2011 Club Regionals Preview: Open Week 2
David Belsheim, Alex Cooper, Grant Farrington, Amy Salley
Posted: October 7, 2011 11:12 AM
Note: Mid-Atlantic Regionals was previewed in the Oct 1-2 event preview, but has been rescheduled for Oct 8-9 weekend due to weather related issues.
Can anyone touch Ironside?
Right now, it looks like Boston’s Northeast Regional title streak will go unchallenged (how many years it is now?). They played efficiently on offense and hard on defense in the few games they played this year, and though this is a reloading year in terms of talent, they’re piecing it together well. If anyone can knock them off, it’ll be a huge upset; however, here are some things to think about going into the weekend.
- Hope for good weather
- Though Ironside is an excellent team, regardless of weather, they start to really step up their game when the wind picks up and the rain starts to fall. Their Bo[ston]-Zone takes care of all but the best handlers, and with tall guys like Colin Mahoney covering the deep space, it’s hard to break through. The offense excels even more, as Matt Rebholz’s backhand hucks don’t really get worse with wind; nor do George Stubbs’ flicks or Dan Forseter’s upside-down throws.
- Play to a lack of experience together
- Though it was an unofficial merger, this year’s Ironside is more like part of last year’s Ironside mixed with last year’s Bodhi. That means that there are two distinct halves of the team used to playing with each other. The lack of a second, full-squad tournament (after the loss of Chesapeake) did not help that at all. If a team with a lot of experience playing together (eg. GOAT) can exploit that and take advantage of miscues, look to see a much closer game than expected.
- Get them out of their comfort zone
- One of the things Revolver did best in last year’s final to beat Ironside was to get them out of their comfort zone. Obviously this is easier said than done, but the more you can get Ironside to look off in-cuts to Peter Prial on offense or prevent Brandon Malecek from throwing hucks off of a turn, the more likely you are to win. Once again, much easier said than done.
The rest of the pack
With two bids again this year, the fight for the 2nd bid will be just as exciting as it was last year when Bodhi beat GOAT (for the first time) in semis, only to lose to PoNY (also for the first time) in the game-to-go.
- GOAT
- Can GOAT make this the first Club Championships to feature two Canadian teams since 2007? Can they regain the 2nd place finish in the Northeast that eluded them last year? If they play smart, they’re on their way. The Hassell-Inian connection will probably get them to Quarters alone. GOaT’s last appearance at NE tournament (in the U.S.) was at Boston Invite, where they beat PoNY. The offense flowed well, and Adrian Yearwood showed a lot of poise handling at such a young age. They looked great in the Canadian Championship, despite a tough loss, and I would be shocked to see them not playing in at least one game-to-go this weekend.
- PoNY
- If perennial Nationals contenders PoNY have anything to say about it, GOaT will be thwarted once again, and PoNY will punch its ticket back to Sarasota for the second year in a row and third times in four years. With a lot of familiar faces and a number of fast, young guns, PoNY looks ready to work hard late into Sunday. Look for intense passion on D, and opportunistic hucks on O. From the looks of recent footage, it seems that Callahan-winner Dan Heijmen has moved to the D-line to both improve intensity and help punch in breaks. In addition the return of former Seattle guy Seth Crockford, who went up to Boston for two years, will be a great addition to PoNY’s already strong handling core.
- Other teams
- While it is unfair to lump the other teams into one category, there is a huge gap between the top tier and second tier in the Northeast. There are a couple teams who you might see playing Sunday, but it would be a gigantic upset if any of them made it into the game-to-go, much less all the way to Sarasota.
- Dark or Light is a team made up of Amherst Regional High School alumni and current students, but don’t expect them to play like high schoolers. Coached by their fearless leader, Tiina Booth, this team has lots of raw talent, including a number of college players and former Junior Worlds players.
- DoL lost at Sectionals to Starfox (a mainly UMass-Amherst team, with former Ironside and Bodhi players), who will also give the top tier teams some occasional challenges, especially with young athleticism and some big game experience.
- Finally, look out for Garuda, the equivalent of this year’s Bodhi. Made up from top college talent across New England from the past few years, with a number of the last guys cut from Ironside, they could challenge some top level teams too.
