Gryphons turn Laurier aside for repeat title win
GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons withstood a late surge by the Laurier Golden Hawks and a mid-game flurry to repeat as the OUA men’s rugby champions Sunday on the University of Guelph’s South Field, the grass field.
The Gryphs defeated Laurier 28-19 for their second consecutive title, third in six seasons and fifth overall. They previously claimed the provincial crown and Turner Trophy in 1974, 1998, 2016 and 2021.
Guelph Gryphons 28 Laurier Golden Hawks 19
“We hardly talked about being back-to-back (champs),” Gryphon coach Cory Hector said. “It just felt it’s always a new season. You’re always turning over so many guys that there’s just a new group of guys that have got to get the job done. We just tried to focus on one week at a time and winning each weekend. We had a few scares along the way so I think that makes it sweeter, but as a result I think it built a bit of resiliency amongst the guys. They’re used to playing in close games now.”
“Our first home championship since 2016,” Gryphon captain Kobe Faust said. “Especially to go back-to-back, it’s a great feeling.”
The game attracted a crowd of just under 1,200 fans who brought an extra element to the game with boisterous support of whichever team they supported.
“We knew Laurier was going to bring a lot of people just given their proximity and this being the first time in program history that they’ve played for a title,” Hector said. “We told the boys to make sure they got all their friends and family out because we wanted to make sure we were the overwhelmingly supported. I think it was awesome and I think it’s amazing for the boys to celebrate it on home soil and not to have to ride a three-hour bus ride after the game. I’m super happy to do it this way.”
“It’s only a 20-minute drive (from Laurier) so we knew it was going to be busy in the stands and it was going to be loud,” Faust said. “We took care of business.
“We’re very thankful for our fans here at Guelph. We put up a bunch of posters and we saw the return from doing that, people coming out and cheering us on. I think that’s just a little extra factor that helped us win.”
The Gryphs grabbed a 21-7 lead in the first half while Laurier closed the gap a little in the second half of their first ever appearance in the OUA title game. They had upset the Queen’s Gaels in Kingston in the semifinals, but had no magic left for the game against the Gryphons.
“We knew they were going to be a good, tough team,” Hector said of the Golden Hawks. “It maybe changed our focus a little bit, but ultimately they went down and beat Queen’s pretty well (34-27) and we knew we were going to be in for a tough one.”
Connor McKinley started the Gryphs on their way to the title win and a 21-0 lead when he scored the game’s first try in the ninth minute. Jack Morris added Guelph’s second try seven minutes later and Collin Smibert scored the third 15 minutes after that. Kobe Faust converted all three.
Matt Bagiamas started the comeback with two consecutive tries that were separated by the halftime break. The first of his two came in the final minute of the first half while the second one came 12 minutes into the second half. Adam McNee converted both.
Cameron Hurst added Guelph’s final try in the 63rd minute. Faust kicked the convert.
Nick Harrington scored an unconverted try for Laurier with three minutes to go in the game.
The championship-game win means the Gryphs finish the OUA season with an 8-1 record, the lone loss coming to Queen’s 29-12 at home Oct. 15.
“It’s been sweet, man,” Faust said of the season. “There’s been a lot of learning from the beginning of the season, but to come here now and look at this game, I think there’s a lot of good takeaways to go into Nationals with.”
Both teams advance to the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship tournament at Vancouver Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.
“We’re going to give the boys a few days off — probably a good half a week,” Hector said. “Then we’ll slowly start ramping up towards the end of next week and the week after. It’ll just be looking at who our opponents are, starting to polish up our own game play and get guys healthy, too.”
The Gryphs will be seeded second in the national tournament while Laurier will be seeded fourth. Guelph is to play the Memorial Sea-Hawks of Newfoundland in the quarter-finals Nov. 30 while Laurier is to take on the McGill Redbirds. Other teams in the tournament are the Victoria Vikes, UBC Thunderbirds and Calgary Dinos and either the UBC Okanagan Heat or Trinity Western Spartans.
Quarter-final winners advance to the semifinals while quarter-final losers move on to the consolation semifinals. All those games are set for Dec. 2.
“Just like every year, you know the B.C. teams are going to bring it to you,” Faust said. “It’s just making it through that second-round game to get into a medal game. It’s as simple as that. If we can take care of business there I’m sure the boys will do well.”
