Open Final Wrap-up

By Chris Spittal

Championship Sunday May 27, 2007

Early on at the 2007 UPA College Championships Open final, it looked like Colorado would be the first team all weekend to challenge a dominant Wisconsin team.  In the end, however, the Hodags were too tough for Mamabird, as Wisconsin cruised to a 15-7 victory.

Wisconsin came out of the gate fast, pulling slightly downwind to Colorado.  Hodag Drew Mahowald quickly got a D, and Brandon Malecek connected on a huck to Will Lokke just short of the goal line, and Lokke had an easy throw to Mahowald for the score. 

Wisconsin’s intense defense would once again set the tone for the game, as the Hodags only committed five turnovers compared to Colorado’s 12.

“It was amazing,” captain and Callahan Award winner Dan Heijmen said of having such few turns.  “We take risks down field.  We go high-risk high-reward, so we tend to have games with a lot of turns, so it was amazing that we were able to pull it together, and be able to take care of the disc and make some big, stunning plays.  It seemed like everything was working for us today.”

Colorado was able to answer right back with a deep game of its own, as Jolian Dahl found Beau Kittridge with a huck, and Kittridge hit Mac Taylor for a quick score.

The teams traded the next few points with a mix of efficient offense and hucks on the part of Dahl, Kittridge and Justin Salvia for Colorado, and Heijmen and Malecek for Wisconsin.  Malecek had three assists in the game, as well as a goal, while Heijmen found the end zone four times and threw for two scores.

Malecek, whose deep throws were on point all game, said establishing the deep game was important to the Hodags.

“We definitely wanted to go out and bring the pressure to them, get the big throws out of the way, and try to find the match ups we wanted down field,” he said.  “We just played awesome.”

Colorado was able to answer every one of the Hodags’ scores while mixing in some zone defense for the first time, as the teams were tied at 5.

After Colorado broke the Wisconsin zone to tie the game, Heijmen, Malecek and Mahowald met near midfield to discuss how to adjust to Colorado’s challenge.

“That was in reference to zone, Heijmen said, as the Hodags had seen Mamabird practicing its blading hammers before to game, which it used to throw over the cup.

“At first, we were sort of hanging back and trying to take away the biggest threats and letting them have the little over the tops,” he said  “We wanted our wings to pinch in and make those blades as far as possible, thinking the farther they go the greater chance they’re going to be D’d or the wind is going to take them.”

The adjustment resulted in a few turns right away from Mamabird, including a layout D from Chris Doede, and Malecek led the offense to the end zone as Wisconsin took half 8-5.

Wisconsin received the pull after half and marched down the field behind the cutting of Dan Miller and Jack Marsh for an easy score.  Colorado then was able to answer, easily moving the disc between Salvia and Kittridge to make the score 9-6.

The teams were then able to overcome a few turns for each and trade points to arrive at 10-7.  That was as close as Colorado would get, as the Wisconsin machine easily chugged along.

The Hodags were able to beat the Mamabird zone buy keeping the disc moving until it advanced far enough that Colorado would switch to man.  On defense, Wisconsin would benefit from a few easy drops by Colorado against the zone, as well as a throwaway, to bring the score to 13-7.

After turns by both teams on the next point, Mamabird’s handlers worked the disc all the way down field, until Kittridge bobbled and dropped the disc in the end zone.  Taking advantage of the turn, Malecek hit Lokke with a huge forehand huck for the third time in the game to bring it to game point.

After the pull, Dahl was pinned on his own goal line and ripped off a huge backhand that went much to far and fell into the area being patrolled by Wisconsin’s Miller.  The Hodag handlers worked the disc down the field until Matt Scallet was able to find Cullen Geppert with a huck from near midfield for the win.

Winning on the same field it lost on a year ago, Wisconsin closed the game with a 10-2 run, taking down a Colorado team who had handled most of its games with ease and played well all weekend.

“It just seemed close, then all of a sudden it was goal after goal after goal,” said Heijmen.  “Obviously, they’re a great team and they fought the entire way.  But we were efficient, we played great, made some big plays and great catches.”

After the win, with many teary-eyed players, the Hodags embraced each other, spoke about love for the team and showed the crowd at the 2007 UPA College Championships what “Hodag Love” is all about.

“This is the greatest team I’ve ever been on.  You are all very special,” Heijmen told his teammates.  “I love you guys so much.”

