Once again the United States Quad Rugby Association invaded the Saginaw Valley as the Michigan Storm hosted the Heartland Sectional playoff tournament at Delta College.  This year saw a Division I powerhouse transfer in from the Mountain Section to the Heartland.  Denver’s move guaranteed the fight for Division II would be much more exciting and leave a quality team on the outside looking in.

Lakeshore Demolition and Kentucky TNT both rolled past their opponents in the first match-ups of the weekend.  The next set saw the Michigan Storm and the Denver Harlequins doing the same.  The game of the day was the Michigan Storm vs. the St Louis Rams.  The Storm jumped out to an early lead and sustained it throughout the first half.  But a flagrant foul to start the fourth quarter and St Louis’ depth wore down the Storm.  A turnover in the final minute of play would end up making the difference between Michigan’s 5^th consecutive trip to Alabama and the watching it on the internet.

Denver took care of business in their final game of pool play, sealing Michigan’s fate.    It would turn out that they weren’t completely prepared for the fight ahead.  TNT started strong and held several leads in the game, nearly upsetting Denver, but it wasn’t to be.  Lakeshore took care of St. Louis, setting up several rivalry games for the tournament’s final day.

Sunday’s games opened as Lakeshore defeated Denver while St. Louis defeated TNT, setting up the seeding for Divisions I and II (respectively).  Indianapolis finished the weekend on a high note as well with a one point win in the 5^{th /}6^th game, their first ever over Michigan.

Congratulations to all the teams advancing to Nationals, especially St Louis who do so for the first time in their long history.   Thanks to all the teams, support crews, volunteers, referees, classifiers, fans, the USQRA, and especially Delta College for a successful weekend of rugby.  As we lick our wounds and rebuild over the summer, we begin training season for 2010/2011.