Rugby: Rugby club onto the final four

The Back Bay Rugby Club of Newport Beach defeated two higher-seeded

opponents, and is on its way to the USA Rugby’s Division I Final Four in

Pittsburgh, Pa. June 1-2.

The No. 12-seeded Sharks used the strong running of centers Newport

Harbor High product Mike Freeman and Nelo Tukino to best the fifth-seeded

Seattle Rugby Club, 22-13, May 11.

In the pool final the next day, Back Bay posted a 30-18 win over the

Baltimore-Chesapeake contingent behind the pinpoint kicking of Jon Luke

Del Fante, a product of Corona del Mar High, and the charging runs of

Mike Masoe.

The Sharks will attempt to bring home the first championship for the

Newport Beach-based rugby club.

Back Bay plays its home games at Peninsula Park, and trains at St.

John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa.