# 1980 National Collegiate Rugby Championship

The 1980 National Collegiate Rugby Championship was the first edition of an official national championship for intercollegiate rugby organized by the U.S. Rugby Football Union. The tournament was sponsored by Michelob and hosted by Palmer College of Chiropractic at Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa. The Cal Bears were victorious in large part to Mick Luckhurst who was tournament MVP.

## Venue

Iowa :
| Credit Island | Credit Island |
| Davenport, Iowa | Credit Island |
| Capacity: | Credit Island |

## Participants

Illinois Qualified for the National Championship by winning the college division of the Mid-America Cup at the Midwest Rugby Championship at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH.
* First round Illinois 17-0 Dayton
* Second round Illinois 16-10 Palmer
* Semifinal Illinois 8-3 Ohio State
* Final Illinois 7-6 Minnesota
Roster: President- Jeff Ruckman
Coach- Merle Faminow Captain- Kevin McSweeney Record 22-4-1(10-1-1) Bruce Anderson (Center), Rob Beer (Prop), Craig Bergen (Prop), Dean Bostrom (#8), Bruce Gillingham (#8), Pete Hancock (Scrumhalf), Joe Janikas (Wing), Mark Kahn (Prop), Steve Lardner (Scrumhalf), Drew Kuhter (Lock), Pete McHugh (Wing), Kevin McSweeney (Flyhalf), Brian Mullery (Fullback), Mickey O'Neil (Hooker), Jim Quinn (Scrumhalf), Jeff Ruckman (Flanker), J.W. Sears (Hooker), Rick Smith (Center), Tony Sparrow (Flanker), Keith Surroz (Lock), Joe Vanderbranden (Center), Jeff Young (Wing).
Navy Qualified for the National Championship by winning the Eastern Collegiate Cup on April 5–6 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.
* Navy 18-3 South Florida
* Navy 9-6 Cornell
* Navy 6-4 Virginia Tech
* Navy 15-6 Army
Roster: Coach- Dewey Mateer Record (10-1-1) Matt Aylward (Prop), Tom Brodmerkel (Lock), Jim Brownlowe (Center), John Burke (Prop), Jerry Chandler (Scrumhalf), Deryl Chen (Wing), Mike Coughlin (Wing), Dan Dewispelaere (Flyhalf), Jeff Freeman (Wing), Chuck French (Scrumhalf), James Hickey (#8), Rick Keller (Hooker), Jim King (Center), Steve Laukaitis (#8), Bob Matheny (Fullback), Herb McMillan (Flanker), Jim Merrill (Center), Kent Mills (Flanker), Dennis Murphy (Center), Keith Shultis (Prop), Brad Smith (Lock), John Theiss (Lock).
Air Force Falcons Qualified for the National Championship by winning the West Regional on 2–4 May in Lawrence, KS.
* Air Force def. Principia of St. Louis
* Air Force def.University of Northern Colorado
Roster:
Coach- Alan Osur Captains- Kevin Nagie/Steve Miller Record- 11-1 Brad Brown (Flyhalf), Jeff Burroughs (Lock), Bob Cushing (Scrumhalf), Jeff Dodson (Prop), Paul Frappier (Center), Tom Jee (Flanker), Tom Jones (Center), Jeff Lamont (Lock), Brian McNabb (Wing), Steve Miller (Fullback), Joe Motz (Scrumhalf), Kevin Nagie (Flanker), Fred Origel (Prop), Mark Ploederer (#8), Jason Prokopowicz (Prop), Jeff Richard (Flanker), Tom Robbins (Center), Mark Roling (Lock), Jerry Sirote (Hooker), Art Smith (Wing), Paul Smith (#8), Bruce Stark (Center).
California Qualified from Far West Regional on April 26–27 at Stanford. A three team round robin was organized by Michelob during the Monterey tournament.
* California 18-10 California State Long Beach
* California 16-3 Stanford
Roster:
Coach- Ned Anderson Record 15-5-1 Buzz Brown (Prop), Darrell Breedlove (#8), Jim Castignani (Wing), Kevin Dakis (Wing), Mark Deaton (#8), Scott Denardo (Prop), Frank Helm (Hooker), Donald Hooper (Flyhalf), Tom Horvath (Lock), Mike Lemmon (Back), Tom Lemmon (Center), Mick Luckhurst (Fullback), Jeff McDermott (Flanker), Ken Meyersieck, (Scrumhalf), Tim O'Brien (Center), Doug Raisch (Prop), Bob Spurzem (Prop), Matthew Taylor (Wing), Brian Vincent (Flanker), Bob Williams (Scrumhalf).