The South is Rising
The big news in the South Region this year is the surprise growth bid. And no one is more surprised than the South itself. That bid busted in on us and caught us with our Five shorts around our ankles and the field is wide open. No one around here is seriously questioning whether Chain Lightning and Doublewide will come away with the first and second bid. It’s safe to say at this point that those two are pretty good at ultimate. If that’s news to someone, call me up and tell me how it was living under that rock of yours. So bids one and two are probably spoken for, in what order remains to be seen. There are plenty of competitive teams vying for that third bid, though, and that’s where the fireworks will be this Regionals.
- Chain is gearing up for another solid run. They are holding it close to the vest when it comes to exposure in the media and general hype, focusing instead on their game and making to Nationals the old fashioned way—through "Efficiency, throwing as few passes as possible, putting teams in the dog house, and having fun." Doublewide took the top spot last year and finished higher at Nationals and still looks to be a force this year. Chain will have their hands full with them but they seem to be taking it in stride. Mark Poole says, "If we come in first, second, or third at Regionals, we should make it to Nationals." Chain is returning a lot of their top players while Doublewide has had a lot of turnover, so this matchup will likely be in the air until the last score.
- Doublewide has been slowly ramping up their competition level the last few years, going from a historically fringe/quarters team at Nationals to being in semis last year and finishing 5th overall. However, they have had some significant turnover from last year and have been hit by the injury bug. They have lost defensive stalwarts Terry Jungman, Andrew Walch, and Jay Lane and added some young, athletic talent in addition to the Kurt-Brodie O-fest. Their offense has proven pretty solid already—they weren’t broken once during the finals at Colorado Cup and only had two turnovers, both unforced. Watch for plenty of man defense as they will be making competition "fight for every inch." Captain Jeff Loskorn tells me their goal this year is to win Nationals and that they will get there through hard work and accountability.
- Two of the teams looking to secure that third bid have been to Nationals before in similar circumstances: El Diablo and Tanasi. El Diablo back doored their way to Florida in 2008 on a growth bid, leaving teams like Ronin scratching their heads. Tanasi snatched away the strength bid in 2010 from Vicious Cycle after having several elite players flock to the team that year with Nationals stars in their eyes. Both teams had lackluster finishes at Nationals in their respective years and are looking to improve their records on the Nationals fields. However, there is no clear front-runner for the growth bid in this particular tournament as many of the more competitive teams have shown themselves to be pretty evenly matched.
- Tanasi has had a bit of turnover since last year’s trip to Nationals. They have been trying to get their feet under them all season and managed to have only one loss at Sectionals to Chain. Previously, Tanasi saw some of the Regionals qualifiers at Terminus in Atlanta, defeating ROMA but losing to Omen and Uproar. Back in June they met El Diablo and Six Pack and lost to both. Tanasi defeated Six Pack twice at Sectionals, but the first win was on double game point and the second was after Six Pack fought its way through Chain, Voodoo and El Diablo. Tanasi’s up and down season leads to no easy predictions for their chances this weekend.
- El Diablo, the other former Nationals qualifier, is almost unrecognizable as the same team compared to 2008. Eric Olivier is one of last core players still on the team from that magical year. The loss of their Atlanta talent pipeline to Chain, Six Pack and some mixed teams means that their field of talent is more limited now and their record has suffered because of it. They have always been a scrappy team, slow to give in and full of vim and vigor. We’ll see where it gets them in Little Rock.
- Six Pack is in its second year and pleased with the progress over the course of the season. While at times behaving like a "pick up team with matching jerseys," they are looking to go deep into Sunday this year and are in a good position to do so. They have picked up two guys who have seen Nationals already: Devin Waldrop and Brian Edgerton. In addition, they claim to boast "the fastest man in ultimate," Karl Ekwurtzel who ran a 4.45 40 yard dash at Georgia State University football tryouts as a walk on. Six Pack’s Sectionals run was pretty money—they hung with Tanasi and lost to Chain 15-7, a 5-point improvement from Terminus. They are 1-1 with El Diablo heading into the weekend but have put up wins against Iron Men and Uproar.
- The fourth front-runner for the growth bid is Space City Ignite, the A-team out of Houston that finished 5th at Regionals in 2010. Essentially, the Space City philosophy is that any guy who wants to play can. The captains reward players who put in the effort at practice and tournaments with roster spots on the upper teams. SC Ignite had a better-than-expected showing at the Boston Invite this year. They started in the open division, won over into the elite brackets and took it to Truck Stop, losing 15-12. There has been some change to the lineup since then, but their finish in Boston points at a team with heart and discipline, two things that will hold them in good stead in Little Rock. According to captains Sean McCall and Asif Mohammed, the folks to look out for on defense are Glenn Lenberger, who has a college championship with the University of Florida, and Mike Cramer, "Two tall athletes who dominate the air." On O, Jason Best and Nick Turco are "sharp cutters and precise handlers."
- Omen out of Orlando looks to be another contender based on their results so far this season. They came to Terminus and lost to Iron Men, but defeated Brah and Tanasi. They won out at Sectionals, with no team getting into the double digits against them. The other team out of Florida who could potentially make a run is Uproar. They have two former Chain players on their roster, Will Moore and Brandon Perales. They went 3-3 at Terminus, their only USAU tournament outside of Sectionals. They defeated Tanasi but lost to Chain and Six Pack. Their only loss at Sectionals was to the eventual champ, Omen.
- Iron Men rounds out the list of probable third-bid contenders, though honorable mention goes to Plex out of Dallas-Forth Worth. Iron Men have been around a while with a bunch of former Tanasi and Alabama guys rounding out their roster, like dynamite handler Tim Brady and Chris Browning. They won Huckfest this year, defeating ROMA and Freaks Uv Nature. At Terminus they defeated Brah and Omen and lost to Six Pack and then they won out at their Sectionals. They are historically high-achieving in the face of low expectation, but the turnover from Tanasi has helped their lineup. It just remains to be seen what they do with it.
- The teams comprising the rest of the field are a jumble of good programs with solid talent but perhaps not ready to steal the lunch money of their competition. Plex is the Dallas team and is filling the void left by Grit. They are the first team in a while to try to combine the youthful talent out of UNT with "Dallas club stalwarts." They have had some jelling issues but most teams didn’t get into the double digits against them at Sectionals. Plex wants to make the game to go on Sunday and could just do so. ROMA is a two year old team whose stated goal is to break seed and use Regionals as a learning experience. Space City Eclipse is the young Houston B team. They would like to finish in the top ten, but remain open to the possibility of pulling off huge upsets for that third bid. Freaks Uv Nature have been around a while but this is their first trip to Regionals. HIP is in its first year and is "super young" and "super lack height." With most of their guys coming out of Texas and A&M, they are looking to break out of their lower seed by quite a bit and believe their talent pool will surprise a few people. Brah is…Brah. Their jerseys feature Patrick Swayze and their team is "based on a way of life rather than a specific city." But they have three players with Nationals experience and Matt Jackson has the best hair in ultimate so they may just surprise some people.
Does all of this sound confused? Are you unable to determine who would be most likely to come away with the third bid? Welcome to South Open Regionals 2011. Some may say that third bid’s a fluke, some may say an appropriate culmination of years of gradual improvement in the South’s open teams. Whichever side you are on, the competition for that bid is going to be hot and tight with several teams knocking on the door of the elite level and looking to prove themselves as contenders at Sarasota. Most of the teams have been around a while and have been steadily improving, waiting for that third bid to come around to show their stuff. No one expected it this year, but these teams will grab the opportunity with both hands. Most of these matchups could go either way. It’s supposed to be pretty balmy and nice in Little Rock, so wind and rain won’t be factors. It’s just squad vs. squad with Nationals on the line. Who will it be?
The Southwest Club Open Regionals tournament returns to Colorado this year as the top club teams from Arizona, California and New Mexico make the climb to 5,164ft to take on Colorado’s own Johnny Bravo and Inception. While the Denver weather has been sunny and in the 80s for the past few weeks, the extended forecast has temperatures dropping into the 50s on Saturday with a good chance of precipitation. Eight teams are competing in this year’s contest. The top two teams will earn the right to compete at the USAU Club Open Championships in Sarasota in three weeks time.
The Southwest features eight teams this year and the competition between the top six teams has never been more equal. A young Johnny Bravo squad faces tight competition from SW rivals Streetgang while Renegade, the Condors, Inception and Sprawl have all fought in close games that could have gone either way. Here’s a quick look at your 2011 Southwest Club Open Regional teams.
Johnny Bravo – Denver/Boulder, Colorado
Johnny Bravo is seeded first this year after a somewhat erratic season of ups and downs. At the Rocky Mountain Sectionals, Bravo won a tight game over Denver’s Inception (13-11) in pool play but then turned things around and defeated Inception soundly (15-6) in the finals. Bravo is fighting to qualify for the USAU Club Open Championship for the 12th straight year, which is currently 2nd longest streak of championship attendances, and looking for their 8th straight Regionals Championship since overthrowing the reigning Condors in 2004. However, Johnny Bravo has faced more turnover than any other nationals caliber team in the USAU series over the last year and the team that will be competing in this weekend’s qualifying event is markedly different from years past. Just 9 players remain from only two years ago.
Coached by Bob Krier, Bravo’s offensive system remains essentially the same but with new parts. Bravo’s offense is lead by captain Ryan Ferrell (#16) and long time veteran, Stephen Rouisse (#9). Downfield playmakers include the University of Arizona combo of Austin Gregersen (#91) and Joe Kershner (#77) along with Bodhi transplant Owen Westbrook (#26). Captain Josh "Richter" Ackley (#20) leads Bravo’s defensive squad along with Justin "Rabbit" Salvia (#25) and rising star Jimmy Mickle (#23). For Bravo, this weekend’s challenge will be about finding an offensive rhythm and maintaining the high level of energy that brought Bravo wins against teams like Doublewide and GOAT. Key match: Round 1 vs. Inception. Bravo needs to come out strong on game 1 and not let some of the complacency that set in at Sectionals bring down their level of play for the weekend.
Streetgang – San Diego, California
Streetgang qualified for Regionals with several close wins over Renegade (12-11, 14-12) and a convincing win over the Condors (13-8) at SoCal Sectionals. Streetgang travelled to ECC and earned a solid win over Rhino (14-12) and a close loss to ECC finalist Ring of Fire (12-13) and posted similar results to Bravo against Truck Stop (9-15). Like Bravo, Streetgang is fighting to return to the Club Championships again this year, and their aim is to build upon their experience from last season. Having qualified for nationals for several years now, Streetgang has the veteran leadership to lead this team to greater heights. Streetgang may have started as a UC-San Diego club team but it has blossomed into the premier Southern California with active recruiting in the area and Streetgang’s involvement with San Diego State University’s college program.
Streetgang is familiar with the Colorado climate and the thinner air should give them an advantage in their offense which emphasizes quick hucks to speedy downfield cutters like Ross Lenta (#14) and Kory Helms (#2). Matty Heffernan (#36) takes control over Streetgang’s offense from Steven Prodan with help from Allan Lai (#68) and recent SDSU standout Tim Gilligan (#99) who is having a big impact this year. Streetgang’s gritty defense is led by Will Griffin (#17), Zack Schakner (#22) and Keenan Herbon (#9). Former Streetgang player Kevin Stuart coaches this year’s squad as they take on Sprawl and the Condors in Pool B on Saturday. If Streetgang can take care of business early, it should put them in position to play Renegade in semis later that day and rest up for finals on Sunday where anything can happen. Key match: Round 3 vs. Condors. Streetgang should be able to take care of business against Sprawl and Inception-Red, but they’ll need to step it up for a hungry Condors team to gain favorable position moving into semifinals.
Renegade – Los Angeles, California
Renegade is the latest team to form out of the greater Los Angeles area. A quick glance at Renegade’s season record and you’ll see a lot of red. But don’t let that fool you; Renegade is quite capable of hanging in with the nation’s top teams. In their first year of existence, Renegade posted a 12-15 loss to Doublewide at Colorado Cup, and 10-15 losses to Furious, Goat and Truck Stop, performances that nearly mirrored Johnny Bravo’s scores. Renegade picked up an important confidence boosting win against the Condors (12-11) before losing two games to Streetgang (11-12, 12-14) at SoCal Sectionals. With such close results, Renegade is just one or two breaks away from earning a bid to Nationals. The main challenge for Renegade will be finding a way to come up with those breaks against teams that are similarly peaking.
