—Photo by Paul DeCoursey Iowa Central’s Dalton Summers carries the ball for the Triton rugby team.

For a pair of Fort Dodge Senior High graduates, this past Saturday’s rugby match between Iowa Central and Lindenwood served two purposes.

The Tritons concluded the 15s portion of their schedule at Crimmins Field, falling to nationally-ranked Lindenwood, 45-27.

Dalton Summers, a sophomore and former Dodger, played his final match in an Iowa Central uniform. Matt Surles-Davis, meanwhile, showed Triton head coach Brent Nelson what he could have moving forward on the pitch.

“Dalton played very, very well for us,” Nelson said. “He’s talked to a couple of colleges about his future, including one in our new league. He is going to have a very bright future.

“And Matt is a freshman who we are excited about. He came in without a lot of 15s experience, but he has done everything we’ve asked of him. He’s hit the weights, worked on his weaknesses and is trying to elevate his game.”

Nelson added the importance of bringing in Fort Dodge players to his team of athletes from around the world.

“They have that Fort Dodge mentality of battling until the end,” he said. “They are going to give it everything they have because they come from a strong environment of competing.”

In the match with Lindenwood, Tavius Sykora-Matthess had three tries with both Andrew Thexton and Ledonn Mathis recording one each. Iowa Central will continue spring action in 7s as they look to qualify for nationals in May.

“I was very pleased with the effort of the guys,” Nelson said. “When you go up against a top program in the country like Lindenwood, you have to temper your expectations. You don’t go in thinking you are going to lose, but you have to find moral victories.

“I thought we put up a good fight. Our forwards played a phenomenal game collectively. We had some first year players who were out of position a few times and I think the stage was pretty big for them.”