Submitted photo The Iowa Central rugby team celebrates its NSCRO Champions Cup victory on Sunday afternoon in Marietta, Ga.

MARIETTA, Ga. — Iowa Central rugby coach Brent Nelson took a great deal of satisfaction in his team’s dominant National Small College Rugby Organization Champions Cup performance.

The top-ranked Tritons drubbed Claremont McKenna College of Claremont, Calif. in the finals on Sunday, 64-11, capturing a crown that both Nelson and his players had been working toward since last year’s disappointing runner-up finish.

For as impressive as Iowa Central was in its breakout victory, Nelson — a native of Humboldt — insists the title only tells a portion of his 2018 squad’s story.

”I think the thing that stands out most about this team is their character,” Nelson said. ”When we’re on the road and we go to restaurants or stay at hotels, people go out of their way to tell me how respectful and awesome these young men are.

”It’s amazing to see all of this come to fruition, but knowing the kind of people we have representing our program, our school and our community — that’s what I will always remember about this group. They’ve stayed true to each other and focused on setting a new standard for future Tritons in the sport of rugby.”

Iowa Central overwhelmed Claremont from the start, taking a 45-6 halftime lead and never looking back. Mike Wildin had a hat trick with three tries to lead the way, while Mitch Coleman Hardy added two tries. Nathan Epplett, Jabaree Leopold, Ani Mteto and Leopold Hennebert contributed one try each.

Matt Barker was 1-for-2 on penalty kicks and had eight conversions.

Of the 15 individual honors awarded to each position for their NSCRO Champions Cup performances, Triton players filled nine of the spots.

Mteto was named most valuable player. He was also the MVP a year ago when Iowa Central was a Challenge Cup runner-up.

”Our guys were really peaking at the right time,” Nelson said. ”Claremont was the returning champions, but I think we kind of imposed our will early on and showed what we were made of.

”They were very focused on finishing the job (Sunday). We called this a business trip, and our guys completed what weren’t quite able to at the (end of last season). We came here for one thing and one thing only: to win. As they say in rugby, we were on the front foot the entire time, which means we were rolling downhill. The guys are proud of what they accomplished of course, but it was kind of a subdued celebration because they expected this of themselves.”

Nelson added that it was ”hard to single any one player out,” though he did say Wildin — who is from Winterset — was playing ”at about as high a level as you’ll see in small-college rugby.”

”Realistically, we have probably five or six solid All-American candidates,” Nelson said.

The coach also pointed out the work of his assistants: Miguel Secor, Michael Hirst and Peter ”Skip” Reed.

”They’ve done so much for this program,” Nelson said. ”The kids love them, and we have such a great chemistry together as coaches. We work hard, but we also have a lot of fun.

”Miguel did an amazing job of getting them ready physically, and (Hirst and Reed) focused on the mental side of things. I don’t deserve the credit here; our players are very motivated and driven on their own in the off-season and outside of practice. It’s a special, special group — not just for what they accomplished, but what they will always stand for.”