Club Regionals 2025: Mega-Preview (Men’s Div.)

All the favorites, contenders, and sleepers as the regional championships begin.

Revolver’s Leo Gordon skies for the goal in the final of the 2025 US Open. Photo: William “Brody” Brotman – UltiPhotos.com

Ultiworld’s 2025 coverage of the club division is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.

The club 2025 postseason is here! After teams battled all summer to earn bids for their regions, it’s time to figure who gets to go to the Big Show and try to win it all. We’ve got you covered with the favorites, challengers, and top storylines of every region.

 

Great Lakes

Chicago Machine’s Jack Galle at the 2025 US Open. Photo: Mary Beth Vellequette – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location: Westfield, Indiana
Number of Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥
Favorites: #2 Chicago Machine, #15 Toronto GOAT
Challengers: Indianapolis I-69, Lansing ELDL, Columbus Flying Dutchmen

In case you have forgotten, 2025 has brought us a new Great Lakes. You’ll see the same metropolises you’ve always known – Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Lexington – joined by a new international hub: Toronto, formerly of the Northeast. And that means that frequent Nationals attendees #15 Toronto GOAT have suddenly knocked a big chunk of the regional constituency down a rung.

What they haven’t done, at least not in 2025, is meaningfully endanger #2 Chicago Machine’s chance of winning a ninth consecutive regional title. Machine are the favorites for good reason: at full strength they are devastating. Daan De Marrée, one of the best players in the world, is their centerpiece. His presence allows stars like Nate Goff and Paul Arters to slot in more like very overqualified role players. The depth of the roster means that even if one or two stars are MIA, they have more than enough to handle anything the region can throw at them. They’ll beat GOAT for the championship 99 times in 100 tries, and they’ll make Nationals with one of the region’s two bids a million times out of a million. Ink it.

GOAT’s arrival did do the Great Lakes one massive favor: earn them a second bid, a rarity for the region. They will be the favorites to take it, and it will almost be automatic if all of their big playmakers like Mike Mackenzie, Tom Blasman, and Connor McHale are suited up to play. At less than full strength, however, GOAT’s prospects become a lot dicier. SFI East, which a minimum of the GOAT herd attended, saw them go 3-3 against unranked competition. That could open the door for Indianapolis I-69, Columbus Flying Dutchmen, or even Lansing ELDL1 to make a surprise run to San Diego.

 

Mid-Atlantic

Pacmen’s Nicholas DiGiorgio flips the disc in celebration at Elite-Select Challenge 2025. Photo: Rudy Desort – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location: Frederica, Delaware
Number of Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Favorites: #8 Washington DC Truck Stop, #13 Philadelphia Pacmen
Challengers: #21 Virginia Vault, Pittsburgh Temper, New Jersey Garden State Ultimate

There was a brief, and to Mid-Atlantic eyes, beautiful, period during the season where it looked like the region might be heading into the postseason with four bids. Truck Stop were, as ever, affixed to the top tier. Pacmen were riding an early season win over Truck up the rankings like an escalator. Vault had good results at PEC, including big wins over some teams on the bid bubble. And Temper had point farmed a depleted GOAT roster and consolation bracket at SFI. These were heady days.

But then came August, and with August came Temper getting waxed by Blueprint and Mad Men at Lehigh Valley Invite. That capitulation was merely a warm up for the Vault ESC crash out. As of press time, first responders are still finding bits of Vault’s ranking scattered around the fields of central Indiana. Which brings us to a two-bid Mid-Atlantic and a desperate scramble for the right to go to Nationals alongside Truck Stop.

Because let’s be clear, Truck are still absolutely going to Nationals. Don’t let that 0-6 Pro Champs performance tempt you into a hot take: Truck have won the Mid-Atlantic every season since the redraw and aren’t going to go off a cliff in a year where they still have Christian Boxley, Thomas Edmonds, and much of their title-winning core.