Dec. 4 features the gold-medal, bronze-medal, fifth-place and seventh-place games.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Gryphons turn Laurier aside for repeat title win
GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons withstood a late surge by the Laurier Golden Hawks and a mid-game flurry to repeat as the OUA men’s rugby champions Sunday on the University of Guelph’s South Field, the grass field.
The Gryphs defeated Laurier 28-19 for their second consecutive title, third in six seasons and fifth overall. They previously claimed the provincial crown and Turner Trophy in 1974, 1998, 2016 and 2021.
Guelph Gryphons 28
Laurier Golden Hawks 19
“We hardly talked about being back-to-back (champs),” Gryphon coach Cory Hector said. “It just felt it’s always a new season. You’re always turning over so many guys that there’s just a new group of guys that have got to get the job done. We just tried to focus on one week at a time and winning each weekend. We had a few scares along the way so I think that makes it sweeter, but as a result I think it built a bit of resiliency amongst the guys. They’re used to playing in close games now.”
“Our first home championship since 2016,” Gryphon captain Kobe Faust said. “Especially to go back-to-back, it’s a great feeling.”
The game attracted a crowd of just under 1,200 fans who brought an extra element to the game with boisterous support of whichever team they supported.
“We knew Laurier was going to bring a lot of people just given their proximity and this being the first time in program history that they’ve played for a title,” Hector said. “We told the boys to make sure they got all their friends and family out because we wanted to make sure we were the overwhelmingly supported. I think it was awesome and I think it’s amazing for the boys to celebrate it on home soil and not to have to ride a three-hour bus ride after the game. I’m super happy to do it this way.”
“It’s only a 20-minute drive (from Laurier) so we knew it was going to be busy in the stands and it was going to be loud,” Faust said. “We took care of business.
“We’re very thankful for our fans here at Guelph. We put up a bunch of posters and we saw the return from doing that, people coming out and cheering us on. I think that’s just a little extra factor that helped us win.”
The Gryphs grabbed a 21-7 lead in the first half while Laurier closed the gap a little in the second half of their first ever appearance in the OUA title game. They had upset the Queen’s Gaels in Kingston in the semifinals, but had no magic left for the game against the Gryphons.
“We knew they were going to be a good, tough team,” Hector said of the Golden Hawks. “It maybe changed our focus a little bit, but ultimately they went down and beat Queen’s pretty well (34-27) and we knew we were going to be in for a tough one.”
Connor McKinley started the Gryphs on their way to the title win and a 21-0 lead when he scored the game’s first try in the ninth minute. Jack Morris added Guelph’s second try seven minutes later and Collin Smibert scored the third 15 minutes after that. Kobe Faust converted all three.
Matt Bagiamas started the comeback with two consecutive tries that were separated by the halftime break. The first of his two came in the final minute of the first half while the second one came 12 minutes into the second half. Adam McNee converted both.
Cameron Hurst added Guelph’s final try in the 63rd minute. Faust kicked the convert.
Nick Harrington scored an unconverted try for Laurier with three minutes to go in the game.
The championship-game win means the Gryphs finish the OUA season with an 8-1 record, the lone loss coming to Queen’s 29-12 at home Oct. 15.
“It’s been sweet, man,” Faust said of the season. “There’s been a lot of learning from the beginning of the season, but to come here now and look at this game, I think there’s a lot of good takeaways to go into Nationals with.”
Both teams advance to the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship tournament at Vancouver Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.
“We’re going to give the boys a few days off — probably a good half a week,” Hector said. “Then we’ll slowly start ramping up towards the end of next week and the week after. It’ll just be looking at who our opponents are, starting to polish up our own game play and get guys healthy, too.”
The Gryphs will be seeded second in the national tournament while Laurier will be seeded fourth. Guelph is to play the Memorial Sea-Hawks of Newfoundland in the quarter-finals Nov. 30 while Laurier is to take on the McGill Redbirds. Other teams in the tournament are the Victoria Vikes, UBC Thunderbirds and Calgary Dinos and either the UBC Okanagan Heat or Trinity Western Spartans.
Quarter-final winners advance to the semifinals while quarter-final losers move on to the consolation semifinals. All those games are set for Dec. 2.
“Just like every year, you know the B.C. teams are going to bring it to you,” Faust said. “It’s just making it through that second-round game to get into a medal game. It’s as simple as that. If we can take care of business there I’m sure the boys will do well.”
Dec. 4 features the gold-medal, bronze-medal, fifth-place and seventh-place games.
- Guelph Sports Journal