No Wisconsequences 2013
Delafield, WI
Just like the good ole days, Reaper brought a smaller crew of guys to the tournament. This meant lots of playing time for everyone. Even James and I got a few points in here and there :)! For those of you who really want to get better, you need to be attending as many tournaments as you possibly can. Not to mention tournaments are the most fun you will have all semester and you will miss them once it is too cold to play. There are only like 4-5 a semester. PLAN AROUND THEM!
Anyways, a recap of the weekend
Looking at the pools the night before the tournament, we were in one of the weaker pools therefore our goal was to win our pool.
Michigan Tech
We started straight into cup even though it was not the windiest of days. Many turns by both teams lead to some transition ultimate in which we got the better of them. Our red zone offense turned into getting the disc into Kissel's hands and having him break his mark (damn lefties). During this game Coffey and Lore had moments they took over where they were getting in cut after in cut until the disc was in the end zone. (DO THIS MORE!) Whenever we did not have cutters getting wide open in looks, we ended up throwing lofty 20+ yard passes that were probably under a 50% completion rating. Overall, a very solid game. Final Score 13 - 9
Wisconsin-B
This team was comprised of all rookies and two returning players. We were more experienced and it clearly showed in this game. We put out some of our different zone looks and they had a very tough time moving the disc. I was extremely impressed that everyone seemed to know what they were doing in the zone and the different formations we practiced last year! I didn’t even remember most of them. Those different junk looks are going to be huge this year seeing the level they are already at. Final Score 13-5
Wisconsin-Milwaukee-B
In my opinion, this was the strongest team we played in pool play. I do not remember much other than we threw different zone looks at them and Hinze probably had the nastiest catch I have seen him make in the past three years playing with him. The disc was right in front of their player and Hinze went over his shoulder on a bid and snagged it for the score. Final Score 11-7
NIU
This game was disappointing because it was our first real challenge and we came out completely flat. Letting them get free unders and at the same time they were having uncontested deeps. Against a team like this we need to swing the disc from sideline to sideline to take their big man out of play. I was proud that there was a rally in the second half even if it came too late. Seeing Page and their big man go at it was extremely fun to watch because they played clean hard ultimate constantly wanting to win their matchup. Even Papa Page was concerned with the physicality of play. Adding that type of physicality can definitely rattle certain players. Final score 8-11
Day 1 Highlights
- Layout D from Kissel right next to the goal line for an easy score
- Layout D from Clayton to stop a score.
- Seeing Lore make a bid that made him about five feet of the ground completely horizontal! Since when can a sloth jump like that?!?
- Hinze nasty catch
- Aaron adjusting his mark when running the four man cup
- Hearing Ryan explain the sideline play they were running (love hearing concepts applied from practice)
-Castillo getting about 5 hand blocks with his new method of jabbing his hands on the mark
- Red Robin's Blue Ribbon Burger
Illinois-Y
This was our best played game of the tournament because of intensity overall. Maybe we just have it out for Illinois, but we need to do this every game we can. Came out slow the first couple points, but it was quickly picked up by our defense. We were contesting the unders and holding the force for the most part which was forcing them to put it deep. They were throwing up 50/50 balls that except were more like 30/70 because our big men were cleaning up the discs out of the sky. During this game, Manny did a much better job of not putting up 50/50 hucks and completing the easy pass which lead to much more flow which is extremely important against a team like this. Even though we won this game, we still lacked handle motion which is something that Illinois is great at. If we want to compete with this team second semester, we need to be moving that disc from line to line. Final Score 12-9
Minnesota-Duluth
It looked like many players had hit a wall and were finally starting to feel the fatigue. This team was not better than us, but sure did make it look that way. Breaking us constantly and getting whatever they wanted on their cuts. There was a great Moss called when their break side cutter defense was poaching which gave us a free under to an uncontested huck. That was our best called play of the tournament. Utilizing those play calls will make offense run much smoother! Final Score 7-13
Spring season has started. Think back to a play where you were beat by another player and use that as motivation for training these upcoming breaks. Do not get beat on that same play this upcoming semester. Win your matchups.
~Zach S
