Skyd magazine wrote up a preview for the event here -> http://skydmagazine.com/2012/04/great-lakes-2012-open-preview-2/
Eastern got a small shoutout as we were set to play the 6th seed Western Michigan, a team Reaper defeated at Free State, the first tournament of the Spring. Game 1 opened with Western Michigan breaking first and looking fired up. From what I recall both teams traded for a while until we took the lead and maintained it for most of the game. Western Michigan was a tall team with a bunch of white guys and some talented throwers. They played very similar to us as they looked to jack the disc deep to tall athletic cutters as much as possible. A few adjustments on our end (straight up marks, forcing under more) caused all sorts of problems for the Western Michigan offense who continued to force the disc deep and give us possession. I would say we still hucked the disc a lot but overall our decision making on our deep looks combined with the fact that we made the effort to work the disc up more and keep possession won us this game. Reaper with the upset 11-9 over Western Michigan's Darkhorse. Highlights of this game include us doing what we do, SHREDDING ZONES with smart patient offense. Everyone making the effort to limit WMU's hucks and attacking the disc whenever it would hang too long. OC, HR, Nate, Traver doing a solid job getting the disc off the trap-side sideline and finally motherbird layout footblocking (this is kinda becoming your trademark) a Darkhorse guy who was approx 10 yards off our goal-line and then the whole team getting under the disc to complete the D. Lowlights include losing our most fearless captain, HR, to a knee injury. He would shake it off and prove an invaluable sideline and huddle presence the rest of the tournament though while being smart and not making his injury worse.
Game 2 put Reaper against the 3 seed and IL conference champ Illinois and in my own opinion the most overall talented and deep team at Regionals. I talked to Mike, HR, OC, and Nate before this game about conserving our energy if things got out of hand as we were bound to face a hungry ISU/Loyola team if things went to seed. I am happy to say that I believe this only motivated the core of the team even more and lead to Reaper opening with a HUGE 4-0 breaktrain! Honestly these 4 opening points and a lot of the Illinois offense was characterized by trying to jam it up the breakside every chance they could. This meant there was little room for error as the wind was very unforgiving and all throws that didn't turf, ended up hanging in the air and then absolutely eaten up by the boy's in black. OC had a huge layout D on one such pass and Mike, Brian, Kyle, Hinze and seriously EVERYONE on the team that got out there played excellent defense especially on the force side and at the same time realized that IL was looking break all day. We were tight enough on our guys that all those errant throws or anything that wasn't perfectly thrown was going to be contested by a layout or attacked in the air. I can't stress enough how much our marks and sideline talk helping those marks generated turn after turn. After getting 4 straight dropped on them Illinois realized they had a game on their hands and scored 3 straight right back. We trade for a bit and the game gets to 5-5 with Illinois mixing it up a bit more but continuing to depend heavily on break throws while we open up the field and stick with what we know (the deep look). OC in particular displayed some of the best decision making I have ever seen, including a huge high-count laser of a hammer to Hinze and smart deep shots and break throws all game long. While the deep shot worked for us quite often Schwenk and Zach did a fantastic job of taking the under whenever U of I would back them and open up the field for the rest of the cutters. Nate did an excellent job marking U of I's top handler and provided consistent and deadly break throws of his own, especially around the end-zone. Two players not named Michael Schwenk that stood out to me this game were Brian and Kyle. Kyle played rock-solid defense - nothing too flashy that I remember but contained some of the better U of I cutters and was always in good position while at the same time providing EXCELLENT and consistent offense along with Brian. Reaper takes half 8-5. Like any great team U of I comes out strong to start the 2nd half and the game gets to 11-10 us with softcap making it a game to 13. A huge huck to the corner that we come down with followed by a nasty break throw to a laying out Schwenk complete the win and the upset to give us the game! Honestly this is the best I have ever seen Reaper as a team play. Sure our studs and top guys played outstanding but EVERYONE played excellent, nobody had a bad game. As a team we valued the fundamentals and didn't depend on the deep shot but made smart decisions offensively. I think every single time U of I put a zone on us, except once, we worked it up and scored. Our sideline was loud and active and our defense was straight up HUNGRY. Perhaps they underestimated us, perhaps not, but the fact remains that we were up this entire game and never looked back. We wanted it more and had the legs under us to show it. Be proud Reaper.
