Difference between revisions of "Portal:2003 Spring Men"

2003 Spring Men Portal

National Champions! (posting the first win over Cal Berkeley after 8 previous Air Force losses since 1969). Coach Holder had tried to model the way we played tournaments off of Cal. They would always start essentially a B side on the first day and then their A was fresh on the second day (against in theory the better opponent). We did the same all year, building up great depth and keeping guys fresh. Unfortunately though, we drew Cal in the Semi’s so of course we had to start our A’s on Saturday but they still started some of their B's. We scored in the first two minutes and never looked back. By the 20th minute, they quickly substituted in all their top players.

In the finals, Harvard was an upstart (15 seed), so Coach Holder rewarded the B side and started them in the Finals. It ended up a little close for comfort, so many of the A's were in by the end of the game, but was a great full team effort all year.

Cal was so mad that they beat Army by around 75 points in the consolation 3/4 game and Coach Clark discredited the concept of having the consolation game. It was the last consolation game played.

Here are some documents that paint that picture: From Cal point of view [1], or [2], From the Harvard point of view [3]

Summary [4], Video of the first 20 minutes [5], Marc Ward's story [6]

Team Record

A Side Record

Date	Opponent	Score	Notes
<date>	Colorado University	31-5	ERRFU Tournament
<date>	Colorado State University	29-6	ERRFU Tournament
<date>	Wyoming University	72-3	ERRFU Tournament
8 Mar	U of New Mexico	29-0	Western quarter final
<date>	Truman State	38-0	Western Semi-final
<date>	Texas A&M	45-12	Western Championship
<date>	Indiana	52-26	National Collegiate Sweet 16
<date>	Ohio State	38-18	National Collegiate Quarterfinals
May	Cal Berkeley	46-28	Tries by Kelly (2), McKenny, Dean, Thornton, Dombrock, Waddel and PK and conversions by McKenny
May	Harvard	45-37	National Champions McKinney 25 pts (2T, 3PK and 3C), and tries by Wilmes, Burley, Riedesel, Beckenhauer
Season Record	10-0

B Side Record

Date	Opponent	Score	Notes
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
<date>	<opponent>	<score>
Season Record	xx-yy

Roster

Last Name	First Name	Class
McKinney	Mike	2003
Dean	Josh	2004
Grady	Tim	2003
Riedesel	Joe	2005
Predovich	Brock	2005
Kolzow	Jimmie	2004
Foster	Nolan	2003
Hansen	Sean	2003
Beckenhaur	Rob	2003
Johnson	Aaron	2004
Walker	Colin	2005
Brennen	Butch	2005
Capell	Eric	2004
Dombrock	Ryan	2005
Latham	Steve	2004
Hobson	Mike	2005
Faucheaux	Ryan	2003
Waddell	John	2003
Sheridan	Phil	2003
Dahlgren	Wade	2003
Kelly	Anthony	2003
Sanders	Ryan	2004
Steinhiser	Dan	2004
Edstrom	Stephen	2003
Correa	Nick	2003
Banga	Brad	2003
Wilmes	Ryan	2003
Pina	Dave	2003
Gureckis	John	2005
Green	Todd	2003
Matchett	John	2004
Hurley	Mark	<class>
Thornton	Ryan	2003
Waddell	Joe	2004
Johnson	James	2006
Burley	Mark	2005
Graham	Kevin	2003
Kerschbaum	Andrew	2003
Lang	Eric	2005
Lockard	John	2005
McCarney	Chris	2004
Thornton	Adam	2003
Ward	Marc	2008

Post Season Experience/Records

Portal:2003 Spring Men/Post Season

Leadership

Staff

Head Coach - Rob Holder

Assistant Coach - Capt Dan Marine '96

Assistant Coach - Mike Coyner

Assistant Coach - Rich Pohlidal

Assistant Coach - Bob Mckinney '70

Assistant Coach - Billy Burrows '81

OIC - Major Geoff Patterson, Capt Gil Ness and Capt Robert Webb

CIC -

Captains

C1C J D Waddell

C1C Rob Beckenhauer

Media

Click here for more photos for 2003 Spring Men

Memorable Events

Coach Holder on the Semi Final match with Berkeley who started some B side players: "By the 20th minute, they quickly substituted in all their top players. I remember when they brought in their Eagle prop off the bench and Hansen fed him his lunch. Later, Hansen told me that he thought the other kid was a better scrummager than the Eagle" Coach Holder goes on to coach the All Americans: http://www.erugbynews.com/goffonrugby/archive/Articles/allamerican052803.htm

Mike McKinney was Final Four tournament MVP.

Wade Dahlgren was co-MVP of the season with Ryan Wilmes.

Josh Dean selected for the Woodley Award, named in honor of American rugby pioneer Albert Woodley, is presented annually to the top collegiate player nationwide. Often referred to as the "Heisman Trophy of rugby," this honor not only recognizes superior athletic performance on the pitch, but also acknowledges outstanding character and leadership displayed both in competition and in life

From Stephen Edstrom, MD

I am a 2003 grad and played rugby between 2000 and 2003, including playing for the Combined Services in the All-American trials in 2001 and 2003. The last match I played as a zoomie was as the hooker in the national championship against Harvard. What amazed me most about the club was the depth of players. We would get 120 guys to a practice and were able to field five sides in five matches on a Saturday with three different clubs. During the playoffs, we would travel with 44 players. We could play 22 guys in the match on Saturday and then play the other 22 on Sunday. This was a wonderful advantage considering that most team we faced would have most of their players play two straight days. When we would take the field on the Sunday with a fresh team and play against guys that were still beat up from the match the day before, it sure made winning a lot easier.

The interesting part about the hookers on the 2003 team is that I was the third best hooker on the team. The best hooker was named Mike Hobson, class of 2005, who ended up playing on the US national team (I remember playing a rugby video game on Play Station that had Mike in the game. The game became a lot more interesting playing with a little video game version of Mike). However, we had enough depth at hooker that we moved Mike to center because he was just that talented and versatile. So during the playoffs, I would switch off playing hooker with Todd Green, class of 2003. I usually played on Saturday and he would play on Sunday, except in the Final Four in which Todd played on Saturday against Cal and then I played against Harvard. It was a fun time to play with the Zoomies, and most of the credit should go to Rob Holder for taking control of the club and really turning the team around.