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March 12, 2026
While those who loved what Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was all about might hate to see the Ides of March coming, collegiate rugby 7s fans sure don’t.
That’s because the middle of March is prime tourney time, featuring back-to-back blockbuster weekends over the course of which twelve Automatic Qualifier tournaments will be held and fifteen teams, spread across every division, will secure a berth to the 2026 Collegiate National Championships. This weekend alone, seven teams will punch their tickets if they can come out on top in one of six tournaments held in Oregon, Massachusetts, and pretty much everywhere in between.
Monumental 7s
We’ll start in the Northeast, because it never gets enough love, with the Monumental 7s tournament held in Quincy, MA – home of the three-time MLR champion New England Free Jacks. Two pools of four teams, filled with some of the biggest names in the Men’s Premier division, will square off at Veterans Memorial Stadium in front of a rabid rugby crowd.
The jewel of Pool A is Kutztown – winners of the inaugural tournament in 2022, the same year they went on to win a national championship, and repeat winners last year after defeating Dartmouth in the final. The Golden Bears certainly love them some Monumental 7s and have looked good in two tune-up tournaments to date. They went 5-1 at Frost Bite 7s in February, behind 7 tries from Jacob Stelluti, and played defending national champs Wheeling to a 14-14 draw at last weekend’s Queens Cup.
One disappointing semifinal loss to an upstart Fordham side, coached by New York rugby legend Chris Mattina, is the only thing that has kept Kutztown from qualifying for nationals already. Stelluti and co. should have enough firepower to be the first of two teams to advance out of their pool that features athletic sides in AIC and Nazareth and an all-star laden Siena squad. But that only means so much, as the Golden Bears will most likely have to go through both Brown and St. Bonaventure, the favorites to come out of Pool B, in the playoffs if they hope to win it all.
The only wildcard here is that St. Bonaventure has already qualified for Nationals after an impressive performance at Frostbite 7s. The Bonnies have shown zero signs of a hangover from their XVs national championship win in December, but they just don’t have as much on the line in this tournament as Brown or Kutztown since their ticket to Maryland is already burning a hole in their back pocket. They should still be one of the top two teams in pool play, however, as they have the horses to handle their other two pool mates, Northeastern and Michigan.
Brown is a relative unknown, having been hampered by record snowfall in the early part of the Spring season. But with Kaspar Pitblado, Tito Edjua, Charm Tuala, and plenty of other big names on the pitch, the Bears can run with anybody in the country. But do they have enough game time under their belt so far this season to take down a battle-tested Kutztown or St. Bonaventure?
Cavalier 7s
Westward we go to Canton, Ohio – home to both the NFL Hall of Fame and now the Cavalier 7s tournament hosted by Walsh University, which features a hall-of-fame worthy lineup of teams competing for one of three remaining AQ bids in the Women’s Premier Cup division.
Upon first glance at the field, one might assume that Wheeling would be the runaway favorites given their dominance during the Fall season. But success has not come as easily in 7s for the Cardinals as it has in XVs, though that’s a bit unfair to say as it would have been an incredible feat for a team to win both a XVs and 7s national championship in its first year in existence.
In their lone 7s season to date, Wheeling qualified for the 2025 CRCs but saw mixed results in the tournament. They beat Bowdoin in the first round by two scores only to subsequently get bounced by a very strong AIC side 31-14 in round two. The Cardinals went on to beat New Haven 17-12 before losing to Queens 34-12 in the plate final. So far in 2026, the team led by the otherworldly Alexis Dallas, speedy Liz Sinatra, and human tank Ema Tai went 3-1 in a tuneup tournament last weekend, losing in the championship to DI-AA tourney qualifier James Madison University.
While Wheeling will command most of the attention, a surprise contender might be lurking in their own pool. The University of Northern Iowa, despite playing a division lower, has shown they can hold their own against any team when uber-athlete Morgan Linck is running the show and first-year phenom Macie Graves is there to tackle anything that moves. But the Panthers will have to beat out a feisty Aquinas side boasting its own phenomenal first year in Lillian Stough for that second spot coming out of pool play. Stough scored approximately 1,000,000,000,000 times in the competitive division of Hawkeye 7s two weeks ago and is the central head of a powerful Cerberus along with teammates Abby Wegener and Kayla Herrer.
