California Golden Bears men’s rugby team secured two wins at the Dennis Storer Classic in Los Angeles, defeating Fresno State 50-5 and UCLA 45-0 on Saturday.
In the opening match against Fresno State, freshman Julian Bishop scored first for Cal. The team fielded eight underclassmen starters. Freshman Gur Levy contributed back-to-back tries, and Flynn O’Connell added another to close out the first period, giving Cal a 24-5 lead at halftime.
Senior Jayden Flores opened scoring in the second period. Sophomore Noa Grasse and freshman Tommy Ashton also scored for Cal. Levy led with two tries in this game. John Warren and James Curtis each made two conversions, while Jack Openshaw added one.
For the UCLA match, Cal used a new starting lineup with a balance of underclassmen and upperclassmen. Seven different players scored tries, including four in the first half. Junior Nate Comiskey started off with an early try, followed by Brice Muller, Emmett Cook, and Oliver Bamford. Chris Biller scored just before halftime in his first start as flanker.
John Warren and captain Rand Santos completed scoring for Cal in the second half. Filip Edstrom converted four times; Santos converted once.
Head coach Jack Clark commented on both matches: “We appreciate both Fresno State and UCLA for the matches,” Clark said. “We will see the Bruins again in a couple weeks, but we wish Fresno the best in their season. We had some good moments in both matches, but our overall performance was uneven. Too many periods of play below our best.”
Cal is scheduled to return home to Witter Rugby Field next week to host Olympic Club on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The full list of scorers and substitutions is available from California Golden Bears rugby communications.
