After dropping the first two ropes, Alpha Sigma Phi staged a third rope comeback against Sigma Alpha Epsilon in the loser’s bracket semi-finals Wednesday, earning them a spot in the finals on Saturday.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon started rope one with a hang and held momentum throughout the rope, despite briefly falling out of their trench. Alpha Sigma Phi remained competitive, but SAE held their edge. The knot flirted with SAE’s first trench after 18 minutes and was enough to give SAE the rope one win by advantage at time.
Opening with a 30-second hold, SAE was able to take a foot advantage six minutes into the second rope. Alpha Sigma Phi struggled to hold on, gaining rope but failing to gather momentum. The knot entered SAE’s first trench after 15 minutes before coming to the third trench less than three minutes later to give SAE the advantage at time for a second rope victory.
Christian Desimone, senior finance major and first rope caller for Alpha Sigma Phi, credited the preparation and unity of the team.
“Just stay locked in, work together, act as one and just power through it,” Desimone said. “We knew our conditioning was better, so we knew we could last longer than them. We’re also a lot heavier than them too, so we used our weight against them.”
The third rope was a back-and-forth battle between the sides, with the knot remaining in the center after nine minutes. SAE was unable to capitalize on opportunities, allowing Alpha Sigma Phi a foot advantage 13 minutes in. Beginning to pull away, Alpha Sigma Phi’s first trench had the knot after 20 minutes, ultimately winning the match 24 minutes into the final rope.
“That’s what tugs is all about,” said AJ Flint, junior sports management major and second rope caller for Alpha Sigma Phi. “Those first two ropers are just testing the waters for the match. We knew coming into this that we were better than we showed on Monday. Our guys fought to the end and that’s all we can ask for as callers.”
Shivam Patel, senior economics major and third trench tugger for Alpha Sigma Phi, attributed the comeback to the energy during the third rope.
“It was all energy,” Patel said. “The crowd brought it, we brought it. We knew what we had to do after Monday. It’s a tough pill to swallow but we came back. All that matters right now is Phi Kaps on Saturday, that’s all that matters.”
Tugs matches continue at 5 p.m. Thursday when Phi Kappa Psi takes on Phi Sigma Kappa before the defending champion Sigma Nu faces Delta Chi at 7 p.m.