By Chris Spittal

Saturday May 26, 2007 

The early games at the 2007 UPA College Championships were intense, with seed-breakers Ohio State and Indiana flirting with upsets, though they would fall just short.

Oregon came out of the gate fast against Leadbelly, as the Ego offense easily moved the disc and was barely contested by Ohio State’s D-line.  Leadbelly’s O was working as well, as both teams mixed hucks with efficient offense, trading points for most of the half before Oregon went up 8-7.

Dusty Becker, Eli Janin and David Berney Needleman were faster and we able to move the disc at will against Leadbelly, who countered with the offense of David Vuckovich, and the smooth handling of Chris Ratcliff and Jimmy Hughes, with both making big grabs upfield as well.

The game was mostly a back-and-forth slugfest, with Ego mixing in some zone D, and taking advantage of timely turns.  A long point at 12-11 involved multiple turns and D’s on both sides, and Oregon punched in the score to go up a break.

“All credit to Oregon.  We got three turns and they still ended up scoring,” said Leadbely captain Timmy Thurston.  “It could have changed the game, and that really was the difference.”

Though Leadbelly would score once more, Becker made the winning grab after working it down the field with Steve Kenton and Gavin McKibben.

“We stepped it up in the end,” Becker said.  “We knew we could do it, and we’ve got the guys to do it.  We’ve just got to play hard.”

Texas easily beat Indiana earlier in the season, but TUFF’s Matt Clark said Hoosiermama? was missing a few players, including Cody Andrews, and others due to injury.  TUFF’s Noah Benjamin, an Indiana alum, told the team it would be in for a battle.

“We knew they were going to be better, and it was closer than we wanted,” Clark said.

The game was close the whole way through, with Indiana stealing the lead a few times in the first half.  TUFF’s offense came out well and was able to get them back on top to take half 8-7.

“The big thing was they took the lead a few times, and we fought back,” said Clark.  “It was a real intense game.  Not a lot of foul calls, but it was really heated, and for the most part, good Spirited.”

Texas’ offense avoided making turns, and it was able to get a few on D, as it fought to a 15-13 victory, and the right to play Stanford.  Clark said TUFF will focus on not coming out flat on O, as it did against Colorado Friday.

“As far as the top four, we match up best with them, so we’ve been looking forward to playing them,” he said.

North Carolina was able to jump ahead out to a 6-2 lead against Carleton thanks to a number of early D’s by Mat Thomas.  Josh Torell and Zach Washburn were able to turn those D’s into scored as Darkside took command early.

Carleton was able to refocus and step up their own D, including a huge deep D from Patrick Baylis.  Jacob Goldstein and Sam Kanner were able to put together a run on O to take a 7-6 lead, eventually taking half 8-7 on a marathon point.

Torell and Washburn were able to bring Darkside within one at 10-9, but a combination of CUT defense and unforced errors did in North Carolina, as Carleton took control of the game before winning 15-10.

Georgia and Pittsburgh was another tight early game, as neither team ever went up more than three points.

Georgia’s Dylan Tunnell said En Sabah Nur came out ready to play, looking to make a statement by advancing to quarters. 

“I could tell they really wanted it,” said Tunnell.  “It was a hard-fought game.”

Georgia took half, and continued to fend off Pittsburgh, charging to a 9-7 lead.  Georgia’s offense kept unforced errors to a minimum, though Pittsburgh was able to get a good amount of D’s.

“We got a number of D’s on them also,” Tunnell said.  “Our D team was having a hard time putting the disc in sometimes, but they were playing good defense.”

Jojah was able to find the end zone when it needed to, as it was able to keep the lead, eventually leading to a 15-13 win.  The day, wouldn’t get any easier, however, as 2006 College Championships rematch against Colorado awaited. 

“As long as we can avoid unforced errors, I think we can pull it out,” Tunnell said.  “I expect a battle.” 

Quarterfinals 

The Open Quarterfinals began as expected with Wisconsin and Florida jumping out to big leads over Oregon and Carleton, respectively, but things would get interesting for Florida as the game progressed.

Florida seemed to be rolling over a CUT team that was getting frustrated by inconsistent play and the outcome of a few calls, which allowed Florida’s offense to come out strong and take an 8-3 lead at half behind standout Kurt Gibson.

That would quickly change, Gibson said, as a little loss of focus and a series of errors from Florida allowed CUT to slowly get back into the game.

