All but one quarterfinal ticket has been punched in Men’s Division I, with Wheeling, Walsh and Thomas More winning opening round matches over the weekend. The final spot will be claimed Sunday, when Southern Nazarene travels 18-and-a-half road hours from Oklahoma to New York to face St. Bonaventure. 

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The opening round kicked off Friday in Bloomington, IN, with the Walsh Cavaliers downing the Hoosiers 36-29. The visitors controlled the match from the beginning, scoring four tries before conceding any points en route to a 26-0 lead after half an hour. 

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Indiana got on the board with back-to-back tries at the end of the first half, and Walsh scored once more just before the hooter, making it 33-12 at the break. 

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Indiana opened the second half with a Tommy Hannon penalty and a try by freshman hooker Garrett Peterson to cut the deficit to 33-22. The Hoosiers drew even closer in the 67th minute, when Matthew Chevalier charged down a Walsh kick and Michael Cabreros touched down the loose ball in the try zone. 

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Walsh added a penalty kick from Elliott McKinney in the 74th minute. He missed the first attempt, but the referee gave him a mulligan for crowd noise, and he slotted the second chance putting the Cavs up a converted try, a lead they wouldn’t squander. 

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Saturday, the visitors walked away winners in Kentucky, too, with Belmont Abbey trouncing Thomas More 46-21 and Wheeling winning at Dartmouth, 38-33. 

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The Crusaders’ prize is a quarterfinal pairing with Big Ten champion Notre Dame, while the Cardinals earn another shot at Atlantic Rugby Conference champion Queens. Wheeling and the Royals met in October, resulting in a 36-36 tie. 

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Walsh advances to take on Big Rivers champion Marian next week. The Knights and Cavaliers have never met before on the rugby pitch. 

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For more college rugby news, check out TheCollegeRugbyShow.com.

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