After an incredible weekend of top-notch rugby in Atlanta, the New England Independents Red locked up their second Men’s All-Star Shield Challenge Championship in as many years after holding on to a 23-20 victory over the Southeast Bears.
The Independents Red, one of two teams in the competition constructed with the top collegiate talent from the Northeast region of the country, looked like they might cruise to their second consecutive championship on Sunday after Northeastern’s Bobby Walker and Dartmouth’s Hamish Yeldham scored the only tries in the first half. Yeldham’s college teammate, flyhalf Ethan Knight, had two penalty kicks and two conversions in the first half as well, giving New England a 20-3 lead going into the break.
But the second half was all Bears as their excellent territorial kicking game, marshalled by Belmont Abbey’s Harrison Tu’isila, began to pay dividends. New England’s offense completely stalled in the second half while Southeast’s was powered by scores from two Clemson Tigers. Hooker Noah Ainsworth scored off a powerful driving maul right at the start of the second half and center Maxwell Wyckoff used a nice show-and-go two minutes later to slip through the space in the defense and make it a one score game.
Seth Vallence, out of Queens University in Charlotte, would score one more for the Bears with five minutes left to play, but an earlier penalty kick by Knight meant New England still led by three. And from there, the Independents’ defense tightened up thanks to some huge hits by Dartmouth’s Gjergji Bacuku and Jordan Chappell, Vermont’s Jack Worobel, and St. Bonaventure’s Tanyaradzwa Takaendisa. They were able to contain UW-Stevens Point danger-man Landon Starnes, who threatened to break free on the wing a few times after coming on as a late substitution, and seal the victory after stealing a Bears lineout inside their own 22 and booting it into touch.
Southeast had looked sharp all weekend, defeating the New England Independents White team 50-14 in the opening round thanks to a hat-trick by Vallance and a brace by Clemson’s Campbell von Rooyen. They also beat a feisty Western Bison team 34-14 in the semifinals thanks to a brace by Ainsworth. But they were unable to dig themselves out of an early hole in the Championship game and will have to settle for second place.
The repeat comes for New England Red despite changes to the format of the tournament and an incredibly talented field of teams composed of the best college rugby players in the country standing in their way. The Independents went 3-0 in the new tournament format, which cut out pool play entirely and began with quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Saturday, reducing the overall number of games played on the weekend from six to three. In their first match of the weekend, New England Red crushed the Mid-Atlantic Sharks 52-0 thanks to a brace from speedy AIC fullback Filimone Manu and some more stellar kicking from Knight.
The semifinal match saw New England square off against the team most thought would represent their greatest competition on the weekend, the Great Lakes Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds had two Player of the Year winners on its roster in Wheeling’s Alex Nyamunda (DI) and Bowling Green’s Philip Tracey (DI-AA), as well as Nyamunda’s Wheeling teammate Taku Musingwini. Both teams, however, did a great job holding their opponent in check. Knight’s boot was once again the difference for New England as the grad student from London, England, hit four penalty kicks and a conversion to cement the 24-15 victory and send New England through to the finals.
To truly appreciate the defensive effort it must have taken for New England to hold the Thunderbirds in check, one must only watch the third place match that kicked off right before the championship. In that game, the Thunderbirds ran circles around the Western Bison, scoring at least five tries from over 50 meters out on their way to a 55-7 rout, Everyone on the Great Lakes team got in on the action during that one, including Nyamunda and Musingwini. Aquinas scrum half Marcel Denysschen looked sharp for the Thunderbirds, as did Marian’s Joseph Martindale, who scored a brace and nailed three conversions.
The Western Bison earned their shot at third place by upsetting a talented team from the Midwest in the quarterfinals before losing to the Bears in the semifinals. Jackson Rauch, from Sam Houston State, Jaden Ayala, from Division III Cal Poly Humboldt, and Texas A&M’s Raul Garcia, all scored in that game to propel the Bison to a 27-22 victory over the Barbarians.
The Barbarians would respond well in their second game on Saturday, though, beating New England White 50-22 thanks to a stellar game by their pack. There were scores by every member of the front row – Sam Zimmerman, Bensen Han, and Gavin Pederson – as well as no. 8 Mathew Carda and second-rower Wyatt Young. Iowa fullback Ren Heimer nailed four conversions in the game and had a try of his own. But they came out flat in their first game on Sunday, giving up 26 unanswered points to the Tri-State Foundry. Though the Barbarians tried desperately to make a game of it, battling all the way back to get within one score, the Foundry were able to hold on for the 31-26 victory.
Fairfield University’s Cassius Grimes came up huge in that game for Tri-State, scoring a brace, but it was Fordham’s Lenny Mannino who scored the try that gave the Foundry just enough points to survive the comeback attempt. St. Bonaventure’s Manulua Taula, Iona’s Hamish Goonan, and Gavin McNicholl from DIII Nichols College were also key to the Foundry’s success on the weekend. The team lost its opening match to the Great Lakes Thunderbirds 29-5, but responded with a huge 88-12 win over the Mid-Atlantic Sharks before capping off the weekend with the win over the Barbarians.
In the battle for last place on the weekend, the 0-2 Mid-Atlantic Sharks took on the 0-2 New England White in the first game played on Sunday. Loyola Maryland’s Duane Sylvestre had two tries for the Sharks while teammates Luka Jansen van Vuuren, out of Kutztown, Brandon Delia, from Temple, Cole Boyer, from Penn State - Berks, and Aidan Parson, from Towson, each had one, helping the Sharks get out to a 24-0 early lead.
New England tried to keep it close, countering with scores by UMass Amherst sophomore Liam Pearl and senior Adam Bornhorst, Holy Cross captain John Cox, Boston College prop Kadin Phimister, and Northeastern’s Gerald Mahoney, bringing the game within one score. But the early hole was ultimately too much for the Independents to climb out of and Mid-Atlantic came away with the 36-29 win, leaving New England White as the only winless team on the weekend.
2026 All Tournament Team
All matches available for replay now on NCR TV.
