Grandville's B team is better than most A teams

You know you’re good when your B team wins a state championship.

Grandville took home their first Division 1 rugby state championship on Saturday.  Congratulations and pats on the back abounded, as well they should.  Your first state championship is always sweet.

Except that wasn’t Grandville’s first state rugby championship.

It wasn’t even their first championship of the day.

Grandville’s B team won the Division 3 state championship, beating Berkley 32-8 in the first game of the tripleheader. After West Ottawa won its third consecutive state title by beating Washtenaw 46-10 in the Division 2 final, Grandville’s A team captured the Division 1 state championship with a 19-5 victory against Catholic Central.

Michigan high school rugby teams are assigned to postseason divisions according to how they fared during the regular season, with the better teams playing in Division 1. Until Saturday, no school in the MYRA’s roughly 15-year history of state championships had won two state finals on the same day.

Fielding two teams from one school has the potential to dilute the talent pool on either or both teams, making it more difficult to be successful at the highest levels.  Try telling that to the Bulldogs, who proved on Saturday that a significant chunk of their school is better on the rugby field than most established rugby teams.

Pretty safe to say that this ridiculous accomplishment will stand the test of time.  That is, unless Grandville fields three teams in 2011.

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