The 1980 National Collegiate Rugby Championship was the first edition of an official national championship for intercollegiate rugby organized by the U.S. Rugby Football Union. The tournament was sponsored by Michelob and hosted by Palmer College of Chiropractic at Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa. The Cal Bears were victorious in large part to Mick Luckhurst who was tournament MVP.
Illinois<br> Qualified for the National Championship by winning the college division of the Mid-America Cup at the Midwest Rugby Championship at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH.
Roster:<br> President- Jeff Ruckman<br> Coach- Merle Faminow<br> Captain- Kevin McSweeney<br> Record 22-4-1(10-1-1)<br> Bruce Anderson (Center), Rob Beer (Prop), Craig Bergen (Prop), Dean Bostrom (#8), Bruce Gillingham (#8), Pete Hancock (Scrumhalf), Joe Janikas (Wing), Mark Kahn (Prop), Steve Lardner (Scrumhalf), Drew Kuhter (Lock), Pete McHugh (Wing), Kevin McSweeney (Flyhalf), Brian Mullery (Fullback), Mickey O'Neil (Hooker), Jim Quinn (Scrumhalf), Jeff Ruckman (Flanker), J.W. Sears (Hooker), Rick Smith (Center), Tony Sparrow (Flanker), Keith Surroz (Lock), Joe Vanderbranden (Center), Jeff Young (Wing).
Navy<br> Qualified for the National Championship by winning the Eastern Collegiate Cup on April 5âÂÂ6 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.
Roster:<br> Coach- Dewey Mateer<br> Record (10-1-1)<br> Matt Aylward (Prop), Tom Brodmerkel (Lock), Jim Brownlowe (Center), John Burke (Prop), Jerry Chandler (Scrumhalf), Deryl Chen (Wing), Mike Coughlin (Wing), Dan Dewispelaere (Flyhalf), Jeff Freeman (Wing), Chuck French (Scrumhalf), James Hickey (#8), Rick Keller (Hooker), Jim King (Center), Steve Laukaitis (#8), Bob Matheny (Fullback), Herb McMillan (Flanker), Jim Merrill (Center), Kent Mills (Flanker), Dennis Murphy (Center), Keith Shultis (Prop), Brad Smith (Lock), John Theiss (Lock).
Air Force Falcons<br> Qualified for the National Championship by winning the West Regional on 2âÂÂ4 May in Lawrence, KS.
Roster:<br> Coach- Alan Osur<br> Captains- Kevin Nagie/Steve Miller<br> Record- 11-1<br> Brad Brown (Flyhalf), Jeff Burroughs (Lock), Bob Cushing (Scrumhalf), Jeff Dodson (Prop), Paul Frappier (Center), Tom Jee (Flanker), Tom Jones (Center), Jeff Lamont (Lock), Brian McNabb (Wing), Steve Miller (Fullback), Joe Motz (Scrumhalf), Kevin Nagie (Flanker), Fred Origel (Prop), Mark Ploederer (#8), Jason Prokopowicz (Prop), Jeff Richard (Flanker), Tom Robbins (Center), Mark Roling (Lock), Jerry Sirote (Hooker), Art Smith (Wing), Paul Smith (#8), Bruce Stark (Center).
California<br> Qualified from Far West Regional on April 26âÂÂ27 at Stanford. A three team round robin was organized by Michelob during the Monterey tournament.
Roster:<br> Coach- Ned Anderson<br> Record 15-5-1<br> Buzz Brown (Prop), Darrell Breedlove (#8), Jim Castignani (Wing), Kevin Dakis (Wing), Mark Deaton (#8), Scott Denardo (Prop), Frank Helm (Hooker), Donald Hooper (Flyhalf), Tom Horvath (Lock), Mike Lemmon (Back), Tom Lemmon (Center), Mick Luckhurst (Fullback), Jeff McDermott (Flanker), Ken Meyersieck, (Scrumhalf), Tim O'Brien (Center), Doug Raisch (Prop), Bob Spurzem (Prop), Matthew Taylor (Wing), Brian Vincent (Flanker), Bob Williams (Scrumhalf).
The semifinals scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00PM respectively were delayed an hour and a half due to storms flooding the pitch requiring another field to be set up by the organizers.
All Tournament Team<br> Matthew Aylward (Navy) â Prop<br> Mark Deaton (California) â #8<br> Jeff Freeman (Navy) â Wing<br> Mick Luckhurst (California) â Fullback<br> Herb McMillan (Navy) â Flanker<br> Brian McNabb (Air Force) â Wing<br> Joe Motz (Air Force) â Scrumhalf<br> Brian Mullery (Illinois) â Flyhalf<br> Tim O'Brian (California) â Outside Center<br> Doug Raisch (California) â Prop<br> Jeff Ruckman (Illinois) â Flanker<br> James Sears (Illinois) â Hooker<br> Bradley Smith (Navy) â Lock<br> Bruce Sorensen (California) â Lock<br> Bruce Stark (Air Force) â Inside Center