This past summer as part of its continued growth, NSCRO created the Central Region due to the addition of the Chicago Area, Indiana and Wisconsin Rugby Unions to its Men's Division 3 Collegiate playoffs along with previous participants, the Allegheny and Minnesota Unions.

In the Region's first playoff match on Oct. 29, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside defeated University of Chicago 24 to 19 in what Parkside's coach, Todd Streeter, described as a great match. Todd reported that UC struck first, scoring on a 50 meter try run, but Parkside answered with 3 tries to take a 17 to 5 halftime lead.  UC came right back in the second half, scoring 2 tries in the first 20 minutes to take a 19 to 17 lead.  Parkside answered with one final converted try with ten minutes to go and defense prevailed for the rest of the match. Parkside's victory earned them a spot in the Central Region Championship event.

In the Minnesota RFU, the University of St. Thomas won the Division 3 Championship during the weekend of Oct. 22-23 with a semifinal 29-24 win over Viterbo University and 25-3 win over University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the final to advance to the Central Region Playoffs.

In the Indiana RU playoffs on Oct. 29, Wabash College beat Grace College 55 to 17 in one semifinal while the University of Southern Indiana edged Anderson University 37-36 in the other semifinal in what was reported as one of most exciting rugby matches you'll ever see with a final second penalty goal attempt by Anderson just missing. Anderson University was the 3-time running Indiana RU D3 Champion and had also won the Midwest RFU D3 Championship this past April. Southern Indiana will now meet Wabash in the Championship match on Nov. 5.

In the Allegheny RFU playoffs on Oct. 29, defending D3 Champion Franciscan University defeated Grove City College 27-5 in one semifinal, while Duquesne beat Fairmont State 22-15 in the other semifinal to set up the Championship pairing scheduled for Nov. 5 at Franciscan University.

The Central Region Championship will be played on Nov. 12-13 at the Wisconsin Rugby Club's Rugby Complex in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. The Indiana RU Champion will face UW Parkside in one semifinal while the Allegheny RFU Champion will play St. Thomas in the other. Details for the NSCRO Central Region can be found on line at http://www.wisconsinrfu.org/finalfour/. Todd Streeter is the NSCRO Representative in charge of the Championship event. The Central Region Champion will qualify to participate in the NSCRO National Championship scheduled for April 28-29, 2012 at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado.

In other LAU Men's D3 results that impact the NSCRO playoffs, the University of Rochester beat Brockport State 26-22 to capture the New York State RC D3 Championship; while Molloy College repeated as the Met NY RFU D3 Champion and will host the University of Rochester on Nov. 12. The New England RFU playoffs begin this weekend with quarterfinal action.

In Women's D3 action, St. Bonaventure won the New York State RC D3 Championship beating SUNY-Plattsburgh 12-0 and will face the New England Women's Collegiate RC Champion (Wheaton to play Holy Cross on Nov. 5) on Nov. 12 at Smith College in Northampton, MA. Fairfield University repeated as the Met NY RFU D3 Champion and will host the East Penn RU Champion on Nov. 12. In the East Penn RU playoff semifinals, Lock Haven defeated Lafayette 34-14, while the other match between Kutztown and Millersville was called due to unsafe conditions thanks to a snowstorm and is being rescheduled for this week. The EPRU D3 final is scheduled for Nov. 5.

NSCRO - The National Small College Rugby Organization
The National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO, pronounced "N"-Scro) was co-founded by Steve Cohen and Chip Auscavitch in 2007 in order to establish an official organization to oversee the Division III and Division IV college rugby National Championships. These championships are a vital part of developing rugby in the U.S. as over 200 men's and women's teams are classified in this category (more than 1/4 of all college rugby teams).

In 2002, Steve Cohen started these championships but were managed independent from any union or organization. They were referred to as "East Coast Championships". As additional teams and unions began to participate, and the NSCRO was created, the name was changed to "NSCRO National Championships".

For more information about NSCRO including participating teams and playoff brackets, go to http://www.nscro.org as well as contacting NSCRO President Steve Cohen at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it