“It was kind of a spiral — one person would screw up and they’d screw up again.  Every player hit it at one point, then we slowly came back,” he said.  “Carleton ... they’re feisty and they never give up.  They’re out of a game, you think you have it in your hands, and they’re still going to bring it.”

Bring it they did, as Florida’s lapses in play and CUT’s execution brought Carleton back within three at 10-7, and later 12-9.  Jacob Goldstein was all over the field on both sides of the disc, getting a D near the end zone, which led to a huck to a streaking Anthony McElligot to make the score 12-10.

After trading a few points, a huge huck to Jerome Potter made it 14-12, and another D by Goldstein allowed Chris Kosednar, Sam Kanner and Craig Hogle to easily work the disc for a score, to bring CUT within one, before it was able to get another D on a dump, and punch it in for the tie.

Gibson then led Florida down the field for an easy score to go up one, and a huge layout D by Phil Vozza on the first throw off the pull gave Florida the turn it needed.

“I’ve been sitting on the sidelines a lot this year, and for Kurt to put me in like that and have confidence in me, it was amazing.  I just wanted to go out there and win it for my team and I put it all on the line and got it done,” Vozza said. “As soon as I saw them put it I thought, ‘It’s my disc.  I’m getting that.’”

Gibson then found Vozza, who made an equally impressive catch with a CUT defender all over him for the win.

Wisconsin was able to come out strong and establish its deep game early against Ego, as it took advantage of its dominating defense and jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

“We came out hard, like we’ve done every game, and turnovers have just been huge lift for us,” said Dan Heijmen.  “Those leads fire us up, and we certainly feed off our defense.  It lets our offense relax, knowing that if we do go out there we can just be loose, and not worry about making a mistake.”

The Hodags didn’t make many mistakes as Drew Mahowald and Dan Miller controlled the deep D, which led to an 8-4 lead off easy hucks and scores from Heijmen and Barndon Malecek.

Ego’s Dusty Becker and Eli Janin did their best to keep Oregon in the game, but Wisconsin wis just too much for the overmatched Oregon team as Wisconsin took the game 15-9.

The 2007 quarterfinals also saw a rematch of last year’s quarters as Colorado battled Georgia.  There would be a different result this year, however, as Mamabird was able to establish its deep game early after taking a lesson from last years game.

“We knew from the mistakes we made playing Georgia last year that with their poach defense, it was really important to stretch the field,” said Justin Salvia. “Even when we weren’t throwing deep, as long as we had those deep cuts going, it opens everything up underneath.”

The deeps opened things up for Salvia, Beau Kittridge and Jolian Dahl to work it down the field against Jojah to take a 6-3 lead.  Georgia’s Dylan Tunnell tried to keep his team in the game, getting a few deep D’s along the way and feeding his teammates for scores, but Colorado was too much.

Mac Taylor, Kittridge and Dahl were dominant both throwing and receiving deep.  Georgia mixed in some zone defense, which helped it to go on a small run and pull within 11-7, but it could not stop the bleeding as Mamabird went on to win the game 15-10.

“That’s our mentality — If we come out as hard as we can every game, we’re just going to overwhelm teams,” Salvia said.  “Once our offense falls in line, we just run them out.”

Early in the Texas vs. Stanford match-up, it looked like TUFF might be able to hang with Bloodthirsty, until Stanford began extending its lead behind its defense.

“We won on D, and we took pride in that,” said Henry Adams.  “Our D was working great.”

Up 5-4, Stanford was able to take advantage of a few more turnovers to take half, 8-5, behind Mark Sherwood’s hucks and overall play.  In the second half, Bloodthirsty and TUFF were trading points, allowing Stanford to hold its lead.

“Then they got one break, which made us nervous, but our team pulled through in the end,” said Sherwood.

Though Stanford’s offense had some unforced turnovers, and might have been a little sloppy at times, it was able to maintain its slim lead and eventually take the game 15-11.

Semifinals 

In the first semifinal match-up, an undefeated Colorado squad looked to take out a Florida team that had already suffered a loss in the tournament, but was looking stronger with each game.

Mamabird’s Justin Salvia said it would look to come out strong, just like against any other team, allowing its offense to dictate the tempo of the game.

Florida had other ideas as it came out running a four-man cup zone, forcing a slower pace as the wind started to become a factor for the first time on the weekend, though it was not overpowering.  Colorado was able to work the disc with Salvia, Jolian Dahl and Mac Taylor, and was even able to get off a few hucks in taking a 3-1 lead.

