College NASC finals: Pac Coast wins Tier A

(Bronislaw Grala photo)

The Pacific Coast has retained its title after a gripping 46-29 win against the West in the Tier A final at the college National All-Star Championships Saturday night in Glendale, CO.

The Mustangs gave the Grizzlies everything they could handle and trailed by just 20-19 at halftime.

It didn’t take the Pac Coast long to get things started with the opening score of the match in the second minute when Paul Jesseman went in for the first of his hat-trick of tries.

The West answered six minutes later with a try by scrumhalf Hunter Leland, the first of his pair on the night, and with his own conversion the West was in front by two.

However, the Grizzlies struck right back when fullback Sam Thorley hit the line at pace to dot down, and with two more tries from Jesseman and Matt Leatherby in the next six minutes, the Pacific Coast took a 20-7 lead.

The Mustangs came to play, and play they did, as they put in two more scores before the half by Josh Schmitz and Tommy Pasque to make it a one-point ball game with 40 minutes to go.

The Grizzlies weren’t about to let go of the crown they’ve held more than any other territory and three more tries in the third quarter by Brendan O’Meara (2), and Jesseman extended their lead to 39-19.

(Rob Wagner photo)

However, just when it looked like you could stick a fork in the West they sprang to life again and scored two quick fire tries of their own by fullback Saade Bou-Mikel and Leland, to make it a 39-29 scoreline.

The ensuing stages turned into an exciting to and fro contest with first one team attacking and then the other responding with a counter attack.

Finally, inside the closing five minutes of the match, Pacific Coast center Matt Byrd put the result beyond doubt with a try. It was converted by Zak Triplett, who was 3/8 on the night, and the Grizzlies hoisted the trophy.

"Our aim was to play with a lot of ambition and the guys bought into it," Pacific Coast head coach Jonathan Griffin told ARN. "Of course it's always nice to win, but we're really pleased that the way we played was the way we trained."

In the earlier consolation game, the Mid-Atlantic bounced back from their shock last play loss to the West on Friday by beating the South 45-38. As a result of that one, the Panthers will drop back down to Tier B in 2009.