The top-ranked Iowa Central rugby team shined bright in a 49-14 victory over the University of Northern Iowa here Wednesday night at Crimmins Field.

Coming off a victory over Marian in the home opener this past Saturday, the Tritons (3-0 overall) jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead before putting the Panthers away.

"It was a good match," Iowa Central head coach Brent Nelson said. "We kind of wore them down in the second half, but I was really happy with how we played. We were also able to get several kids in, which will only help make us even more competitive moving forward.

"It was also great to see Dr. (Jesse) Ulrich make it down. He said this was his first rugby match, and I'm just so thankful to have support like that from Iowa Central."

Jet Ortiz had two tries while Andre Butler, Graeme Webster, James Coates, Dre'Von Strickland, Bailey Hamilton-Zimdars and Edmon Rabeh each had one. Chris Stanback was 1-for-1 on penalty kicks and 2-for-5 on conversions, while Damien Gaffney was 1-for-2 on conversions.

"Edmon had a really nice try that was just excellent rugby," Nelson said. "Overall, we had some good learning moments and things that we will be able to build on with the boys.

"We have a really deep team and a competitive program, and I'm excited to see where we continue to go."

Iowa Central will face the Army 2nds on Sunday.

-By Dana Becker