USA Ultimate

Mixed Division teams from four regions will battle it out at Regionals this weekend with their sights set on a berth at the 2013 National Championships in Frisco, Texas.       Great Lakes   North Central   Northwest   South Central

 
Great Lakes Mixed Preview, by Ben Murphy (Underhaul)

Format: 10 team/1 bid  Saturday pool play; Sunday 8-team bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  Interrobang! 14  CP-1 Underhaul 54 EP-2 Gambit 37 CP-3 Handlebar 59 EP-4 Liquid Hustle 95 CP-5   Team Rank Sectionals  Santa Maria 33 EP-1 Steamboat 28 EP-3 Prion 71 CP-2 ELevate 74 CP-4 Abusement Park 72 CP-6

 

The mixed division in the Great Lakes region has a pretty definitive favorite this year. Interrobang!, hailing from Indianapolis, has only one loss on the year, a two-point loss to Bird (an out of region opponent on Saturday) at Cooler Classic, which they later avenged with a 14-11 victory over Bird in the finals. Interrobang! has shown consistency and dominance across their season, winning Heavyweights with only one or two close games (both on Saturday) and allowing no more than five points in any game at sectionals (games to 15). If you go to watch Interrobang! this weekend, keep your eyes out for Keenan Plew to be running defenders ragged. 

The most likely team to unseat Interrobang! on their quest may be Santa Maria out of Columbus, winner of the East Plains section. Notably, Santa Maria has not had any head-to-head opportunities against Interrobang! this season. Santa Maria started the season strong, winning Motown Throwdown and finishing third at Chesapeake Open. They faltered a bit at Heavyweights with a one-point loss to Gambitin the quarterfinals and an eventual seventh-place finish. The Santa Maria roster features the always noticeable Mike Ford and a slew of athletic guys that can hang with Interrobang! when Santa Maria is hitting on all cylinders. Keep an eye out for U-23 National Team member Paige Soper, perhaps the best lady playing mixed in the region this year, and her massive flick huck.

The other teams with a chance of winning the one bid to Nationals are Underhaul and Steamboat. Steamboat is a perennial player in the Great Lakes, hailing from Cincinnati since 2008. On top of having many years’ experience as a team, they’ve also played many tournaments together this year, including winning their home tournament, Cin City Classic, over Muff n’ Men and finishing third at Motown Throwdown and second at Heavyweights where they lost to Interrobang! in the finals. It’s unclear whether they’ll peak at the right time, but they’ll have the best chance at a complete roster heading into regionals. Underhaul is a team put together by the remnants of Overhaul and includes some of their friends. Underhaul has yet to attend a tournament with their full roster, and anybody who tells you they know what to expect from Underhaul is probably biased.
 

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

 

North Central Mixed Preview, by USA Ultimate

Format: 12 teams/2 bids Pool Play – Saturday and first round Sunday;  Bracket Play – Championship game and second-place bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  CLX 3 WP-n/a NOISE 29 NWP-2 panIC 76 WP-1 Thoroughbred n/a WP-2 No Touching 61 NWP-6 Milwaukee  75 NWP-7   Team Rank Sectionals  Drag'n Thrust 9 NWP-n/a MN Star Power 34 NWP-1 Bird 32 NWP-3 Mad Udderburn 46 NWP-4 Plowed 80 NWP-5 Dragon Trust n/a NWP-8

 

It should come as no surprise that the two teams who have maintained a stranglehold on the mixed scene in the North Central Region over the last several years enter the weekend as the headliners. As many observers have come to expect from them, Chad Larson Experience and Drag’n Thrust have both had strong seasons with impressive results, despite almost constant exposure to high-level competition.

Regionals will mark the first time all year that CLX will face an opponent who was not a fellow participant at last year’s Club Championships in Sarasota. And their only two losses on the season came in the finals of their only two tournaments of the year: the Pro-Elite Challenge at Philly Invite and the Pro Flight Finale. Despite their low number of tournaments, they are well-prepared to face the field at the Regional Championships. 

Sitting atop the other pool, Pool B, Drag’n Thrust has also spent the majority of their season playing top 16 opponents. But unlike CLX, they also attended a regional tournament, MUDI, in mid-July. Drag’n Thrust won that tournament without being truly challenged, but it gave them an opportunity to see some of the teams they’ll face this weekend. 

