The Evolution 7s Academy warmed up for the boys U16 bracket of the North American Invitationals 7s by winning the Idaho State High School 7s championship in Boise this past weekend.

Head coach Wesley van Tonder said it was a tough competition for his squad, especially seeing as his team was playing in the U18 division. The two-day NAI 7s tournament gets started Friday at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City.

Watch the North American Invitational 7s LIVE on FloRugby!

"Although our team is U16, we wanted to play in the U18 division," said van Tonder, who has one son, Ethan, on the Evolution team and another son, Kyle, on the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy team. "Our boys are really starting to gel well as a team and collectively bring some great talent to the team."

Evolution also has won the Blackfoot 7s tournament and the Payette 7s and went undefeated in the Idaho championships.

"We have slowly been building up to the NAI 7s in Salt Lake City and we back ourselves on a good performance," van Tonder said. "Our team is peaking at the right time and the boys are humble."

Ethan van Tonder is a young but very powerful runner, and he and Tyson Bradford led from the front and were standouts in a good team performance. Van Tonder will captain the team this weekend, and Bradford will be vice-captain.

Evolution roster for NAI 7s

Brian Albright
Koji Amaechi
Jacob Anderson
Garrett Beck
Tyson Bradford
Clint Hersey
Logan Hill
Duanavan Jardine
Jaxson Pabst
Jake Pingree
Chance Rueppel
Ethan van Tonder
Trevor Welch
Tyler Wiliams

How To Watch

ON TV: Available on Roku and Apple TV 4 -- download the FloSports app now.
STREAMING: Only on FloRugby. JOIN NOW.

Join The Conversation On Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloRugby
• Follow us on Instagram @FloRugby
• Follow us on Facebook @FloRugby
• Follow us on Youtube @FloRugby

FloRugby's hottest content, delivered to your inbox

Don't miss breaking news, feature stories, event updates, and more. Sign up for the FloRugby mailing list today.