A year after suspension, the NIU men’s rugby club was back in action Sunday as it finished second while hosting the six-team Chicago Area Rugby Football Union Tournament.

Two years ago, men’s rugby, which had been an NIU club since 1968, was dropped for hazing, club president Dave Valtierra said.

“Everything was alleged,” said junior rugby player Jim Seloover. “They [NIU] never proved anything.”

The club originally was suspended for two years, Valtierra said, but the penalty was reduced to one year because of alumni efforts.

Valtierra said many alumni made phone calls to NIU to bring the club back to NIU’s campus despite the hazing incident.

“They [NIU] have to exercise the rules,” said Rich Frank, father of rugby player Martin Frank. “But now I see a completely different, more committed rugby team. This is the best team I’ve seen in the past four years.”

Even though NIU now allows the team to practice, advertise, recruit and raise money, it still receives no money from the school.

“We will budget next semester for money, but we know the most we can get is $400 for the entire year,” Valtierra said. “At one time rugby received $10,000 a semester.”

The three-round tournament was held at the NIU intramural fields behind Stevenson Towers. NIU received a bye for the first round and played Northwestern in the semifinals.

The first half saw NIU score four tries worth five points each, which is equivalent to a six-point touchdown in football, and the Huskies had a 24-0 lead.

The game was forfeited early in the second half by Northwestern, as it had too many injuries and could not field the necessary 13 players.

This set up a championship showdown between NIU and Loyola, which had beat the University of Chicago in the semifinals.

After three-straight dropkick goals – the equivalent to a field goal in football and also worth three points – NIU scored 10 unanswered points to take a 10-9 halftime lead.

But the second half was all Loyola, which scored two tries and won the game 19-10.

“Loyola is a tough team and they really deserved this win,” Seloover said. “They have great numbers and are well-coached.”

Women crowned

The NIU women’s rugby club came away winners Sunday in the Chicago Area Rugby Football Union Tournament.

“In three seasons we have only lost two games, and those were the championships to this tournament,” said senior Zorayda Ortiz about the six-team event also held at the Intramural Field. “It’s great to finally win it.”

About 200 people attended the tournament.