A relative unknown in the division and the region, Minnesota Star Power has had an up-and-down season. They’ve consistently played competitively with their regional competition, generally splitting wins and losses, but struggled against higher-ranked teams in Seattle at the Elite-Select Challenge – Emerald City Classic. They won the Northwest Plains Section, besting Bird and NOISE, but NOISE may be the more talented team overall. If they bring a full roster to Cedar Falls this weekend, they could give higher-seeded teams a run for their money.

There may be some flip-flopping in the seedings between the teams ranked three through 12 by the end of the pool play, but when push comes to shove on Sunday afternoon, CLX and Drag’n Thrust will very likely have punched their tickets to the Club Championships in Frisco. We’ll see how it plays out, but the North Central mixed division may be able to lay claim to one of the more exciting regional finals match ups in the country.

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

  

Northwest Mixed Preview, by USA Ultimate

Format: 16 teams/1 bid 4 pools of four; 12 team championship bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  The DOH Abides 8 WA-1 Rogue Hippo n/a BS-1 Bozos n/a BS-2 Eats, throws & leaves n/a WA-6   Team Rank Sectionals  Engine 45 17 OR-1 Skysharks n/a WA-4 Giraffapus n/a WA-5 Fat Camp All-Stars n/a BS-3       Pool C   Pool D Team Rank Sectionals  Mental Toss Flycoons 22 BS-n/a Stache n/a WA-3 Uncle Oosik n/a AK-1 Rowboat n/a OR-5   Team Rank Sectionals  Oscar's Red Rocket n/a OR-2 Ghetto Birds n/a WA-2 Tire Fire n/a OR-3 Inversion n/a BS-4

 

Only the Northeast had more teams register in the mixed division than the Northwest, but they still only managed to solidify one bid to this year’s Club Championships. As a result, this weekend can’t be anything other than exciting. 

The most familiar name headed to Washington this weekend is the Mental Toss Flycoons. After a National Championship in 2008 and a semifinals performance in 2009, the Flycoons had a two-year Nationals hiatus. They finished 16th last year, but they were back in the Nationals fold. Right now, the Flycoons season record is sitting at an even 7-7, with all their losses coming against teams ranked in the top 17. But their most signature win on the season was against a depleted Boston Wild Card in the Pro-Elite Challenge at the Philly Invite. Wild Card later avenged that loss 15-9 in the Elite-Select Challenge at the Emerald City Classic. They have the experience and the talent, but the Flycoons will have their work cut out for them this weekend in trying to earn another trip to the big show.

A new name with some old faces, The DOH Abides hit the postseason with only two losses in close games to San Francisco Groove and Wild Card. They also have signature wins against strong teams including Ambiguous Grey and Cahoots. DOH hasn’t travelled outside the Northwest Region yet, but luckily for them, 15 Elite and Select Flight teams came to them for ECC this year, where they saw their highest-caliber competition so far. Their loss to Wild Card came at an unfortunate time, in the quarterfinals, but they won out to earn fifth place, dramatically breaking their initial seed. They won the Washington Section with relative ease, solidifying their spot as the number one seed at Regionals. They’ll look to keep that momentum going this weekend.

Engine 45 comes in as the two seed after winning the Oregon Section without facing any real tests. They will be looking to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish at Northwest Regionals. Their results prove they have the ability to compete with the best teams in the region: they played to close losses against Groove and Ambiguous Grey at ECC and lost on universe point to their top-seeded counterparts from Pool A, The DOH Abides, in early August. If initial seeds manage to hold in this field littered with unknowns, they’ll meet again in the finals on Sunday afternoon.

Although there are some clear frontrunners, the lines between them are thin. With just one bid to Nationals on the line, the players will leave it all on the field in Washington this weekend, and it’s anyone’s guess who comes out on top.

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

 

South Central Mixed Preview, by Clay Heinzel-Nelson (Love Tractor)

Format: 12 teams/1 bid Saturday Pool Play; Sunday 8-team championship bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  Cosa Nostra 13  TX-n/a Identity Crisis 62 TX-1 Mesteño 55 RM-3 Crash 88 OZ-2 Risky Business 99 TX-3 En Fuego n/a TX-6   Team Rank Sectionals  Love Tractor 25 RM-1 RUA n/a OZ-1 Spikes Peak n/a RM-2 Flying Dutchmen 120 TX-2 The Strangers n/a RM-4 Beta lota Delta 118 TX-4

 

With one bid for Nationals on the line, 12 teams from three sections – Texas, Rocky Mountain and Ozarks – gather in Denver, Colo. this weekend with their respective seasons on the line. After Mother Nature left a trail of devastating destruction behind her along Colorado’s Front Range last weekend, the weather looks prime for good, clean ultimate with low winds and highs around 80 degrees for both Saturday and Sunday.  Maintaining possession will be key for winning (when is it not really?), and Ds will be at a premium.

