We know what we need to work on,” Callen said. “A lot of the same teams will be at Whitewater so we are hoping we can redeem ourselves.”