Northern Super Regional 2025 Preview

The Super Regionals are finally here and teams are competing outside of their Geographic Unions for the first time this season, all in a bid to make it to the USA Rugby Club Championships in Indianapolis. 

We’re going to switch things up and preview each Super Regional before it happens, just to build the excitement and set the stage for what will be four fantastic tournaments. As always – the disclaimer – the statistics and records are pulled from team-entered data on RugbyXplorer. Any other commentary added is just for fun from someone who has no stake in the final outcomes.

Now that we’ve covered that – it’s time to dive into the Northern Super Regional being held this weekend in Springfield, Missouri!

In the Midwest regions, the Men’s and Women’s D1 Champions were each determined through league playoffs and will proceed straight to the Final Four. Congratulations to the Chicago Griffins and the Metropolis Valkyries.

The Men’s D2, Men’s D3, and Women’s D2 will all play a semi-final on Saturday, and should they win – a final on Sunday for the ticket to Indy. All three divisions source from the same areas; the top two from the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain Champion, and the Mid-America Champion. Let’s get started!

Kicking off Day 1 we’ve got the South Pittsburgh Hooligans (5-1) taking on the St. Louis Royal Ramblers (7-0). The Hooligans finished top of the table in the Midwest D3 Eastern Division back in October, their only loss a 26-20 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Forge back in August of last year. AUGUST! This gave them the home field advantage in the play-in round where they took down Louisville 38-19. In the quarterfinals, they stopped undefeated Dayton in their tracks, and then came from behind to topple the Detroit Tradesmen in the semis and book their ticket to the Super Regional. The final was all about ranking, and they were taking on last year’s Super Regional Champion, the Red River Ruffians. South Pittsburgh scored first, but trailed heading into the halftime break. A try in the 54th minute by replacement Zack Kochin, converted by Brandon Phan powered the Hooligans back into the lead. Phan would slot a penalty goal just minutes later to stretch the lead bit by bit. Both teams would score once more, but the Hooligans would hold onto the title and the top seed for Super Regionals. Although this side hasn’t been active in the competitive season since last fall, they’ve played several friendlies this spring and are tuned up for the battle that lies ahead.

Taking on the Midwest Champions are the Champs out of Mid-America, the undefeated St. Louis Royal Ramblers. The Royal Ramblers successfully defended their Mid-America title against Springfield just a few weeks ago, and are heading back to the Super Regionals. Last year, the Royal Ramblers dropped the semi-final against a tough Red River side and cut their trip early. This year, the Ruffians are on the other side of the bracket, and even then, the Royal Ramblers fear nothing. St. Louis picked up where they left off after the winter break, cruising through the opposition. Their closest match in Mid-America was the final, where they won by 21. When looking at the Royal Ramblers, it’s tough to identify their strongest players, and that’s probably because the Royal Ramblers define team effort. They’ve had 21 different players score for them over their seven-match regular season. That’s practically an entire roster, with subs! Watch out for loose forward Blake Becker who was unstoppable in the conference final, as well as Sam Sykora who is versatile in the backline.

In our second Men’s D3 semi-final we’ve got the Rocky Mountain Champions, the Denver Highlanders (8-0) taking on the runners-up from the Midwest, the Red River Ruffians (5-1). The Highlanders were undefeated in the regular season, and kept that train moving as they stormed through the Rocky Mountain playoffs. In the Rocky Mountain, the top two teams went straight to the final, so there was little room for error. Not that the Highlanders were worried, they went eight for eight out of wins AND bonus points; their closest match was the regular season 40-35 against the eventual second-place Queen City Rams. The Rocky Mountain region is historically strong, the Colorado Grizzlies made it out of the Super Regionals in 2023, where they got all the way to the National Championship just to fall by four points. The Grizzlies made it again to the finals of the Super Regional last year, after defeating the Detroit Tradesmen in the semi. The Highlanders smashed the Grizzlies the last weekend of regular season play 67-17 to cement their place on the top of the table, and plan to keep that ball rolling on Saturday. 

On the other side of this match-up are the 2024 Super Regional Champions, the Red River Ruffians out of Fargo, ND. The Ruffians made the trip last year to Austin, TX where they faced off against eventual National Champions, the Austin Blacks, in the National Semi-Final. This time, the Ruffians are back to seal the deal. They were 5-1 out of the Midwest D3 Minnesota division, traveling to the West Des Moines Wombats for the play-in. They won this handily and progressed to the quarters where they played a bit of back and forth against a strong Bremer County Bucks side. It seemed like it was all going to end that fateful October afternoon when the Ruffians were trailing at the final play of the match. But then, the Ruffians came together and sent winger Tate Hoseth soaring over the goal-line to dot down and take the lead, 41-40. Cardiac arrest averted, for now. Into the semi-finals it was do or die, both winners progressed to the Super Regional. The Chicago Riot hosted the Ruffians in what would be a gritty, down to the wire game. The Ruffians pulled ahead with twenty minutes to spare, but the Riot kicked a penalty goal to bring it within a score. The final twenty was chaos as both teams did whatever necessary to punch their ticket to Springfield, MO for the Super Regional. In the end, it was the Ruffians, who are back to repeat what they did last year. 

Our Women’s D2 teams are next to take the pitch as the Midwest Champions, the Grand Rapids Growlers (5-0) take on the Rocky Mountain Champions, the Boulder Babes (4-0). Grand Rapids are making their second appearance at Super Regionals after their defeat in the final last year. However, with last year’s Champions South Buffalo out of the way, the Growlers are primed to finish their run and punch that ticket to Indy. After getting a taste of the post-season highs, Grand Rapids kicked it into high gear this year. They were ruthless in the Midwest D2 Central, finishing with a PD of 267 over just five matches. They bypassed the quarters and hosted Palmer College for the semi-final, where they jumped into the lead and never looked back. The final was a bit of a tighter affair, with a penalty try being the difference to push the Growlers over the Rochester Renegades and give Grand Rapids the top seed heading into the Super Regionals. As a primarily fall-only club, the Growlers have been fine-tuning this spring against teams like Chicago, Detroit, and Wisconsin to get ready for what lies ahead.

