HOUSTON - The Iowa Central rugby team showed heart and passion in rallying here Saturday to nearly complete a comeback at the Rhino Bowl.
In the end, though, it was Wheeling holding off the Tritons, 29-24.
The game was held at AVEVA Stadium, home of the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby. It was part of the National Collegiate Rugby CRC Bowl Series that also featured the semifinals and national title games.
"We drove through the night to get here in time and were able to watch some great rugby," Iowa Central head coach Brent Nelson said. "We are disappointed in the loss, but the guys showed so much fight in battling back and making it a match. Many members of the media, coaches, players from other teams and the rugby community had so many positives to say about our program and the effort they put in.
"We were the first match and I thought we put forward a great performance to showcase Iowa Central rugby."
Wheeling raced out to a 24-5 lead before Iowa Central slowly started working its way back in the second half.
Successful try attempts by Tavius Sykora Matthess and Herbert Evans put the Tritons within striking range.
Down 29-17 and playing a man short, Chris Santos scored a try and Oratile Molatlhegi's conversion made it a five-point match. Wheeling, though, would hold there and secure the win.
"Kudos to our boys for never quitting," Nelson said. "I hope this was a good life lesson about doing the little things day in and day out that really matter in the long run. I hope these boys take that with them moving forward."
Collin Buteyn also had a try and Molatlhegi finished with two conversion kicks.
"I'd like to thank our coaching staff for all the work they put in," Nelson said. "Joe (Lippert) and Hamish (McCallion) have worked day in and day out to improve our program. Skip Reed volunteers whenever he can and having Nate (Asplund) as our trainer was so great. He really kept the guys patched together despite being pulled in many directions."
Wheeling finishes the season 7-2-1 while the Tritons went 7-5.
-By Dana Becker