🏔️Great Northwest Challenge
🗓️June 13-14
📍Bozeman, MT

NAI15s is rolling

So far, the San Mateo Wolverines (CA) are cruising in Utah. They won their first match and already sit at +55 on the points differential. Not a bad start.
Utah Selects has two squads, White and Blue, and Alliance Rugby Academy rounds out the bracket.
Day 2 is upon us, and you can watch all the games right here.

Eastside Exiles (WI)
The Exiles captured the Wisconsin state title with a gritty 19-12 performance over Elkhorn. On their way to the state title, the Exiles defeated Pulaski 13-12 in the semifinal—these guys know how to win tight battles, and they have a state trophy to show for it.

Missoula (MT)
The Stampede showed they’re still the cream of the crop in Montana with a dominant 42-15 win over Gallatin. Two tries by scrumhalf Cody White helped power Missoula to another state title.

St. Ignatius (OH) | Premier Champs
Once again, St. Ignatius are Ohio state champs. In their game against St. Edward, the Wildcats took a 17-7 lead into halftime before St. Ed’s clawed back to take a 19-17 advantage with 16 minutes left in the game. Then St. Ignatius regained momentum, nailed a 50:22, and camped inside St. Ed’s 22meter with several lineouts. Ultimately, the Wildcats turned that pressure into points and carried the trophy out with a 31-19 win.

Warrior (OH) | D1 Champs
Warrior Rugby faced a talented Westshore team in the state final and mustered up a tremendous effort, winning the game with a tight 17-14 score. Earlier this season, Warrior lost to Westshore 26-22, showing just how close these two teams are—and likely making the state title that much sweeter for Warrior. Rematch victories feel oh so good.

La Salette (IL)
The Lions took care of business in the state final with an 88-5 result over Marist (IL). Not a huge surprise considering La Salette took 3rd at nationals a couple weeks ago and hasn’t been seriously challenged by any other Illinois team in a while.

Interestingly, La Salette kind of won two state titles. That’s because they also played New Trier on Sunday and won 50-14 in a new Super League final that several Illinois coaches created between their clubs to try and add another level of competition in the state. They had a trophy made, and a Chicago Hounds representative presented the trophy to La Salette after the game.

For those who don’t know, La Salette is a school team while New Trier is a club—so they wouldn’t normally see each other during the Illinois season. Pretty cool that they created a new format to make it happen. We'd love to see more states experiment with ideas like this.

St. Andrew’s (KY)
In their inaugural season, St. Andrew’s won a state title 👊. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Kentucky isn’t yet known for its rugby scene, but we’ve been hearing great things are happening there, and St. Andrew’s is leading the charge. Huge congrats to coach Matteo Nies and the whole team!

We’ll circle back with more state champs updates next week. You can also see who’s won a title in 2026 so far (state, regional, national) right on the Riot Hub homepage.

Minimal updates this week, as many teams have concluded their seasons.

Still, La Salette climbed a spot in the single school rankings after winning the state title.
Greenwich climbed too, courtesy of winning their state semifinal match.
Fordham Prep also jumped a few spots after advancing to the state final, which takes place tomorrow.

On the Club side, the top 10 remains unchanged. After that, New Trier (IL), Missoula (MT), and Eastside Exiles (WI) are the biggest movers this week.

See the whole rankings picture here.

John Prezzia | St. Martin’s (KS) → Franciscan University (OH)
Right after clinching a fourth straight state title with St. Martin’s, Prezzia is riding off into the sunset—of the Ohio variety.
He’ll take over coaching duties for the 2025 D3 National Champs this fall, and we’re calling it now — the Barons will be D2 within 3 years with Prezzia at the helm. Write it down. This is a good move for Franciscan.

John Bascom | Las Colinas (TX) → St. Martin’s (KS)
St. Martin’s will be in good hands with Bascom filling Prezzia’s shoes in Fort Scott. He helped build Las Colinas from scratch into a competitive club, and he inherits a strong squad with a culture he’ll be familiar with — Bascom previously was an assistant coach at Gregory the Great Academy in Pennsylvania.
Solid move by St. Martin’s. We expect no drop-off from the reigning Kansas state champs next season.

Details were hard to come by from the Grizzlies Showcase, but we know that several Lamorinda players were terrific for the NorCal squad. OC Lehner (pictured above) and Thomas Parrot were named team captains, while multiple other Lamo players made a big impact, showing why they were selected to the All Star squad.

We’re doing it again.

Last year, we ran a series called the Unsung XV, where we shined a spotlight on players around the country who exemplified a terrific rugby spirit. These guys aren’t always the try scorers or highlight machines, but they quietly get the dirty work done and keep their team clicking.

It became one of my favorite things we did last season.

But this year we’re renaming it: The RIOTXV.

Same philosophy. Same types of players. Just a new name.

You can see who’s made the list by going to the Riot Hub homepage and scrolling down the RIOTXV section. New nominees are rolling in daily 👇

But wait, there’s more! We’re sending each nominee a badass RIOTXV t-shirt too. They’ll be ready in a week or two.

So keep those nominations coming, coaches. And if you didn’t get an email about it already, shoot me a message and I’ll get the nomination form over to you.

Oddball musings, thanks to the cold tub.

🏉 Talking about coaches this week got me thinking; wouldn’t it be fun to make a full coaching tree graphic? With so many coaches climbing the ranks after playing high school ball, I’d love to see where today’s coaches got their start, and which older coaches have mentored the freshest faces in the scene.

🏉 The U18 USA team selections must be coming out soon.
Can’t wait to see the boys spank Uruguay this year.
Side note: Can we please get a decent livestream this time around?