Pool A

Based out of Austin, Texas, Cosa Nostra enters as the clear favorite after winning the region’s sole bid to Nationals in 2012 and having a great run at the Championships that landed them in 2013’s Pro Flight. They are comprised of core returners from last season that include masters veterans along with youthful college players or recent college graduates. While they went 1-5 at their most recent tournament, the Pro Flight Finale, they lost two games on universe point and proved that they definitely belonged at the tournament with the nation’s other elite teams.  It will be interesting to see how they fare against teams that are not ranked in the top 20 after having mixed results playing against top-tier teams for the majority of the season. 

While Cosa Nostra competed against all high-level teams throughout the year with varied results, the second seed in Pool A had the exact opposite regular season. Identity Crisis has handily won nearly every game they have played thus far but have yet to play any teams that are of Nationals caliber.  The winners of the Texas section are a wild card coming into Regionals and a team that should not be taken lightly. They are most effective with their hucks, which always make their games fun to watch (made apparent by their highlight videos of the season on YouTube).   Their third and fifth games on Saturday versus Cosa Nostra and Mesteño, respectively, should determine how serious of a threat they will be come Sunday.

Mesteño is known to often enter Regionals on the heels of a very mediocre regular season and sectionals performance before managing to turn in an impressive regional performance; so far, this year is no exception. Last year, they lost on universe point in the finals of a windy Sunday at Regionals in Texas to Cosa Nostra. They have a bunch of experienced players and always possess the talent to upset higher-ranked teams and make a run at Nationals. They match up against Cosa Nostra for the first game on Saturday, so be wary of an immediate upset if Cosa comes out cold or hasn’t adjusted to the altitude.

Crash, the second team out of the Ozarks, will not roll over in any of their games. They went 8-4 in the regular season with a decent performance at Heavyweights and a tight loss game to RUA (Robot Unicorn Attack) in the finals of the Ozarks Sectional. Risky Business had a good regular season and was able to make it to Chesapeake Invite where they didn’t win a game but gained valuable experience playing against top-level teams. If they can take that knowledge and apply it at Regionals, they possess the talent to upset a team or two. Throughout the season, En Fuego has dropped a few tight games to fellow regional opponents and will be looking to avenge those losses.

Pool B

Love Tractor has enjoyed one of their best seasons of record. When staying in their more native environment, they have taken care of business, losing only one game in Colorado.  They made a trip to Seattle to play in the Elite-Select Challenge at Emerald City Classic where they had mixed results, finishing in tenth place but gaining valuable experience against top-tier teams. Through certain stretches of play, they work together as a well-oiled machine, while at others, they seem to be more similar to a bunch of animals having fun running around chasing a piece of plastic. If Love Tractor can play the team ultimate they are capable of, they should be in the mix at the end of Sunday. 

RUA, the winner of the Ozarks section, has put together a decent season after finishing tied for seventh at last year’s Regionals. They played in the power pools at Heavyweights where they had good results and finished tied for fifth. They are a disciplined team and will pose an outside threat to win the region. 

Spikes Peak is an extremely athletic team and loves to use that to their advantage. If they see an opening downfield, they will take the shot, and you can bet on at least one or two layout Ds in each of their games. They use their women well and will cause a lot of match-up problems for other teams.  Their final game in pool play against RUA will be filled with highlights.

The Flying Dutchman placed second at Texas Sectionals. They have had an up-and-down season and have potential to upset some teams. The Strangers are another solid team that loves to bump the disc to one of their strong throwers to get a good look deep. They are fundamentally strong and will most likely finish higher than their initial seeding. Beta Lota Delta finished fifth at 2012 Regionals and arrives in Denver this year after finishing fourth in the Texas section having lost some tight games in the finals bracket.  

It is sure to be an exciting tournament. The altitude will likely give the Colorado teams a slight advantage, especially after a long Saturday with five games for all teams. Sunday’s semis and finals will be tightly contested, well-played matches with the squad who can play the most effective team ultimate, utilizing their strengths and minimizing turnovers, emerging as regional champions. A few key plays on Sunday could determine which team will make the journey to Frisco for the Club Championships in just a few, short weeks. 

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

 

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