## Bracket

| Regional Semifinal | Regional Semifinal | Regional Final | Regional Final | | National Semifinal | National Semifinal | | National Final | National Final |
| April 26 - Stanford, CA | April 26 - Stanford, CA | | | | | | |
| California | 16 | | | | | | |
| California | 16 | April 27 - Stanford, CA | April 27 - Stanford, CA | | | | | |
| Stanford | 3 | April 27 - Stanford, CA | April 27 - Stanford, CA | | | | |
| Stanford | 3 | California | 18 | | | | |
| April 26 - Stanford, CA | April 26 - Stanford, CA | | California | 18 | | | | |
| April 26 - Stanford, CA | April 26 - Stanford, CA | California State Long Beach | 10 | | | | |
| California State Long Beach | 10 | California State Long Beach | 10 | | | | |
| California State Long Beach | 10 | | | | May 17 – Davenport, IA | May 17 – Davenport, IA | | |
| Stanford | 9 | | | | May 17 – Davenport, IA | May 17 – Davenport, IA | |
| Stanford | 9 | | | | California (Pacific) | 15 | |
| April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | | | | | California (Pacific) | 15 | |
| April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | | | | Navy (East) | 0 | |
| Navy | 6 | | | | Navy (East) | 0 | |
| Navy | 6 | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | | | | | |
| Virginia Tech | 4 | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | | | | |
| Virginia Tech | 4 | Navy | 15 | | | | |
| April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | | Navy | 15 | | | | |
| April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | April 6 - Blacksburg, VA | Army | 6 | | | | |
| Army | 3 | Army | 6 | | | | |
| Army | 3 | | | | | | | May 18 – Davenport, IA | May 18 – Davenport, IA |
| Princeton | 0 | | | | | | | May 18 – Davenport, IA | May 18 – Davenport, IA |
| Princeton | 0 | | | | | | | California | 15 |
| May 3 - Lawrence, KS | May 3 - Lawrence, KS | | | | | | | | California | 15 |
| May 3 - Lawrence, KS | May 3 - Lawrence, KS | | | | | | | Air Force | 9 |
| Air Force | 13 | | | | | | | Air Force | 9 |
| Air Force | 13 | May 4 - Lawrence, KS | May 4 - Lawrence, KS | | | | | | |
| Principia | 9 | May 4 - Lawrence, KS | May 4 - Lawrence, KS | | | | | | |
| Principia | 9 | Air Force | 11 | | | | | | |
| May 3 - Lawrence, KS | May 3 - Lawrence, KS | | Air Force | 11 | | | | | | |
| May 3 - Lawrence, KS | May 3 - Lawrence, KS | Northern Colorado | 10 | | | | | | |
| Northern Colorado | 3 | Northern Colorado | 10 | | | | | | |
| Northern Colorado | 3 | | | | May 17 – Davenport, IA | May 17 – Davenport, IA | | | | |
| Kansas | 0 | | | | May 17 – Davenport, IA | May 17 – Davenport, IA | | | |
| Kansas | 0 | | | | Air Force (West) | 15 | | | |
| April 27 - Dayton, OH | April 27 - Dayton, OH | | | | | Air Force (West) | 15 | | | |
| April 27 - Dayton, OH | April 27 - Dayton, OH | | | | Illinois (Midwest) | 4 | | Third place | Third place |
| Illinois | 8 | | | | Illinois (Midwest) | 4 | | Third place | Third place |
| Illinois | 8 | April 27 - Dayton, OH | April 27 - Dayton, OH | | | | | May 18 – Davenport, IA | May 18 – Davenport, IA |
| Ohio State | 3 | April 27 - Dayton, OH | April 27 - Dayton, OH | | | | | May 18 – Davenport, IA | May 18 – Davenport, IA |
| Ohio State | 3 | Illinois | 7 | | | | | Illinois | 10 |
| April 27 - Dayton, OH | April 27 - Dayton, OH | | Illinois | 7 | | | | | Illinois | 10 |
| April 27 - Dayton, OH | April 27 - Dayton, OH | Minnesota | 6 | | | | | Navy | 0 |
| Minnesota | 8 | Minnesota | 6 | | | | | Navy | 0 |
| Xavier | 3 | | | | | | | | |

## Semifinals

The semifinals scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00PM respectively were delayed an hour and a half due to storms flooding the pitch requiring another field to be set up by the organizers.
* 17 May 1980 2:30 PM
| California | 15–0 | Navy |
| Try: Tim O'Brien 25' c Mark Deaton 70' c Con: Mick Luckhurst (2/2) Pen: Mick Luckhurst 10' | | |
* Credit Island Referee: Chuck Erhart (Texas RU)
* 17 May 1980 4:30 PM
| Air Force | 15–4 | Illinois |
| Try: Mark Roling 30' Steve Miller 38' Art Smith Pen: Tom Jones 52' | | Try: Pete McHugh 89' |
* Credit Island Referee: Jim Russell (Eastern Rockies Union)

## Third place

* 18 May 1980 10:00 AM
| Illinois | 10–0 | Navy |
| Try: Bruce Anderson Drop: Brian Mullery McSweeney | | |
* Credit Island Referee: Jim Russell (Eastern Rockies Union)

## Final

* 18 May 1980 1:15 PM
| California | 15–9 | Air Force |
| Try: Mark Deaton c Con: Mick Luckhurst Pen: Mick Luckhurst 72', 75' Drop: Mick Luckhurst 77' | | Try: Bruce Stark 39' c Con: Tom Jones Pen: Joe Motz 15' |
* Credit Island Attendance: 200 Referee: Peter Jones (Midsouth RU)
All Tournament Team Matthew Aylward (Navy) – Prop Mark Deaton (California) – #8 Jeff Freeman (Navy) – Wing Mick Luckhurst (California) – Fullback Herb McMillan (Navy) – Flanker Brian McNabb (Air Force) – Wing Joe Motz (Air Force) – Scrumhalf Brian Mullery (Illinois) – Flyhalf Tim O'Brian (California) – Outside Center Doug Raisch (California) – Prop Jeff Ruckman (Illinois) – Flanker James Sears (Illinois) – Hooker Bradley Smith (Navy) – Lock Bruce Sorensen (California) – Lock Bruce Stark (Air Force) – Inside Center