Florida once again rode Gibson, as it did much of the weekend, to bring it even at 3-3.  Continuing to throw zone, Florida kept even with Colorado before taking the lead at 5-4, though it became noticeable that Florida was getting increasingly tired with its small rotation.

“Florida was the tiredest I’ve ever seen them play,” Colorado’s Beau Kittridge after the game.  “We had to exert a lot of energy, run around fast, and they couldn’t keep up energy-wise.  They’re a great team, and if they would have and full energy, it would have been an a lot different game.”

Colorado was able to take advantage of Florida turnovers, as its zone defense off a pull on the back cone with Florida going upwind caused a throwaway and allowed Mamabird to take a 7-5 lead, and half at 8-6.

During halftime, Colorado players were on the field working on blading hammers in the wind that would cut through zone D, while Florida was on the field, literally, sitting and looking extra winded.

After half, Florida again threw zone, which Colorado easily broke with its hammers, opening up easy looks for scores as it went up 10-7.  Both teams then traded points, each working the disc on a mix of both zone and man D, before a Taylor huck to Kittridge put Mamabird up 13-10.

Florida was digging deep to try to keep it close, with Gibson and Brodie Smith rarely taking a rest and trying to make plays all game.  Though more of a crosswind, Florida was working what was somewhat downwind and turned the disc over twice on hucks, one a drop, and the other a D by Kittridge.  Florida missed an opportunity, as it would have to go upwind to keep serve after Colorado worked the disc downfield to make it 14-10.

Mamabird got a D early on the next point underneath and quickly scored to win the game 15-10 and take a place in the championship game.

Before its semifinal game against Stanford, Wisconsin’s Dan Heijmen said the Hodags needed to focus on Bloodthirsty’s stars, such as Robbie Cahill and Mark Sherwood, as well as force backhand and contain breaks to prevent hucks after a match up earlier in the year when Stanford was able to work the disc on Wisconsin’s forehand force.

With similar playing styles, it seemed early as if Stanford would give Wisconsin its first real challenge of the tournament, as Cahill, Nan Gao and Will Chen were able to move the disc against the Hodags, putting Stanford ahead 2-1.

Wisconsin was still able to establish its deep game thanks to its intense defense the throws of Brandon Malecek.  After Bloodthirsty patiently worked the disc downfield against Wisconsin’s backhand force, the game was tied at 3-3.

The backhand force then began to pay off, as Wisconsin went on to score the next eight points.  Dan Miller, Drew Mahowald and Shane Hohenstein all came up with big plays on D for Wisconsin, and its transition offense was flowing with Will Lokke catching a number of deep scores by putting his ups on display.

“One of the strengths of our team is our depth — The fact that we can put seven guys out there, and it doesn’t matter who,” Heijmen said.  “Every single player has played in every game so far — It’s a testament to how hard everybody’s worked.  Just the fact that everybody is so good, it keeps everybody energized because everybody gets to play a lot.”

After half, Stanford tried forcing middle and Wisconsin switched to a forehand mark, even throwing in some clam and zone D.  The game was continuation of the first half, as the Hodags easily increased the lead. 

Stanford was able to complete a few hucks late to Sherwood, but a few more D’s by Wisconsin and two big hucks from Malecek, including a goal line-to-goal line forehand that was perfectly placed to Hohenstein, allowed Wisconsin return to the championship game with a 15-5 win.

“It’s the same stadium, so hopefully we’ll get to exercise some demons,” Heijmen said, referring to the final’s location in Columbus.

Going into the final, both teams are naturally confident, though Kittridge hopes the Hodags are a little too confident thanks to their easy road through the championship field.

“Hopefully, they’re a little overconfident and we can come out and surprise them,” he said.  “I don’t think they’ve played a team as athletic as us.  It’s going to be a pretty athletic game.  We do have a little height on them, so hopefully that will pay off.”

Heijmen said Wisconsin is confident, as throughout the tournament, the team has said as long as it is playing its hardest, it cannot be stopped.  Even though the Hodags have yet to face a real pressure situation all tournament, Heijmen said his team will be ready if the time comes.

“We’ve always answered the call, no matter if we were even, whether we were down, no matter if we were up by a bunch, we always play with the same amount of intensity,” he said.  “I expect the game to be close.  Colorado’s an amazing team with a lot of athletes.  We’re going to play to win, we’re going to try hard, and regardless of what the score is we’re going to play until the final goal is scored.”

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