Hosts Walsh are set up well to snag one of the two playoff spots out of their pool as they look to qualify for their first-ever CRC tournament as a program. Senior Emilie Dobranski is a force to be reckoned with and the team gained some good experience at Frostbite 7s. But the Cavaliers will have to beat out a feisty DI-AA Michigan side that has been to their fair share of CRC’s under head coach Jamie Frech as well as an Adrian team that qualified for the tournament last year, but drew the short straw having to play Brown in round one. The Bulldogs looked very strong in an October 7s tournament that they hosted thanks to their two scoring machines Jersey Wilson and Madisyn McDonald.
Cowboy 7s
Now let’s hop in the car and drive a quick two hours back East to Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio River and where contenders from both Men’s DII and DIII will meet to form the Cowboy 7s tournament.
In the DII bracket, the contenders list starts with IUP who are young, with ten freshmen and sophomores on the roster, but hungry to prove themselves after terrible injury luck and some quality opponents ended their dynastic reign in both XVs and 7s. While they no longer employ the services of superstar Dom Holmes, top-tier scorer Malcolm Johnson has stepped up as a crafty veteran leader for the Crimson Hawks. Johnson had nine tries in the competitive bracket at Frostbite 7s where the team lost only to St. Bonaventure’s B-side. Johnson, along with Jayce Brooks and Mason Steed, should provide the Hawks with enough firepower to punch their ticket to the big dance this weekend.
The Salisbury Sharks might have something to say about that as the competitive east-coast team sits in the same pool as the Hawks and always brings the heat. They recently played in a tuneup tournament against American University, James Madison, and the University of Maryland, so they have some 7s under their belt heading into the weekend. DePaul, who have already received the award for dopest logo, also come into this tournament having experienced some game action after playing in Missouri S&T’s St. Patrick’s 7s tournament last weekend.
DII Pool 2 features an incredibly compelling rivalry matchup between Grand Valley State University, who won the aforementioned St. Patrick’s tournament and secured their spot in Maryland, and their conference rival Miami Ohio. While GVSU has already punched their ticket, it might be tough for them to pass up an opportunity to deny their rival RedHawks a chance to do the same. It’ll be up to Miami (OH)’s top scorer Bart Glancy, who has 52 points through two tournaments, along with teammates Tom Ryan and Garrett Green to break through the stingy defense of the Lakers and secure a favorable matchup in the tourney playoffs.
Drexel should also be mentioned as potential contenders after finishing second overall in the open bracket at Frostbite 7s thanks to stellar performances from Thomas Steel (7 tries, 9 conversions) and Liam Necina (6 tries).
The field for the DIII tournament is double that of DII and is littered with quality programs deserving of a berth at the big show. Slippery Rock, CRC winners in 2024 and semifinalists in 2025, have looked incredible so far in 2026. Coming off of a second-place finish in the XVs Natty this December. Rock Rugby has played in three tournaments and have lost one game. At Pitt Dome 7s they fell to DII contenders IUP in the final 17-22. At a tournament hosted by Carnegie Mellon, the closest game they played was against their own B-side and even that was a 37-10 victory. They surrendered one (1) try outside of that match across five contests and finished with a point differential of +206. The Rock rounded out February with a tournament win at Geneva College at which they outscored their opponents 111-31.
This will certainly be the toughest field that Slippery Rock has faced so far this season, however, as teams from the mid-atlantic region are joining in to get a bite at the apple. Christendom, led by Conrad and Frank Waltering, leads the rest of the field of teams that can knock off the Rock. The Crusaders are battle tested after surviving a predominantly DI-AA field at Frostbite 7s, even managing to go 1-1 against Rutgers after losing to them in the opening round. Susquehanna is another team to keep an eye on as All-Stars Aaron Cavanaugh and Jason Reenock have both made plenty of magic happen for the Riverhawks in their freshman seasons.