Could they end up finishing second though? That’s up to Pacmen, a team with the ceiling to beat Truck (as evidenced by the fact that they already did — with all of the caveats that apply to a June tournament) and no compunction about trying to win the game on 15 jump balls. They have much more to them than just Alex Atkins — the Grossbergs are the realest of deals, and both Casey Thornton and Logan Piercy are building well on their strong college play — but it’s hard to ignore the potential impact the talented and tempestuous Atkins could have in his Philly homecoming, either to Pacmen’s benefit or detriment.

Vault are desperately hoping for the latter, as more is at stake this Regionals than just a trip to Nationals. The Virginia crew have thrived for much of the past decade in a void created by the implosion at the top of the men’s club scene in Philadelphia. Remember that, despite having one of the biggest frisbee scenes in the country, no Philly men’s team has made Nationals since 2017.2

So Vault are at an inflection point. After missing Nationals last year and fumbling away a bid at ESC, they now face a rising threat from Philadelphia and the prospect of an ascendant rival in the region for years to come. Dark clouds to be sure, but the potential is there to turn it all around. Steal the bid, smother this new formulation of Philly men’s in the crib, and establish yourself as a team with staying power by going to Nationals for the third time in four years. It’s all on the table for Vault this weekend.

Temper’s and Garden State Ultimate’s resumes look to be a tier below the top three teams in the region, but both have chances of making Nationals that are more likely than the “hoping for the direct intervention of a furious and specific god” formulation it would take for one of the other teams in the region to get in the mix.

Despite being the lower ranked of the duo, and having just gotten the snot beat out of them at Sectionals, GSU may be the likelier team to pull off a big upset. You’d favor Temper to make it further in the bracket, since GSU are just as likely to lose 15-8 to a good team as they are to keep it close, but the Jersey squad showed at ESC that they have the firepower to match up well with top end teams when the stars align.

 

North Central

Mallard throw a flick past a lunging mark at Elite-Select Challenge 2025. Photo: Rudy Desort – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Number of Bids: 1
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Favorites: #12 Minneapolis Sub Zero
Challengers: #20 Winnipeg General Strike, Minneapolis Mallard, Madison Mad Men, St. Louis Lounar

There has been a fierce North Star State rivalry brewing over the past couple of seasons between #12 Minneapolis Sub Zero and Minneapolis Mallard. Two years ago, following one of the periodic incursions from Madison, Sub Zero carried on their (now) almost 30-year legacy by retaking the region’s bid. And in getting significant buy-in from various high-ceiling local youngsters (Eric Crosby Lehmann, Will Brandt, Gordon Larson, Paul Krenik) they appeared poised to re-establish themselves for the foreseeable future. Enter Sub Zero alum Ryan Osgar, who, after his years with Raleigh Ring of Fire and New York PoNY, returned to his home state, but not his home program. He (and, by association, a few other key contributors like Elliot Chartock and Josh Klane) took up with Mallard instead, both elevating that program’s potential and immediately realizing it: they booked the trip to San Diego with a win over Sub in the North Central final.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the hypothetical rubber match between the two could permanently decide the elite men’s landscape in the Twin Cities in favor of one program or the other. Of the two, Sub have put together by far the stronger regular season. Behind the terrific offense of Brandt, Larson, and Krenik – and what is shaping up to be a breakout season for D-liner (and recent college champion) Ryan duSaire – Sub have hung losses on Atlanta Chain Lightning and Austin Doublewide, as well as playing Seattle Sockeye to universe. Mallard, though, aren’t really about the regular season. They muddled through their Triple Crown Tour obligations with little success, convinced that they had enough firepower – Ellis Newhouse, Finn Fuhrmann, and Gabriel Jagt will slot nicely alongside the veterans – to get past the more practiced Sub when it counted.3 The prospective final between the two ought to be a mighty clash, and picking a favorite is a fool’s errand.

Of course, there’s still the matter of the North Central’s other teams, a few of whom are not so far outside of the level established by the two Minnesota teams not to have some overlap – and upset potential. Last year’s budding hopefuls, St. Louis Lounar, will be hard-pressed to find the same success this year without a completely shocking result.

