The top teams heading into the weekend were the top teams coming away from the weekend.
August 20, 2025 by Josh Katz in Opinion, Recap
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INDIANAPOLIS – Let’s be real for a second: the concept of “winning” at Elite-Select Challenge is different from the concept of “winning” in the Series. In what is often the last regular season tournament with major implications to the Nationals bid picture, many teams are focused more on their algorithmic ranking (and by extension, the score differential) than just winning the game in front of them. Much to the delight of the viewing audience, someone forgot to pass along that memo to #3 Austin Disco Club and #2 Durham Toro, and the two teams combined for a thrilling, back-and-forth final to cap off ESC. Read on for more details on that game, and some key takeaways from the weekend at-large.
Disco Club Ride Big Second Half to Victory
Much like they had for the whole weekend, Disco Club came out firing. After three holds to open the game, Joel Clutton got Austin’s first break on a set of bookends, boxing out Will Coffin for a block and then receiving a pass from Karalie Morrison in the end zone after she reeled in a huck just short of the goal line. That advantage would be short-lived for Disco, as they quickly gave the break back when Joey Wylie threw directly into a poach, leading to a Tatiana Proksch score to level the game at 3. Led by Proksch, Marcus Rovner, and Brett Matzuka, Toro continued to press their advantage, riding their defense to three more breaks and an 8-5 halftime lead.
“I think we’ve been enjoying playing games with greater and greater pressure, to put ourselves in scenarios that we want to be in… and I think we got a little bit rattled by the pressure and started doubting ourselves,” said Disco Club’s Clara Stewart post-game, about the first half.
“It was frustrating, and it took a lot of grit and a lot of heart coming out of half,” she said.
The grit and heart Stewart was talking about showed up immediately in the second half. Tight defense from Wylie (who swapped lines with Clutton at halftime) and the rest of the line led to Player Pierce missing on a huck attempt, and Disco quickly got back within two on a Brandon Dial hammer to Myles Armstrong. But Toro’s offense remained resilient and tried to stave off the Disco comeback with a trio of holds from Coffin, Jacob McGoogan, and Caitlin Gross.
Those scores were countered by three from Austin’s stable of tall, über-athletic cutters: Eric Brodbeck, Clutton, and Bennet Wachob. With the score now 11-9, Lexi Zalk got herself on the scoresheet, blowing up a simple under cut from Claire Bidigare-Curtis and giving Disco a break opportunity. Once again, it was Armstrong converting the break opportunity, this time on a throw from Daniel Welkener.
Bidigare-Curtis immediately atoned for the previous point, getting a step on and then skying Vanessa Bacorn for a Toro hold and a 12-10 lead. Clutton, as is usual for him, then won a jump ball on a hammer from Reese Bowman to the endzone, keeping Austin within striking distance. On the next point, Zalk got another block, this time a much simpler catch block on an overthrown pass from Coffin. On the turn, Welkener once again found an open receiver, this time Karalie Morrison, and Toro’s lead was gone.
Emboldened by the growing fragility of the Durham offense, Disco Club ratcheted up their defensive intensity once again. With little open, Caitlin Gross forced a huck downfield to a mostly-covered Jacob Mouw, and she was unable to hit the narrow window of space. Disco worked quickly up the field, and Welkener turned into a receiver to cap off the break, catching a high throw from Brooke Wooldridge. But they weren’t done yet. Lo Guerin and Morrison combined for another Disco block, and Wylie fought through contact from Rovner to secure a huck from Brandon Dial to give Austin their fourth straight goal and put them on the brink of an ESC crown.
After a drop from Elijah Long, Austin had a chance to break for the win, but a bid from Bidigare-Curtis got the disc back for Durham. After tracking down a huck, Sanner found Long for his mini redemption and the dirty hold. Here, it was Toro’s turn to ramp up the pressure. Matzuka wound back the clock at 14-13, bidding for a block and finding Rovner with a hammer to set up universe point. But, fittingly, it was Clutton who wrapped up the game and the tournament, shaking free on the goal line and receiving a pass from Jamie Estes despite some stingy defense from Toro.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of positive takeaways for Toro. “We showed fight throughout this game. Throughout this weekend,” shared Sanner. “We got punched in the mouth yesterday and we came back today and did our own punching and that feels really good.”
In one sense, Durham just getting to the final was a great outcome: they started play on Sunday by letting #14 Washington DC Rally take an 8-4 lead into halftime of their quarterfinal matchup. Per Sanner, there wasn’t any magical strategic adjustment that led to the come-from-behind, 12-11 victory in that game. “[At halftime] we looked at the score and said, ‘this sucks, let’s try and win this game.’ Our D-line is really good, and they put the pressure on, and… we rode our D-line.”
Takeaways From Around the Division
At this point, we have to commend Mid-Atlantic duo Rally and Philadelphia AMP for their commitment to remaining as close to the bid cutoff as possible. The pair entered the weekend ranked 16th and 14th, respectively, in the USAU rankings. They exited the weekend ranked… 14th and 16th, respectively. Each squandered a great chance to rise further up the rankings on Sunday: AMP started the day with a blowout of #5 Sacramento Tower, and promptly gave all those points back with big losses to Disco Club and #15 Denver Mile High Trash. Meanwhile, Rally had a four goal halftime lead over third-ranked Toro, before letting that slip away and losing on universe. With neither side (and their closest competition, Tower) heading to Pro Championships in a couple weeks, all that’s left to do is pray that second order effects don’t pull a second bid out of the Mid-Atlantic.
Speaking of Tower, their disastrous Sunday (the aforementioned loss to AMP and a 15-12 defeat to #12 Nashville ‘Shine) cost them 90 points in the rankings, knocking them all the way out of the bid picture. Luckily for them, #18 San Diego California Burrito scored a massive victory over #4 San Francisco Mischief out at Fruit Bowl, as part of a tournament winning performance. That showing keeps a second bid in the Southwest, setting up a potential bloodbath at Regionals.
The biggest winners this weekend, perhaps even more so than Disco Club, were their regional foes Mile High Trash. Their semifinal defeat to Toro notwithstanding, Trash were excellent all weekend, the offense in particular humming beautifully. Ari Nelson and Riley Kirkman-Davis are bona fide star-caliber players, and Allysha Dixon, Will McDonald, and Abby Thorpe make up the rest of a strong offensive core. Their defense probably isn’t strong enough to take Denver seriously as a championship contender, but for a relatively new team seeking their first Nationals appearance, Mile High Trash are in a great place. And as an added bonus, Disco Club’s tournament win means that Denver’s big win over them at PEC East has only aged better and better. Mile High Trash now are firmly in the bid picture, and a three-bid South Central is all but assured.
All-Tournament Line
- Claire Bidigare-Curtis (Durham Toro)
- Joel Clutton (Austin Disco Club)
- Maya Kikuchi (Washington DC Rally)
- Riley Kirkman-Davis (Denver Mile High Trash)
- Julianna Madigan (Sacramento Tower)
- Player Pierce (Durham Toro)
- Danielle Walsh (Philadelphia AMP)
- Joey Wylie (Austin Disco Club)
