The four finest rugby clubs in the Midwest converged on Bowling Green this past weekend to resume their conference Tournament that had begun back in November. When the dust settled after two days of competition it was the Falcons who left little doubt that they were in fact the class of the conference, taking the title first by grinding past a game Indiana squad 22-5 in the semifinals on Saturday and then by using a big first half to blow past Minnesota 33-5 in Sunday’s championship match at the BG Intramural Fields. It is the second straight Midwest Title for the Falcons and the first for coach Tony Mazzarella who is in his inaugural year at the helm.’ ‘ ‘It was a very special day,’ Mazzarella said. ‘They say that once you win a championship it becomes more of a relief than a joy, and that’s definitely the way I feel right now. I am greatly relieved that we got it done and I am very proud of our team for all the hard work they put into it.’ For the Falcons, their weekend began with a rematch against Indiana, who had pushed the BG to the brink in October before finally succumbing 26-17. The Hoosiers once again tested the Falcons mettle, especially early, when they utilized a variety of ball-disrupting techniques as well as a pronounced wind advantage to grab an early 5-0 lead. ‘I thought Indiana did a great job early at disrupting our offensive flow and really slowing the game down,’ Mazzarella said. However, the Falcons, as they had done all year, made the necessary adjustments and would respond late in the first half with a penalty kick and conversion from Dan Brandenstein along with a try from Tony Brown. The late flurry wrested momentum away from the Hoosiers and placed in squarely in the Falcons corner heading into the second half. With the wind now at their backs, the Falcons relied on their stifling defense to keep the Hoosiers at bay throughout the entire second half. Tries by Brown and Colin Murphy helped account for the 22-5 margin.’ With Indiana now behind them, the Falcons turned their attention to Sunday’s championship match versus Minnesota, who had captured the Midwest two years prior. The Falcons wasted little time in jumping all over the Gophers right from the opening kick, with early tries by Mark Viviani and Rich Hines giving BG a 10-0 lead just ten minutes into the action. Aided by booming kicks from fly half Dan Brandenstein, the Falcons continued to play fast and aggressive. After a Brandenstein penalty kick upped the margin to 13-0, Rocco Mauer dribbled the ball off his foot 30 yards for another try. The ensuing penalty kick from Brandenstein made the score 20-0, and it was quickly becoming evident which direction the game was headed. Late in the half BG tacked on another try by Viviani and a penalty kick from Brandenstein to head into the break with a commanding 28-0 lead, having not once faced a sustained scoring threat from the Gophers. In the second half, with the outcome all but assured, fans and players alike were treated to the full mosaic of weather that late March has to offer in Ohio. What started out as sunshine, quickly deteriorated into a wind-driven rain, with brief periods of stinging hail mixed in. ‘I’ve seen some crazy weather, but I don’t think I’ve ever been pelted quite that hard before,’ Roger Mazzarella said. ‘I can only imagine what the players going into the wind must have been feeling.’ Whether it was the adverse conditions or the lopsided nature of the contest, the pace of play definitely slowed down in the second half with an early try from BG and a late one by Minnesota accounting for the only scoring. When the clock finally ticked down to zero the score read 33-5 in favor of BG and the Falcons were, for the second straight year, champions of the Midwest Conference. ‘The thing that comes to mind when I think about this team is the tremendous amount of resilience that they have shown all year,’ a triumphant Tony Mazzarella said. ‘They have had to fight through a lot of injuries and other problems to get to this point, it has been a long road but we battled through all the way.’ With the Midwest tournament now in their rearview mirror, the Falcons will now set their sights on the National Collegiate Championships set to begin on April 18 in Berkley, California, where their first round opponent will be the Aztecs of San Diego St. University. While the Falcons will undoubtedly and deservedly revel in the weekend’s accomplishments they know that there is still work to be done. ‘We are probably going to take it easy for the next week or so, but by the time the tournament rolls around we have to make sure that we are back at our top intensity, Tony Mazzarella said. ‘We need to go out there with a consistent game plan by being ready right from the get-go.’ ‘As a team we are tremendously excited that we have the chance to compete for a National Championship,’ Rich Hines said. ‘The trip out to California should be a lot of fun. Hopefully we can go out there and take care of business. It would certainly mean a lot to everybody.’