The Ontario Thunder and Portland Pounders both added another title to their collection as the Vancouver Invitational came to a close on Sunday.

Back-To-Back for the Ontario Thunder!

The Ontario Thunder won their 2nd consecutive Vancouver Invitational title and finished the tournament undefeated following a close 58-56 victory over the Lightning in Sunday’s all-Ontario clash.

Thunder defender Patrice “Pico” Dagenais took home this year’s MVP honors following a fantastic tournament.

Quebec finished in 2nd after a 54-40 win over Team BC, and Alberta powered their way into 3rd place with a 67-59 win over Germany in a high-scoring and fast-paced match to close the tournament. 

Eight’s Great for Portland.

The Portland Pounders are D2 champs after defeating the Seattle Slam 50-42. Portland’s attacking trio of Justin Beaver, Jake Wheeler and Seth McBride proved to be too tough for Seattle to stop in the victory. The Pounders now have a D2 title to go with their seven D1 victories and Pacific Northwest bragging rights heading into their home tournament in April.

In the 3rd-place match, BC Development won 44-32 over the Alberta Bighorns for their win of the tournament. Both squads used their whole bench as they worked to fine-tune line-ups ahead of this summer’s 2019 National Championships-Powered by Vesco, in Ottawa.

Thank You

The Vancouver Invitational Wheelchair Rugby Tournament wouldn’t be possible without help from our incredible supporters: the Government of British Columbia, Wheelchair Rugby Canada, Richmond Sport Hosting , Richmond Olympic Oval, Sheraton Vancouver Airport, Postmark Brewing, viaSport, Boston Pizza Ackroyd, CLIF BAR, Pomme Natural Market Port Coquitlam, Save-On-Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Nando’s Garden City, Murphy Battista LLP, ChairStuff and Ceilli’s Richmond.

A huge thank you also goes to all of the hardworking volunteers who made the 2019 Vancouver Invitational a great success.

Results and Awards

D1
1. Ontario Thunder (5-0)
2. Quebec (3-2)
3. Alberta Roughnecks (3-2)
4. Germany (2-3)
5.Ontario Lightning (2-3)
6. Team BC (0-5)

D2
1. Portland Pounders (5-0)
2. Seattle Slam (3-2)
3. BC Development (1-4)
4. Alberta Bighorns (1-4)

MVP: Pico Dagenais (Thunder)
Most Heart: Josh Holton (BC Development)
Clutch Performer: Zak Madell (Alberta Roughnecks)
Best Picker: Trevor Hirschfield (Team BC)