Game 3 put us in the semi final's against University of Michigan's Magnum. We started off well trading until about 4-4. With our top guys playing nearly every point against U of I the fatigue began to show with a few players already starting to cramp. The first point of this game was absolutely brutal, something like 12 minutes long with us seriously blowing 3 chances to score in the endzone including a standing drop. They would eventually punch in the break sadly. After falling short in the first half 8-4 we played loose lines in the 2nd half and showed our achilles heel... depth. Next year this is honestly going to be the biggest challenge for you returners. Our program has never had the luxury of a full roster for the series and developing a stronger more well-rounded team has honestly got to be the game plan. Next year is a rebuilding year, captains and the core of the team this responsibility is going to fall to you to ensure that we have more than just 7 top guys that play 75%+ of the points for Reaper. I don't mean to be overly dramatic but even if it involves losing 90% of our games in the fall to make a better team come spring that's a worthy payoff and will make us a deeper + stronger team. Reaper would not score a point in the 2nd half against Magnum. I would say it wasn't as bad a showing as that might sound, we did have a few chances and still generated some decent turns but still we should be far from okay with the outcome of that half. If this isn't motivation for next year I don't know what is. We would be finished after this game and await the winner of Western and Eastern Michigan to start day 2. (Also it was hilarious seeing Chris and the 6'8 guy on MU match up after a turn... just saying).
Game 4 put us against Eastern Michigan. A team anchored by 3 overhaul handlers (a top mixed team in the country from michigan) and a core of athletes surrounding them. I wasn't there but apparently we got crushed by EMU at Chicago Invite and it was not a fun game. This time it would be different. The game opened with EMU coming out hot and scoring 3 breaks straight to put us in the hole 0-3. After a timeout and some much needed fire from the captains we got on board. The wind seemed to die down this game which really opened up the deep shots. EMU's deep game was impressive with multiple big skies and speedy EMU cutter's burning us deep. We responded in kind and once our defenders stepped up big on EMU's top guys I believe we tied the game around 5's. We proceeded to take half on EMU and from there we held a lead and maintained it. Schwenk did an excellent job on #2 from EMU (even after some north park guys tried to tell me that he was better/more athletic after chi-invite... tsk tsk). Overall we were the deeper team and once we adjusted and forced EMU to throw the disc more, the more unforced turns and turf'd throws they would have.
I'd also like to note that EMU's coach was extremely negative, yelling at multiple players etc etc. A few guys from our team mentioned this with laughs but I would like to point out that at chi-invite and from what I heard... earlier in the year... this was Reaper. I know from my time leading the team and from talking to guys this year, that at times things get incredibly frustrating and some of us get upset, especially captains/leaders (i.e me at regionals last year). I can say now that I will always regret how I acted then and how I ended my own college career. I don't want anyone on the team to follow that path. It's childish and not worth it. A leader needs to do just that... LEAD. Along with treating everyone with respect and setting the tone for how the team approaches games.
Anyway, highlights of the EMU game include Alex having an absolutely NASTY sky from a Schwenk bomb. More guys getting in and making plays, our team defense showing up for the 2nd half and not giving up easy points. I am sure there are more but ya'll know what you did!
Game 5 and our last game of the day was against Illinois again in the game to go to the game to go (yes that makes sense). Honestly the EMU game was a hard fought game, and after 2 days of playing our starters and top guys looked exhausted. They scored 6 straight to start and while yesterday our defense was able to eat up everything that floated today we just didn't have the legs and Illinois dominated the skies. Plenty of swill was still thrown up but U of I just had more hussle and depth and it showed. We didn't get on board until Caleb was able to bring down a huck while being fouled. He managed to hold on even after rolling his ankle during the play. Hinze got stepped on in the play before and had some nasty cleat marks on his leg but still managed to power through and get back in there. We would only score 1 more point as U of I shows why the best teams in the nation have full rosters ;). U of I over Reaper 15-2 and they advance to the game to go vs Michigan State. I would go on about depth and stuff but just re-read the Michigan write-up. Same point applies to this game and basically every tournament day 2.
Overall we came into this tournament with no expectations. The 11th seed finishing 4th is no small feat and you should all be incredibly proud of what you have accomplished this season and what our program has become and has the potential to do. Look back at the ups and downs. What worked for us, what didn't? Bring that knowledge into next season and the season after that and I truly believe that this will not be our highest finish. Those of you returning next year... I have said this before and I will say it again. This team is what YOU GUYS MAKE OF IT. Have fun, work hard, be patient and remember what it was like when you first learned the game. Take time to get healthy if you have any injuries and like we talked about in the huddle after regionals... get involved with the game over the summer at the highest level you can. If that's low-level pick up fine, if that's a decent club team, awesome! Worst case you have to go out with a bunch of disc's and work on throws alone (I can honestly say that this helps and I have done it many times, but it's always better to have some1 there to throw with and ideally push you to throw with better form etc).
Zach, HR, and Hardie are all excellent picks for captains and I know they will do a fantastic job. Start the season off right next year boy's. Returners... come to practice, help the rookies and show them why ultimate is an awesome sport and worth learning, why playing for Reaper is more than just a team, it's a group of friends that extend beyond ultimate.
-James
EDIT**** If you haven't commented on Steve Karlson's "Senior memory threads" on the facebook group wall I highly recommend it... Just scroll down and find them (traver, oc, braydon, mike). Takes 30 seconds to write a few sentences about those guys that have done so much for the team and I can assure you it means a lot to them. SO DO IT!
Omg looks what we have created a James obsessed! Lol good work reaper! Drew T the real Drew T
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