GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team are now just one win away from an historic OUA championship four-peat. On Saturday afternoon (Nov. 2) at the University of Guelph's Varsity Field, the three-time defending OUA champion Gryphons men's rugby team pulled away from the Waterloo Warriors in a 66-8 win in the OUA semifinal action.
Brenden Black opened the scoring for the Gryphons with a try in the 9th minute before the Warriors responded with a try of their own a few minutes later but missed the convert to trail by two. In the 16th minute,
David Scollon scored one of his two tries on the afternoon to help Guelph extend their lead to 14-5. Three minutes later, Waterloo made a successful penalty kick to cut the deficit to six, but that would be as close as the visitors would get. The Gryphons would take over the game, scoring the next eight tries en route to a commanding playoff victory. The win sees the men's rugby team earn the right to host the 2024 OUA Championship game, while also booking their spot in the 2024 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship, which will be held in Ottawa, November 13-17.
Seven different Gryphons scored tries on Saturday afternoon against the Warriors, with
Kobe Faust leading the team with three tries, followed by
David Scollon with two. Braeden Black,
Owen Williams,
Tomas Dallan,
Matthew Breen and
Heath Barnett-Ritcey all scored a try in the team's win.
The win makes it two consecutive wins over Waterloo in Guelph's last two games this season, after they defeated the Warriors 66-22 in the final game of the regular season back on October 19. The Gryphons finished with an undefeated regular season record of 6-0 and received a bye in the opening round of the OUA playoffs as the top seed in the conference. Guelph will now host the Queen's Gaels on Friday night (Nov. 8), with the Queen's Gaels having defeated the Western Mustangs 52-14 in London on Friday (Nov. 1) in the other semifinal. The Gryphons men's rugby team has won three straight OUA titles, and will look to hoist the Turner Trophy for a fourth straight time on Friday night (Nov. 8), with kickoff set for 7pm at the University of Guelph's Varsity Field.