The same can’t be said of a pair of regional stalwarts, though: Madison Mad Men and #20 Winnipeg General Strike. Mad Men have a couple of nice wins on their record over New York Blueprint and Pittsburgh Temper, as well as some organizational memory of having reached Nationals over the Minnesota cabal in 2022. Strike, behind the stellar work of Stephen Crew, Cam Burden, and Zach Tottle, acquitted themselves well against a difficult set of opponents at PEC West before dropping out of US play for a time to focus on the Canadian Ultimate Championships, where they finished a respectable 4th and gave fits to both Toronto GOAT and Vancouver Furious George. Both of these programs could well take the North Central glory away from Minnesota.

 

Northeast

Phoenix go flying for the layout block attempt at Pro-Elite Challenge East 2025. Photo: Kevin Wayner – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location: Devens, Massachusetts
Number of Bids: 3
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Favorites: #3 Boston DiG, #4 New York PoNY, #24 Ottawa Phoenix
Challengers: #16 Montréal Mephisto, #22 New York Blueprint, Portland Red Tide, Amherst Sprout

Change, and the opportunity that comes with it, is afoot in the Northeast this year after Toronto GOAT got redrawn by the gerrymanderers at USAU into the Great Lakes region. But as one Canadian bid-earner leaves, another rises from – well not quite the ashes, but backdoor semis – to take its place. Ottawa Phoenix did the work to complicate Canadian bid-stealing narratives by going out and pulling home a crucial third bid for the region.

That third bid really does make all the difference. It keeps the door wide open for an entire swath of teams to be viable Nationals contenders. Such is the nature of the Northeast, a region so deep with contenders that there is the opportunity for seemingly any number of teams to be the one to breakthrough, but that very same depth is what makes qualification such a herculean task.

Time to throw some rankings stats at you, as is the custom when talking about this region. Two teams in the top three. Six in the top 25. Ten(!) in the top 40. There are 48 available slots for Pro, Elite, and Select Flight teams each year – roughly speaking the teams who are in the general orbit of making Nationals or being good enough to be competitive. Going by the USAU rankings, the Northeast has 12, or fully one quarter of the best 48 teams. And that is without GOAT! One could make a real argument that Northeast Regionals is a deeper, more talented tournament than EUCF, WUCC, or several TCT events.

Okay so now that we’ve done the set dressing, what is actually going to happen? As with most years, the answer is just about anything.

DiG and PoNY will probably once again fight it out for the regional crown, as they have every season going back to 2019. In a game with crucial Nationals seeding implications on the line, the winner is all but guaranteed a place on top of a pool. PoNY have a streak of consecutive regional titles going back to the end of the pandemic, but DiG have the head-to-head win and a core rolling off of a UFA title with the Boston Glory. Seeing how PoNY’s rapid new offensive weapons from Raleigh, Ben Dameron and Anders Juengst, fare in their first trip to Devens against DiG’s imposing size should be fun.

Below the National title contenders, we’ve got at least five teams who all have a very plausible path to the third bid.

Phoenix are the bid-earners, but they probably aren’t even the best Canadian team cleating up. Watch out for Montréal Mephisto, who have put up wins over Pacmen and Furious George in USAU play this season and then absolutely shellacked Furious 15-5 in the semifinals at Canadian Nationals. It would be another cruel twist of fate for Phoenix if, after years and years of losing in backdoor semis and occasionally the game-to-go, they finally earn their own bid and have GOAT out of the picture, only to then lose out to a different Canadian team. If Mephisto’s all-world cutter Malik Auger-Semmer has his way, then Phoenix may need to prepare for the worst.

Behind the Canadians lie a spate of American teams who have shown they have an edge that could carry them through the bracket. New York Blueprint are trying to get back to Nationals after their improbable run two years ago, and actually seem better positioned this time, coming in as the no.4 overall seed. Blueprint have showcased their depth this season, with strong performances late in tournaments (including a thrilling tournament win at LVI) highlighting the value of fresh legs.

