The college competition on the West Coast ramps up this weekend with the Pac North Tournament hosted by Oregon State. NCAA PAC-12 schools Utah, Washington, Oregon State, Washington State, and Oregon will be participating. Utah and Oregon State compete in the PAC Conference while Washington, Washington State, and Oregon play in the NCRC.
The tournament kicks off with Utah taking on Washington. The Utes are coming off a big loss to St. Mary's but will be favored in this match. With Danny Christensen and Tonata Lauti they have plenty of firepower. However, Washington is a team on the rise under the leadership of Kevin Swiryn. Nick Gadbaw is a player to watch in college rugby and is an emerging center. If he gets loose the Utes may be stunned. The downside for the Huskies is that they haven't had a warm-up match. They of course won the DI-AA Varsity Cup title last year.
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The second match of the day has Washington State playing Oregon State. Washington State has several top names in DeShon Bell and Josh Vizcaya but overall not as much depth. The Beavers have more depth and traditionally have done well against other Pacific Northwest teams. After that match Oregon will face Utah in what should be a strong match-up. Connor Crossley has been one of the best players in the NCRC over the last few years.
Other matches on Saturday will have Washington vs. Oregon State, Washington State vs. Utah, Oregon vs. Washington, Utah vs. Oregon State, and Washington State vs. Oregon. Sunday will have Washington State vs. Washington and Oregon State vs. Oregon. Teams will play shortened matches.
For all the teams involved it's a great opportunity to play strong competition before their regular seasons start to ramp up. Washington and Oregon both have very high hopes in the NCRC, maybe not beating Central Washington hopes, but coming in second. Utah are just starting to come together and need as many opportunities to learn to play together as possible.