Just as Minnesota-Duluth did a year ago, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater pulled off a double at the USA Rugby Men's Division II 7s championship after capturing its second national title of the season with a 26-5 win over Charlotte on Sunday.

The Warhawks, who also won the DII 15s crown in December, blew through pool play in Glendale, CO, this past weekend with victories over St. Louis, Endicott, and William Paterson. Both the Endicott and WPU games were competitive, with Paterson scoring first for an early lead and Endicott within a try early in the second half.

John Grams produced some key tries against Paterson, while Shay Haase, Jeremy Bartels, Levi Van Lanen, and Eric Pachowitz scored tries against Endicott.

Also 3-0 in pool play was UNC Charlotte, the South champs.

"We turned conditioning up a lot in anticipation of the higher level of competition and the altitude," UNC-Charlotte captain Ryan Johns said. 

Co-captain Declan Tidd added: "We don't want to mess with what works because we've won most of the games we've played, but we knew the altitude would be a factor."



Charlotte missed out on nationals last year, losing out in the qualification final. The 49ers came in with a chip on their shoulders this time, and started well, beating NC State, UT San Antonio, and Drexel. 

Johns and Payton Marshall featured heavily on the scoresheet.

And in Pool A, it was much tighter, with Hartford and Southern Connecticut going 2-1 and Norwich and Principia going 1-2. Norwich lost to SoConn 19-17, beat Hartford, and only needed to hold off Principia to win the pool. However, the Cadets faltered in a 33-21 loss.

"We just need to keep the ball flowing and looking for the gaps and having good communication -- keep it simple," Hartford's Jacob Hierl said. "That's Hartford rugby, and we just need to keep the mentality going."

In the quarterfinals, Charlotte's fitness work showed it was paying off with a 36-5 win over Drexel. Johns and Jimmy Huntley scored two each. SoConn took care of William Paterson 42-17. Dylan Carroll scored 22 of those 42 points. Charlotte and UW-Whitewater, both dominant in pool play, had trouble in their games. Wisconsin-Whitewater trailed Endicott by five points midway through the second half until Van Lanen and Zackary Pryes scored to put the game away 24-19. 

In the semis, Charlotte's experience was the same as UW-Whitewater's in the quarters. SoConn led 19-12 midway through the second half, and tries from Marshall, and Joshua Summers put the game away 24-19.

Van Lanen continued his run of clutch tries in UW-Whitewater's 17-12 win over Hartford, scoring just before full time and kicking the game-tying conversion. Pryes then scored the winner.

The final was all Whitewater. The Warhawks were explosive, physical, and fit. After Garrett Shibilski scored early, Alec Treuthardt added two more tries, and John Grams finished it off. The Grams brothers were consistently strong, and Eric Pachowitz made it all move.

Whitewater won the 15s championship with athletic backs and a unification of purpose. They did exactly the same in the sevens competition.

Final Order of Finish Men DII College 7s

1. Whitewater
2. Charlotte
3. Southern Conn.
4. Hartford
5. Endicott
6. Drexel
7. Paterson and NC State
9. Norwich
10. Principia
11. St. Louis
12. UT-San Antonio

-- Additional reporting Thomas Lamuraglia, Gabe Valentine, Joe Rusert-Cuddy, Owen Goff