Contributions from: Milton Greenstreet, Tina Schafer, and Rachel Priddy

For over a decade, the Severn River and Frederick Rugby clubs have come together once a year to battle it out in memory of fallen Frederick rugger, Tobin “Trooper” Triebel. Triebel passed away on Friday Nov. 7, 2008 after being struck by a motor vehicle while jogging.  The Triebel Cup was born the following spring: a three-game match-up, usually consisting of a women’s match, men’s match and old boys/B-side match.  This year, the cup remained with Severn, who went 3 for 3 on the day. 

     On Saturday, June 11th, the Severn River men and women headed to Wild Geese Farm in Dickerson, Maryland to claim their right to keep the cup for another year.  Per usual, the women’s match was first on the docket.

     The Severn River women’s team came with a strong lineup and a good mix of new and veteran players.  The Severn offense was quick and made smart decisions with offloads.  The defense kept the match to a 49-0 shutout.  Standouts for the Honey Badgers included Lolita Galdones and rookie Bri Leonard. A special shout out goes to visiting rookie Riz Burrell, with two tries in their first match with Severn River.

     The Severn Men kicked off after the women's team sealed their victory, but not before the Maryland State Police presented their arms and colors in honor of Frederick's fallen Tobin “Trooper” Triebel. The solemn moment is normally accompanied by a singer performing the national anthem after the officers present the colors, but there was no performer on Saturday. Instead, in a rather touching moment, all players on the field and fans in attendance spontaneously decided to honor Triebel by singing the national anthem together. It was a wonderful way to begin the men's action on the day.

     The men in green and blue wasted no time getting on the score sheet with early tries by number 8, Mike Blimmel, newcomer center Adrian Rivera, and club Captain Erik Dronberger. Rivera began his rugby career in Annapolis at a blistering pace, scoring a hat trick before halftime, he added a 4th in the second half. Dronberger, in his final game as Captain, had an almost perfect day from Out-half. Accurate from the tee, as well as scoring a brace of tries, one of which was a fantastic chip and re-gather, had a great signoff to his year at the helm.

     Frederick fought back at times, with familiar faces Scott Wade at 10 and Jon Haney at 12 doing some damage. But Severn proved to be too much to be reckoned with, running up the score late in the second half. With some lung-busting runs from lock Parker Hackett and rookie winger Pat Fenn, Severn put the game comfortably out of reach well before the final whistle.

     The Frederick Old Boys had a little better luck against Severn's second side, going up early 12-0 on the Killer Bs. Frederick's alumni were breaking the line regularly with some violent running. Severn fought back, starting with flanker Jake Stahl turning a crash ball inside Severn's own 5 meter line into a 65 meter gallop, and started to turn the tide for Annapolis' second side. This match was back and forth throughout, and Severn had enlisted the help of some UMBC alumni to help fill the ranks of the squad to get the job done. The Bs were able to hold off a last surge from Frederick in the dying minutes of the match to come away with the win.

  Men of the match for the day were Prop James Nutland, who managed to play every single minute for Severn in both matches, making outstanding contributions in both games, and the aforementioned Rivera, whose name was all over the score sheet.

The Cup is now on display at Stan and Joe’s Saloon in Annapolis til next year.