Jenks defeated Bixby in the finals of the Green Country Rugby state tournament in Norman on Sunday, but Canton also had a reason to celebrate.

Canton, Mustang and Broken Arrow were the lone squads to feature solely high school players. When Canton won 36-0 against Broken Arrow on Saturday, the Tigers clinched the high school championship.

All the other teams featured U19 players. Canton was undefeated all season but lost in the semifinals.

Canton has advanced to the rugby high school regionals in the Dallas area next month. The Tigers will play St. Thomas Aquinas (Kansas City, Mo.) in the first round.

“This is a great opportunity for our kids, and we’re real excited about it. We don’t want to stop here,” Canton coach Robert Davis said.

Rugby championships this weekend

If it all goes by the seeding, the high school rugby championship couldn’t be a more interesting story as Canton is the top seed and Tulsa Union is the second seed.

“It is pretty cool,” Canton coach Robert Davis said. “Here we are in Class B for football, and we might play the 6A champs.”

Canton is undefeated this season but each team will have a long road to get there. The 10-team tournament begins Saturday at 10 a.m., with the championship being played Sunday at noon. All games are at the Al Velie Rugby Football Complex on the University of Oklahoma campus.

Received an out-of-the-blue call from Canton football coach Rob Davis on Tuesday, always good to hear from the coach.

But he wanted to talk about rugby. Wait, rugby? Apparently the sport is really picking up steam here in Oklahoma. And who am I to disagree?

Football players who don’t play other sports but need that focus to stay in shape now have another alternative. Powerlifting has really become huge because of it and now rugby is joining that group.

Canton made the Class B football championship, losing to Garber. Davis said rugby was a reason as to why the team had such great success.

Right now there are 10 club rugby teams, with Canton easily the smallest of the schools participating.

Last week was the first week of the season. Here are the standings and here is the schedule:

Standings:

Bixby (1-0)
Canton (1-0)
Mustang (1-0)
The Brethren (1-0)
Union (1-0)
Bartlesville (0-1)
Broken Arrow (0-1)
Edmond Storm (0-1)
Jenks (0-1)
Norman (0-1)

This week’s matches (all Saturday): Bixby at Broken Arrow; The Brethren at Bartlesville; Union at Mustang; Edmond Storm at Norman; Canton at Jenks.