The team Blueprint beat in the game-to-go in 2023, who then also fell at the final hurdle in 2024, is Amherst Sprout. They are still formidable despite losing a couple key pieces in Gavin Abrahamsson and Ethan Lieman, and got the best regular season reps of all the non-bid earners at PEC East and ESC. With wily national champs like Alex Evangelides getting a contact high from the exuberance coming off of young hoopers like Carl Crawford, Sprout have a chance to avenge the heartbreak of the past two seasons, or at the very least make it three in a row.

If there is a nightmare matchup below the bid-earners though, it’s got to be Portland Red Tide. Seemingly adding a new piece from DiG every season, Red Tide now have Noah Backer center handling for them, alongside the lanky catapult of Henry Babcock and the punishing speed of Rocco Essex-Linehan. The no.6 seed, Red Tide don’t have the depth of some of the other contenders, but their top end is formidable and — importantly — they  have incredible chemistry, every piece playing their role. 24th in the USAU rankings by the end of the season, Red Tide haven’t gotten as much exposure nationally as some other threats in the region, but are just as dangerous.

The battle just to survive to Sunday, never mind getting one of the valuable Select Flight slots, will be intense. Boston Scoop are the 31st ranked team in the country and they could make the game-to-go, or be stuck fighting for their lives in the early rounds of Saturday, or both. Connecticut Colt have put together their best season since the pandemic under the stewardship of legendary coach Bryan Jones, and already have a win over Red Tide on the books, but may finish in the same spot as last year because Devens doesn’t care about your internal team journey. Shade made quarters at SFI and are a going to have to upset multiple teams to finish in the top half of the region.

This tournament has it all. Title contenders battling it out at the top, hopes and dreams dying on the hill of a final bid, and the most competitive battle for Select Flight slots anywhere in the country. Ultiworld will be streaming from Devens on Sunday, but if you’re within a four hour drive, just do it. Go. Thank us later.

 

Northwest

Sockeye’s Trent Dillon gets low to bring in the disc at Elite-Select Challenge 2025. Photo: Rudy Desort – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Number of Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Favorites: #7 Portland Rhino Slam!, #9 Seattle Sockeye
Challengers: #14 Vancouver Furious George, #17 Salt Lake Shrimp, #23 Eugene Dark Star

To Be Chalk or Not to Be Chalk

After a haul of four a year ago, in 2025 the Northwest only has two bids. But like recent years, the region is still loaded with talented teams. The two teams that have emerged as bid earners, Portland Rhino and Seattle Sockeye, have played far above their Northwest counterparts all season. Yet, with everything on the line and full rosters, you never know what can happen on Super Sunday, especially with last year’s qualifying teams like Vancouver Furious George and Salt Lake Shrimp in the mix.

Reigning national champs Rhino seem poised to take down the region again after another strong regular season. Three World Games players in Henry Ing, Raphy Hayes, and Dylan Freechild could be all the evidence fans need, but add in names like Jack Hatchett, David Sealand and Vinh Bui and it should feel like a lock. Yet at the same time, Rhino have already lost to Sockeye twice this year — and they had all of their World Games players present at at least one of them — as well as three of their four universe point games at Pro Champs. The division has not seen a repeat winner in over a decade, though it would be a significant drop off to see Rhino Slam! miss Nationals completely.

Since their 2019 title, Sockeye have been developing a strong youth movement and now feature former developmental players like Declan Miller, Elijah Diamond, and Cedar Hines among their starters. Add in veterans like Trent Dillon, Ben Snell, and Garrett Martin alongside newcomers like Jonny Malks and Troy Holland, and suddenly they look incredibly competitive. Their games towards the end of the bracket at Regionals may end up being more competitive than some pool play games at Nationals, should the Fish qualify.