Thanks to a narrow win earlier in April, the Boulder Babes are heading back to the Northern Super Regional as the Rocky Mountain Women’s D2 Champions. Boulder plays a reasonably small competitive regular season, only four matches, but supplements that with local friendlies and tournaments to ensure players get as much match time as they need to be ready for the next level. The Babes cleaned up in the fall, defeating both the Utah SLUGs and Denver Black Ice to start off their campaign on a high note. Their spring match against Utah was a forfeit, so they only had one left to play against Black Ice. That game was much closer than their spring affair, and came down to the conversions as Boulder slotted both to win 14-10 at the final whistle. The Babes hope to take it further than they did last year, making it to the Super Regional Final, and perhaps even beyond to Indy. 

On the other side of the Women’s D2 bracket we have the Midwest runners-up, the Rochester Renegades (4-1), taking the Mid-America Champions, the St. Louis Sabres (4-0). Rochester finished second in the Midwest after a defeat against the Grand Rapids Growlers. The Renegades actually finished second in their Midwest subdivision behind Buffalo at the end of regular season. A defeat of the Cleveland Iron Maidens in the quarters set up a spicy rematch against Buffalo in the semi. Scrumhalf Erin Terwilliger contributed two in the Renegades’ 36-26 win, but it was a full team effort to hold back Buffalo’s strong attack for the full 80. Rochester pushed themselves with a match-up against D1 Pittsburgh Forge this past weekend in order to prepare for what faces them in Springfield.

The St. Louis Sabres are heading back to the Super Regionals after last year’s trip where they faced off against the Growlers in the semis. The Sabres went three for three in the regular season, dismantling the Patriots, the Jazz, and the Omaha GOATs in the fall. In April, when the playoffs kicked off, the Sabres were business as usual as they topped the Jazz 71-5. In the final, they faced a strong Patriots side out of Kansas City. Fueled by a pair of tries from number 8 Mandy Smith, the Sabres were in control for the full 80 minutes. Inside center Barbara Dreyer Rentz Ribiero was perfect off the tee for all four conversions and two penalty goals that added to the 31-19 victory. The postseason run isn’t new for the Sabres, who were National runners-up back in 2018. Expect the Sabres to have the home crowd on their side as they are playing in their home union; that might be the key to push them to victory.

Finishing the day off we have the first of two Men’s D2 semi-finals. Midwest Champions, Chicago Blaze (5-1) finished second in the Midwest Men’s D2 Central in the regular season, just two table points behind Palmer College. In the quarters, the Blaze breezed by the 2019 National runners-up the Grand Rapids Gazelles and then smashed Fort Wayne in the semis to qualify for the Super Regionals. At their home field, the Blaze hosted the Indianapolis Impalas in the Midwest Championship. The Impalas scored first and held the lead into the second half 18-15, but Chicago regrouped and came into the second half with renewed energy. They knew that taking the top seed into the Super Regional would be the first step in making it to Indy. At the final whistle, it was the Blaze 34-30 who would hoist the Midwest trophy, and start planning their trip to Kansas City.

Facing off against the Chicago Blaze are the Champions from Mid-America, Kansas City (7-1). Kansas City made it to the Super Regional last year where they took on eventual champions, the Indianapolis Impalas, in the semifinal. Kansas City opened their Mid-America season with a close loss to the Omaha GOATS, but have been on a seven-game winning streak since. They smoked the second-place Wichita Barbarians in the conference final, repeating as Mid-America Champions. KCRFC’s Gordon Palmer has been excellent on the season, dotting down 13 times while donning the hoops. Flyhalf Oliver Jones is the go-to off the tee, scoring an astonishing 71 points off the tee through eight games. Expect the fans to come out in full force for KCRFC, as it is a local tournament.

Our last game of the day pits the Rocky Mountain Champions, the Gentlemen of Aspen (7-2), against the Midwest runners-up, the Indianapolis Impalas (4-1-1). The Gentlemen of Aspen come out of one of the most competitive regions for Men’s Division 2, home of two-time National Champs, the Denver Barbarians. The Gentlemen defeated the Barbos both in the regular season and just recently in a pre-Super Regional friendly. Both close matches, but fell in favor of the Gents. They’ve also set up a rematch against Boulder, who bettered them in the regular season 29-28. What the Gents have to watch out for is the weather, while it may get warm in Denver, rarely up in the snow-capped peaks surrounding Aspen; and it certainly heats up in Kansas City. If they can fight through this, expect big things out of this team – they will be one to beat.

Appropriately facing off against the Rocky Mountain Champions are one of the other big teams to beat, the Indianapolis Impalas, runners-up of the Midwest, and last year’s Northern Super Regional Champions. The Impalas beat the Barbos 21-14 to advance to Austin, TX last year where they lost to eventual D2 Champs, the Miami Tridents. Now that the Tridents have gone D1, the Impalas are back and ready to take the crown. There’s an added bonus in this year’s competition for Indy – the National Championships are at their home turf. If they can sneak by the Gents and win on Sunday, the fans will flood to cheer on their Impalas to a National Championship. But, first things first, the Gents are waiting.

On Sunday, Saturday’s six winners of the semi-finals will play in the Super Regional Championships. The three winners (plus the Griffins and the Valkyries) will advance to the National Championship Weekend in Indianapolis on May 17th-19th.