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Sunny Staffieri and the rest of the University of Rio Grande men's rugby team finished fourth in their Spring season-opening Frostbite 7's Tournament.
Sunny Staffieri and the rest of the University of Rio Grande men's rugby team finished fourth in their Spring season-opening Frostbite 7's Tournament.
Posted: Mar 01, 2026

Rio opens Spring slate with 4th place finish

Rio Grande Sports Information
     LANDISVILLE, Pa. - The University of Rio Grande men's rugby team opened the Spring 7's portion of their scheduled by posting a fourth place finish in the Frostbite 7's Tournament, which is hosted by both the Knightmare Rugby Football Club and the Lancaster Roses Athletic Club of Lancaster, Pa.
     The two-day tourney closed out its run on Sunday.
     The RedStorm opened pool play with a 26-5 loss to Kutztown (Pa.), but rebounded with consecutive shutouts of Curry (50-0) and Niagara (35-0).
     Sophomore Luke Turner (Eastbourne, England) had Rio's lone score in the loss to Kutztown, while junior Bobby Ward (Madison, WI) had three tries and freshman Isaac Madrid (Tucson, AZ) had two scores in the win over Curry (Mass.) College. Luke Webster had a try and a conversion in the win, while junior Sunny Staffieri (Lostwithel, England) and freshman Onthatile Mmachacha (Johannesberg, South Africa) each had a try and senior Mikey Grice (England) had a trio of conversions.
     In the triumph over Niagara, junior Thibault Carrere (Dax, Landes, France) had a try and five conversions to lead the winning effort. Sophomore Jacob Griffin (Surrey, England), senior Will Spencer (Hemel Hempstead, England), Webster and Grice all had one try each.
     In single-elimination bracket play, Rio Grande posted a 21-14 victory over Babson (Mass.) College in the quarterfinal round.
     Grice had two tries, senior Che Spiotti (Charlotte, NC) added one of his own and Carrere had three conversions.
     The RedStorm dropped a hard-fought 17-7 decision to St. Bonaventure in the semifinal round. The Bonnies grabbed a 10-0 halftime lead and then held on
     Carrere had a try and a conversion to get head coach Brad Sandig's club to within 10-7, but Rio got no closer.
     Rio finished its run with a second loss to Kutztown in the third place match, 21-7.
     A try by Staffieri and a conversion by Carrere forged a 7-all deadlock, but the Golden Bears finished with 14 unanswered points.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action on March 21 at the Rock the Ruck Tournament in Rock Hill, S.C.