At the same time, Furious George added in some of the best Canadian talent4 from the now defunct mixed team Red Flag and show names such as Justin Podnar and Gagan Chatha on the roster alongside a strong stable of returners from a competitive Nationals team last season. Seeing Furious upset either Rhino or Sockeye might register as a surprise stateside, but would not be rationally shocking — especially to our neighbors up north. Remember: they’ll be getting their contingent of World Games stars back: Chatha, Quinn Snider, Malcolm Bryson, and Simon Ramírez.

Likewise, hometown team Shrimp performed admirably at Nationals last season, making their way to the championship bracket. With Jordan Kerr and Jacob Miller added to a young roster, a run back to San Diego is not out of the question. Though they meandered their way to a 6-5 season so far, Shrimp tested themselves much more during the regular season than they did last season and should be stronger for their trouble.

The straight double-elimination bracket format raises the possibility of an upset. A team like Furious or Shrimp don’t need to put together the most incredible weekend of ultimate they’ve ever played – they just need to be good enough for one game to advance to the next round. While Rhino and Sockeye are certainly favored to win, there does exist a realistic possibility of Furious or Shrimp rebounding in the backdoor bracket and finding their way back to the southern California spotlight.

 

South Central

Doublewide’s Alec Wilson Holliday celebrates a goal at Elite-Select Challenge 2025. Photo: Rudy Desort – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location
: Austin, Texas
Number of Bids
: 1
Excitement Level
: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Favorites
: #5 Denver Johnny Bravo
Challengers
: #19 Austin Doublewide, Denver Fungi, San Marcos Gamble

Before we dive into the chances of anyone else, let’s just get it on the table that Johnny Bravo are still the heavy favorites to win the region. They have not yet played a tournament with a full roster, with Grant Lindsley off winning a gold medal with the US World Games team and Quinn Finer nursing an injury. The Jonathan Nethercutt-Zach Slayton backfield has proven potent and powerful. Young players like Elliot Hawkins, Zeke Thoreson, and Nanda Min-Fink have all gotten plenty of opportunities to step up and grow this season. Lastly, the return of Cody Spicer gives Bravo a unique component: a lockdown defender who can also play no-nonsense offense. Bravo may not have had the strongest regular season, but they’re always a team that can turn it on when the lights are brightest. That moment comes a bit early this season in a one-bid region, but it’s very likely that Bravo will be ready for it.

However, any good journalist needs to note that as recently as 2022 and 2023, Doublewide upset Bravo to win the region and it certainly could happen again. It’s not like those Bravo teams were slouches – Denver won the title in 2022 and reached the semifinals in 2023. Yet, for just one game, Doublewide were better. With a one-bid region, that one single game takes on a lot more importance. There’s a good chance a resurgent Kyle Henke is the best player in that game. Little brother Mark Henke is coming off a breakout UFA season and is sure to be an impact player this weekend as well. Doublewide’s roster is filled with high-floor, high-potential players (Jake Radack, Duncan Fitzgerald, Alec Wilson Holliday, Matt Chambers, Matt Armour…) who can all make enough right things happen for one game that a Bravo win cannot just be expected. The X-factor here (pardon the pun) is Xavier Fuzat. After last season’s club breakout, Fuzat is still leveling up his game. His drive and tenacity are exactly what Doublewide need in a win-or-go-home situation like they could face at Regionals.

If it’s not Doublewide challenging Bravo, it’s likely going to be one of the region’s Sectional champions: Fungi or Gamble. While a lot would need to go right for either to make the game-to-go, it is not out of the realm of possibility, no matter how unlikely.

Fungi have a few ex-Bravo players in Seth Faris, Dexter Luecke, and Jeremy Knopf, along with the other two Hawkins brothers (Carter and Spencer – Elliot is playing for Bravo). With that baseline of talent, Fungi have a very high floor and will be competitive in all of their games. Within the region, Fungi have already established their bona fides: they won Solstice and Sectionals. But when traveling, Fungi struggled at out-of-region TCT events. Between Select Flight Invite East and Elite-Select Challenge, Fungi won just one game. Some teams grow from the challenge of playing better teams, but it is also just possible that Fungi are a very good team but a step below the very great teams ahead of them.

