Opening Pull: US Open, Youth Club Championships, PUL Series Approaches

The US Open and Youth Club Championships brought a lot of ultimate to talk about.

Sockeye's Trent Dillon gets free for a catch at the 2021 USA Ultimate US Open.
Sockeye’s Trent Dillon gets free for a catch at the 2021 US Open. Photo: Paul Rutherford — UltiPhotos.com

Welcome to Opening Pull! Ultiworld’s Monday Tuesday1 wrap-up of the previous week in ultimate has returned, now available both in this space and as an email newsletter. As always, we’ve gathered the news you need to know and highlights you need to see. Check back weekly or subscribe now to receive Opening Pull in your inbox along with a rundown of the previous week’s content on Ultiworld.

Seattle Sockeye Stays Atop Men’s Division with US Open Win

#1 Seattle Sockeye turned in a 6-0 weekend, capped off by defeating #2 Chicago Machine 15-12 in the US Open’s men’s division final.

US Open Men’s Winner Tweet

Sockeye, the reigning national champion, has to be considered the title favorite, having won both the Pro-Elite Challenge and the US Open. Those victories extend their streak of Triple Crown Tour wins – they have won every TCT event they’ve entered since the end of the 2018 season.

You can watch the final yourself on USA Ultimate’s YouTube channel, as well as some of the other US Open action. Additional footage from both the US Open and Youth Club Championships will be available for Ultiworld subscribers with access. Our tournament recap will be out later this week, and our Day One recap has the key takeaways from the tournament’s midway point.

Premier Ultimate League Exhibition Primes League for Championship Events

The Premier Ultimate League is putting on two of its three 2021 PUL Championship Series events this coming weekend. In the lead up to the start of competition, the New York Gridlock traveled to face Portland Rising in an exhibition contest. The Gridlock claimed the 21-12 victory over Rising, who was competing in their first ever game after joining the PUL prior to the later-cancelled 2020 season.

Gridlock Rising Exhibition

Both franchises will be in action this coming weekend: New York plays host to Raleigh and DC, while Portland will be visited by far-flung Medellin and Austin. The impressive preseason performance by the Gridlock, who reached the semifinals in the inaugural 2019 season, positions them as one of the best teams in the league again.

Oregon Wins U20 Boys and Girls Divisions at YCC; Lexington Tops Mixed

The Youth Club Championships brought together many of the top U20 players in the country once again, even with a few big time youth communities opting out.

YCC Joy Tweet

Lexington Pi+ conquered the U20 Mixed division with a dominant showing. No opponent scored more than five against them, including a 12-2 exclamation point in the final against ATL FlATLine.

In the Girls division, Oregon Downpour upset no. 1 seed Washington DC Rogue 15-4 in the final to take the crown. There was some talk out of the Northwest that Oregon might be quite good this year, and they proved it true with their unchallenged performance.

In the U20 Boys division, Oregon Trainwreck fought through some very close matchups to win the division. That includes facing Utah Swarm in both the final and in pool play, where they won 14-12 and 15-12, respectively. Utah’s U17 Boys squad was able to take down their division, however.


Coming Up

  • The Premier Ultimate League 2021 Championship Series starts on the 13th. We’ll have information and thoughts on every team competing and give you a preview of the players and storylines to watch. Keep an eye on that PUL tag!
  • Select Flight Invite West headlines this weekend in the club division, with a particularly strong mixed division field. We’ll be filming some of the top clubs at the tournament. There’s other competition to keep an eye out for, too!
  • You thought that was all of the Club rosters on the 2021 Club Rosters tag? You thought wrong! More to come this week.

  1. But usually Monday! 

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