Aggies place in top eight at Frisbee tournament
A top-eight finish concluded the Utah State University ultimate Frisbee club’s first tournament of the season – the largest tournament ever to come to Logan.
Competition between 15 teams was held Saturday and Sunday on the HPER and Tower fields and on the Quad.
“It went really smoothly as far as a tournament running,” said Eric Tobler, one of USU’s captains.
Utah State started the tournament Saturday against Idaho State University’s team, the Brotherhood of the Swill. The Aggies were up 12-8 at one point but fell 14-12, Tobler said.
“I’m ultra-disappointed,” he said. “I’m still dismayed. We didn’t play with all our heart. I would have loved to beat ISU. That is my only regret.”
All games in the tournament were played to 13 points, but the winner was required to win by two points.
In the next game, USU fell to the Funky Snowmen from Bozeman, Mont. 13-11. The Aggies did pick up a 13-2 victory over Colorado Christian College, but then played the University of Colorado.
Colorado, a team ranked No. 6 last year, took enough players for two teams to the tournament and divided them up equally, Tobler said.
He said players from Colorado’s nationally ranked team of a year ago were placed on both of Colorado’s teams.
The Aggies stayed close, though, eventually losing 13-8.
“I felt good about our performance,” Tobler said.
In single elimination play Sunday, the Aggies started off defeating the University of Utah, 13-1, but then had to face the same Colorado team from Saturday in the semi-finals.
Tobler said Colorado got away with making a lot of long throws downfield Saturday, so the Aggies changed their defense for Sunday.
Despite the change, the Aggies fell 13-9.
“We played awesome defense,” Tobler said. “We were pumped up. It was exciting even though we lost.”
He said the two Colorado teams eventually met each other in the championship match.
The tournament was team member Tom Davidson’s first competitive tournament and he said it was different from what he experienced in practice.
“It was awesome,” he said. “The speed was different. The intensity was the biggest surprise to me. It wasn’t hard to adjust.”
Davidson also said it was good seeing how well the team played together.
Tobler said, “As the tournament went on, we came together as a team. We started to trust each other and got a good flow.”
The new players also did well, he said.
“The new players performed amazingly,” Tobler said. “They put forth tons of effort and were big on defense.”
Team played four games Saturday and then at least one Sunday.
Tobler said players did get fatigued but it wasn’t a big factor.
“You’re always tired but the other team played just as many games the day before,” he said.
The Aggies did have a few players who didn’t play on Sunday due to injuries, though.
“I got torn up, but it was fun,” Davidson said.
In a collision with another player Saturday, Davidson said he landed on the other player’s foot and bruised his rib. The injury prevented him from playing on Sunday.
“The older players hauled me off the field,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”
In addition to the 15 men’s teams in competition, there were also enough women from five schools to be divided into four teams.
Sarah Lundstrum, a player with the USU women, said a clinic was held Saturday to teach skills and then the women played in the afternoon.
“This is huge for ultimate Frisbee here because it has been two years since we had a women’s team here,” she said.
Lundstrum said women from USU and ISU played together because they will be playing together at tournaments later in the year.
“We’re getting some skill,” she said. “We’re looking pretty god for being fairly new players.”
With only five or six women, she said the team is always looking for women who want to play.
Lundstrum said, “I’m just enthusiastic and want to play and the best way is to just take charge and organize.”
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu
Utah State´s Scott Ward jumps to catch the Frisbee during an ultimate Frisbee tournament on Saturday. (Photo by Scott Davis)