From the Texas corner of the challenger’s ring, Gamble has just a single loss this season while largely staying in region. With experienced players like Connor DeLuna and Garrett Wilson alongside promising youngsters like Mitchell Blaha, Owen Johnson, and Samuel Roberts, this team could get hot and make a legitimate run to the regional final. No matter where they finish, getting reps in against the top teams here will be beneficial to the growth and development of an ascending program.

 

Southeast

Raleigh-Durham United’s Noah Bush prepares to pivot for a throw at Elite-Select Challenge 2025. Photo: Rudy Desort – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location: Bermuda Run, North Carolina
Number of Bids: 3
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Favorites: #6 Raleigh Ring of Fire, #10 Atlanta Chain Lightning, #11 Raleigh-Durham United
Challengers: #25 Florida Untied, Alabama Alliance

At the half way point of the regular season, If you had asked if the Southeast would have three bids to Club Nationals, everyone would have said probably not. It was really looking like the region would return to the classic two-bid scenario that it held for years before RDU broke onto the scene. But in the last moments of the regular season, RDU managed to sneak into the bid picture, thanks in large part to some highly talented one-weekend pick-up players. So here we are with three bids to go around, and two teams capable of taking the region.

As to which team is the favorite is a matter of opinion. Atlanta Chain Lightning and Raleigh Ring of Fire each have a laundry list of wins against top-10 teams that they can wave at one another whilst they argue who is better. This is Ring’s first season in some time without their big offensive pieces Ben Dameron and Anders Juengst, who both took their talents to New York PoNY. Ring seemingly haven’t lost a step though, still competing at as high a level as ever. Chain are similarly having a season on par with their level, but their success on the UFA scene shows they are dangerous when their stars are hitting. Unfortunately these teams have yet to cross paths in 2025, so we will have to wait and see if they run into each other this weekend. If it’s anything like normal, the (near) annual final should be must-watch television.

Contrary to Chain and Ring, Raleigh-Durham United’s record is a rather interesting one. Lots of wins against in the back half of the top 25, teams like Eugene Dark Star, Toronto GOAT, and Garden State Ultimate. Excitingly the only top 10 team that they have beaten, twice on double game point, is Atlanta Chain Lightning. Now there is some chatter about roster strength at certain tournaments, but putting all of that aside, it still makes for a very exciting potential bracket matchup between these two teams. Xander Wilcox and Noah Bush are having potential breakout campaigns so far.

Undeniably, one of the teams listed above will have to fight for third-place to earn the last bid to Nationals, but who will meet them there and try to take it away? The smart money is on Florida Untied to be the giant killer. They are a bubble top-25 team with a few notable wins over similarly ranked teams, but they have hung in there and even put pressure on some of the best teams in the country. If they can catch fire at the right time they could feasibly upset and steal a bid to the big show. However, Alabama Alliance have been putting together the foundations of a very strong program. They have depth and belief that could help them fight their way through. Other potential contenders like Triumph, Little Red Wagon, Tanasi, and Lost Boys have had great moments but also shown too many question marks to take them seriously as Nationals contenders.

 

Southwest

Condors’ Dodger Middlebrook spikes the disc and celebrates at Elite-Select Challenge 2025. Photo: Rudy Desort – UltiPhotos.com

Competition Schedule
Dates: September 20-21
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Number of Bids: 2
Excitement Level: 🔥
Favorites: #1 San Francisco Revolver, #18 SoCal Condors
Challengers: Phoenix Nighthawk, NorCal OAT

The exciting story for the Southwest Region this year is not going to be regionals, plain and simple. Two bids were locked up by Revolver and Condors, and withholding a miracle, those two teams should be the ones that go to Nationals. Instead the exciting storylines for this region were the utter dominance of Revolver and Condor’s somewhat surprising bid nab.

