Atlantis Rugby Wins 2 Titles at Old North State Invitational!
- Dave Codell
- 22 hours ago
- 4 min read
Atlantis Rugby returned to the Old North State Invitation over the weekend of November 8-9 with U19 Boys, U16 Boys, and U19 Girls. The three sides earned a combined 9-2 record across the weekend as both Boys sides earned tournament championships.
The Atlantis Rugby XV program, which began in 2024, now has an All-Time record of 30-6-1.
The U19 Boys got things off to a great start with a 38-5 win over the North Carolina All Stars “Blue” side. Tries were scored by Bennett Glock (2), Deacon Pesce, Kristian Krawiec, Luke Eisenhardt, and Riley Scrogham who also added 4 conversions. Their second match was a 67-7 win over Young Glory “B” to end the first day 2-0. In the second match Bennett Glock again scored 2 tries and was joined again by Pesce and Eisenhardt who each scored 1. Joining them was Dominic Pecora (2), Michael Addesso (2), Jordon Young, Jackson Reilly, and Colden Augustine. Scrogham added 6 conversions in this match to bring his tally to 25 points on the day.
On Sunday the U19 Boys opened with a 26-0 win over North Carolina “Gray” to earn a spot in the Championship match. Tries were scored by Jackson Reilly, Ryan Brown, Luke Eisenhardt, and Jordon Young with Scrogham making 3 conversions. The Championship match was against the Florida Jaguars and Atlantis was victorious 14-7 behind tries from Bennett Glock and Deacon Pesce and 2 more conversions from Riley Scrogham.
The leading try scorer for the U19 Boys across the weekend was Bennett Glock with a total of 5 and the overall leading scorer was Riley Scrogham with 35 points. Deacon Pesce and Luke Eisenhardt each also scored in 3 of the team’s 4 matches.
The U16 Boys also got off to a hot start on Saturday with a 33-0 win over Young Glory. James Burke lead the way with 2 tries and 4 conversions for a total of 18 points and he was joined by fellow try scorers Jayden Wrigley, Grant Croce, and Carter Augustine. In the second Saturday match the U16 Boys earned a 19-14 win over North Carolina with tries coming from Griffin Glock, Nicholas Favato, and Brady Flynn along with 2 conversions from Burke.
On Sunday the U16 Boys woke up highly motivated to earn a spot in the Championship and started off the day with a 40-0 win over Young Glory. Once again, James Burke lit up the scoreboard, this time with 3 tries and 5 conversions for a total of 25 points. Other try scorers included Pete Swope with 2 and Levi Boles. In the final match of the weekend the U16 Boys clinched the tournament championship with a 19-17 win over North Carolina. Levi Boles and Carter Augustine each added to their try totals, as did James Burke who scored again and added two conversions.
Overall across the weekend James Burke scored 6 tries and 13 conversions for a total of 56 points.
Afterwards, Coach Jess Nedzwecky said “You’d never know that most of these guys hadn’t previously played together, or for Atlantis, by their performance this weekend. They looked well-structured in both matches and there was some really great defensive play as well. There was no drop off in skill when subs entered the matches, so we have some depth.”
The U19 Girls traveled with a 25 player roster that featured 12 new faces to the Atlantis Rugby XV program. Despite finishing the weekend with a 1-2 record, Coach Brittany Vegso expressed excitement at being able to expand our player pool and build greater talent depth in the Girls Competition.
The first match on Saturday was a 12-26 loss to the eventual Champion Valkyries with tries from Paisley Davey and Adelina Jackson. That was followed up by a 10-17 loss to North Carolina “Blue” with tries coming from Allie Beckenhauer and Paisley Davey again.
On Sunday the U19 Girls were able to put it all together for a comprehensive 68-0 victory over North Carolina “Gray”. Abbey McGettigan and Kate Underwood led the way with 2 tries each and they were joined by Paisley Davey (who scored a try in every match), Adelina Jackson, Allie Beckenhauer, Olivia Shepler, Izzy Beckenhauer, Vivian Foley, Scarlet Weinstein, and Terra Beckenhauer. Conversions were added by Erin DeLuca (and we WILL be mentioning the Narberth Otters again!) and Campbell Way. I am reasonably confident that this is the first time that 3 separate Beckenhauers have scored tries in 1 match for Atlantis Rugby.
Leading the way for the U19 Girls scoring was Paisley Davey whose 3 tries resulted in a total of 15 points on the weekend.
After the tournament Coach Vegso said that “Abbey McGettigan at flyhalf and Madeline Jones at inside center led the backline defense with huge positive tackles all weekend. 8th grader Vivan Foley was a disruptive force on defense, creating 5+ turnovers to get the ball back in Atlantis's hands. 8-woman Paisley Davies was the top try scorer of the weekend, earning 3 total tries due to her hard running support lines. Forwards captain Allie Beckenhauer's line breaks through contact continued to create attack opportunities all weekend. Newcomer Esmerelda Tellez gained 10+ meters for Atlantis anytime she had ball in hand.”
Overall, the U19 Boys had an aggregate scoreline of 145-19 for a point differential of +126. The U16 Boys had a scoreline of 111-31 for a point differential of +80. The U19 Girls had a scoreline of 90-43 for a point differential of +47 and the program as a whole went 9-2 with a scoreline of 346-93 for a point differential of +253.