One dark horse candidate to keep an eye on is Alfred University. The Saxons are in year two under head coach Dale Russell who has proven he knows how to win it all, having taken the UMaine Black Bears to the promised land right before signing on full time at AU. Russell has built this team literally from the ground up and has microwaved their development to the point that they should not be taken lightly. Senior Eddie Hart IV had five tries in four games at Frostbite, where the Saxons went 2-2 with big wins over Seton Hall and Millersville, while his teammates Phillip Peterson III and All-American Ayomideji Israel-Akinbo had four tries apiece.
John Carrol, a conference foe that is deeply familiar with SRU, should also be included on the list of dark horse contenders. The Gators looked strong in the opening round of last year’s CRC’s with a huge win over Providence before losing to Springfield College, the eventual silver medalists, by one score in round two.
Fools Gold 7s
Go West again, young reader, to Boise – the capital of Idaho and the location of the Fools Gold 7s tournament, where Boise State University’s women’s team hope to CAPITAL-ize on home field advantage to secure their spot at Nationals in the Women’s DI-AA bracket.
The Broncos saw first hand what it can do for a team to play for keeps on their home turf, as they watched Iowa lock in a trip to Maryland at the Hawkeye Classic 7s AQ two weeks ago. The Hawkeyes beat BSU 26-17 in the final – Boise’s only blemish in the tournament. Now, behind Ella Ogletree, Aubrey Phillips, Audrey Mitchell, and Maria Donovan, BSU will hope to capture some of that same magic as they take on a host of contenders in front of a friendly crowd.
Boise were Bowl Winners at the CRC’s in 2025, losing to semifinalists Purdue in round one before rattling off three straight wins against Arizona State, Boston College, and Claremont. Oregon and Colorado State, who will both be looking to unseat Boise this weekend, also qualified in 2025 and had strong showings. They both lost by one score to tournament favorites, with Oregon losing to Notre Dame and Colorado State getting bounced by UNI. Chayse McCann is the player to watch for the Ducks after playing a huge role in their success in 2025, while All-American Ava Hughes leads the way for Colorado State.
Natural State 7s
Can I now interest you in a quick trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, just a day's drive back East from Boise? If it helps with your decision, Arkansas’ official nickname is “The Natural State” due to its diverse, scenic landscapes and abundant wildlife. That also happens to be the name of the Women’s DII AQ tournament hosted by the University of Arkansas, for whom playing, and often winning, 7s matches is their natural state.
The Razorbacks played well at the St. Patrick’s 7s tourney in Rolla, MO, last weekend, with their only loss coming in the finals against a strong Drury side. Sabine Skoch and co. will now have to best Missouri, Oklahoma, and Middle Tennessee if they want to return to the CRC’s, where they hoisted the Shield as the 13th place finisher in 2025.
Northwest 7s
Our final trip will take us from Arkansas all the way to Monmouth, Oregon, where we find the Northwest 7s women’s DIII qualifier that will be contested by Western Oregon University, Willamette, and MiraCosta College. The town of Monmouth was founded in 1865 with the express purpose of building the college that eventually became WOU. Does that mean that the Wolves will have the ultimate home field advantage, playing in a town that was made specifically for them? That remains to be seen. But with standout players Waverly Phillips, Jada Miller, and Kaylee Billsborough, WOU might not even need the advantage to get back to the CRC’s, where they were one score away from advancing out of the first round in 2025.
The Wolves hold the advantage in their season series against Willamette 2-1 after three tournaments, which should bode well for them in the AQ. But they’ll have to watch out for MiraCosta College, led by the hard-hitting Lucy Powell. While the Spartans have a long way to travel from their home in Oceanside, CA, it’ll be good practice for another trip to Maryland, after they upset Yale in round one before losing to semifinalists East Stroudsburg in match two.
Written by Zach Lanning of The College Rugby Show