It may not be too far-fetched to say that the Bay Area men’s division might be back to its glory days after a 16-1 season that included wins at PEC West, US Open, and Pro Champs. With Nationals as the last Triple Crown goal for Revolver, Southwest Regionals is all but a formality to them.

Outside of the fight for the two bids, the Southwest continues to be a petri dish of teams lacking the depth to make a real push at Nationals. As it has been over the course of the last few years, the teams outside of Revolver and Condors (and potentially the newly ascendant LA Hazard) continue to beat each other over and over again with small margins, making it difficult to parse out the teams on the rise and those that are stuck in place. Still, one other team has to make semis, right? With that in mind, here are the teams sniffing at a chance to make it to the game-to-go.

First up is one hopeful that has been slowly climbing the ranks: Phoenix Nighthawk. The team boasts a few current San Diego Growlers on the roster in Caden Sigerud and Elijah Salmon. They are still working to bring the entirety of their roster to the same level as their top stars, though. An uneven season ended with them taking third at Sectionals, but they did trade out games with San Diego Skipjack at the tournament, a team that they’ll need to beat consistently in order to make a push at being a best-in-region contender.

Speaking of San Diego Skipjack, the long-running SoCal team came into sectionals without enough regular season games to earn a bid for their section, and stole a bid to regionals despite that. They have committed to a youth rebuild, with almost half the roster as enrolled college students, and don’t have a large enough sample size of games to really know what their ceiling is.

Coming from NorCal, OAT started their season strong by making it to the final at SFI West, but lost a lot of their momentum at Ski Town Classic, where they failed to make it out of prequarters. They have a strong core that has been playing together for a while now, and could be peaking at the right time after confidently winning NorCal Sectionals despite close games from Zyzzyva and Shadows.

At the end of the day, every one of these teams, and the rest of the field, is just trying to have an outside shot at making their regionals meaningful. It might be a two-bid region, but realistically, it’s every team hoping Condors trip up, rather than anyone realistically trying to take down Revolver.


  1. The initials in the team name stand for East Lansing Detroit Lions. 

  2. Footnote: And truly never forget that the last game Philly played at that Nationals was Patrol getting bageled 15-0 by Machine. 

  3. Should Mallard reach San Diego, they may get to use the services of star Jack Williams in his journeyman years. He is not on the Regionals roster, though. 

  4. Like World Games-level talent 

  1. Patrick Stegemoeller
    Avatar

    Patrick Stegemoeller is a Senior Staff Writer for Ultiworld, co-host of the Sin The Fields podcast, and also a lawyer who lives in Brooklyn.

  2. Edward Stephens
    Edward Stephens

    Edward Stephens has an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. He writes and plays ultimate in Athens, Georgia.

  3. Calvin Ciorba
    Calvin Ciorba

    Calvin Ciorba is a D-III Men's writer based in Minneapolis, MN, playing for Sub Zero. He started his ultimate career in St. Louis, MO playing ultimate at Ladue High School and St. Louis Storm YCC, when he also created the popular frisbee Instagram account Discmemes. At the University of Richmond, he sold the account and played for the UR Spidermonkeys earning a finalist nomination for the Donovan award. You can find him on twitter @calvin_ciorba for passionate takes on the "People's Division."

  4. Matt Fazzalaro
    Matt Fazzalaro

    Matt began playing ultimate in 2017 at Lambert High school in Forsyth County, Georgia. In his college career he played one year with the Samford Dogma and three years with the Georgia Jojah. Matt cites the Athens, GA ultimate community as the best he has ever experienced and also fell in love with goalty there. Matt now lives, works, and plays ultimate in Atlanta, GA.

  5. Alex Rubin
    Alex Rubin

    Alex Rubin started writing for Ultiworld in 2018. He is a graduate of Northwestern University where he played for four years. After a stint in Los Angeles coaching high school and college teams, they moved to Chicago to experience real seasons and eat deep dish pizza. You can reach Alex through e-mail ([email protected]) or Twitter (@arubes14).

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