Renegade’s offense is lead by Andrew McRae (#14), who anchors the offense as Renegade’s primary handler. Renegade’s most dangerous cutter is Eric Lissner (#43) who’ll be making huge grabs all weekend. Veteran Marcos Perez (#24) will be leading Renegade’s defensive unit. The team is prepared for Streetgang’s quick-strike offense and should be able to make adjustments earlier in the game as they find the defensive matchups they want. Renegade might have a more difficult time with Bravo, whom they haven’t seen yet this year and has the home field advantage. Renegade gained valuable experience playing at altitude at Colorado Cup and the team will be arriving early to acclimate themselves to the weather this weekend so it should be less of a factor than it could have been. Key match: Round 2 vs. Inception. Renegade can’t afford to drop this game going into the last game of pool play and a big win over Inception should give them momentum against Johnny Bravo.
Condors – Santa Barbara, California
The Condors have quietly undergone a generational transformation over the past few years and the rebuilding years have not been kind to the boys in black and white. No longer pulling players from the Los Angeles and the Bay Area like they have in the past, the young Santa Barbara Condors are primarily homegrown with recent graduates from UC Santa Barbara filling out the roster. Also, the Condors haven’t attended top regional tournaments like Colorado Cup, ECC or Labor Day like they have in the past which sets them at a disadvantage against rivals Streetgang, Renegade and Johnny Bravo. Still, the Condors are resilient as evidenced by their surprising win over Streetgang in semifinals at last year’s Regional tournament and close battles at this year’s Sectionals. This year, the Condors beat Sprawl (13-10) at the Chicago Heavyweight Championships but have fallen just short against Renegade (11-12) and Streetgang (8-13) at SoCal Club Sectionals. With just a little more edge, the Condors could earn themselves a return to Sarasota and move back to elite status.
Condor captain Mark Elbogen believes that execution is going to be the key towards success this weekend as the Condors will be implementing new defensive schemes. Coming off a great weekend practice, the Condors also have players travelling to Denver early in the week to work on throwing and to get acclimated to the increased altitude. Clearly, the Condors are here to win one of the coveted bids to Nationals and this team is certainly in the hunt. Mark Elbogen and Dan Bellinger will be leading the Condors this weekend as they face elimination and the end of another season. Key match: Round 3 vs. Streetgang. Open division spectators should stick around for the Condors’ game against Streetgang as it should be the most exciting game of pool play. The Condors beat Streetgang last year forcing Streetgang into elimination early.
Inception – Denver, Colorado
Colorado has the third largest youth ultimate program in the country and is 6th in overall USAU membership. It makes sense then that Colorado should be able to field at least two competitive men’s teams. Inception was formed last year under that premise and has quickly become a popular choice for young players who just moved to Colorado or recent college players that are still developing their club skill set. Inception’s membership is so great that they formed a second team late in the season and there are talks of a third team for next year. Inception has the potential to become a program not unlike Houston’s Space City where players move up and down to different squads throughout the year. From a competitive standpoint, Inception is right there with the top teams in the region. Inception won Colorado Cup’s open division, besting Space City Ignite (13-11) but falling to Phoenix’s Sprawl (11-12) on universe. Inception also lost close games to Sub Zero (8-11) and took half on Bravo before faltering in the second half to lose 11-13. Inception comes into the tournament seeded 3rd in the pool but it would be a mistake to count this team out.
Peter Gee (#3) and Michael Kapoor (#1) lead this exciting squad both on and off the field. On offense, Alex Sapunov (#63) is particularly dangerous and he’s got several great targets downfield in Joe Mulder (#7) and Jaime Shorey (#18). Inception’s defensive playmakers are Simon Jarrett (#12), Andrew Priester (#2) and Todd Wolma (#36). Like Streetgang, Inception runs an exciting west-coast offense that is nearly impossible to stop when the handlers are clicking. They’ve also got great defensive pressure that will punish teams that seek to force throws into tight spaces. If Inception can find that swagger that gave Bravo a scare, they’ll be very successful this weekend. Key match: Round 2 vs. Renegade. A second round win against Renegade would likely put Inception into the semifinals and give them at least one less game to play as they fight for one of the bids to nationals.
Sprawl – Phoenix, Arizona
Sprawl rolled through the Desert Club Open Sectionals and posted a win over Inception (12-11) at Colorado Cup, though they lost to the Condors (10-13) at Chicago Heavyweights. Such a record suggests that Sprawl has the ability to post some upsets this weekend and an outside chance at qualifying for the USAU Club Championships. The team finds itself facing Streetgang and the Condors in Pool B and it will be two tough games for them but it will give them opportunities to figure out different defensive schemes for when they’ll likely see these two teams on Sunday in elimination play.