Everything you need to know about the prequarter and quarterfinal rounds
October 25, 2025 by Josh Katz and Alex Rubin in Recap
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2025 Club National Championships 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.
SAN DIEGO – Twelve teams competed in arguably the most exciting round of prequarters we’ve ever seen in club ultimate, followed by one of the more ho-hum set of quarters. The mixed division saw three universe point games in prequarters alone, with a double-digit seed making quarters while last year’s finalists Boston Sprocket were stymied before reaching the round of four. Catch up with our recap of all the day’s big events before semifinals start tomorrow!
Hybrid on Cruise Control
- Hybrid 15-8 Lawless | Game Recap
#1 Ann Arbor Hybrid continued their undefeated tournament with a convincing win over a #16 Arizona Lawless team that continually punches above their ranking. Rachel Mast padded her PotY-caliber season with four goals to pace the Hybrid offense, though it wasn’t the usual suspects (Aaron Bartlett and Jon Mast) feeding her. Rather, it was Jared Schwallie turning from a goal scorer to a provider. He posted five assists, along with a goal, in the onslaught.
Lawless’ season ends on a sour note, but after exceeding our pre-tournament expectations, it’d be hard for them not to walk out of San Diego happy. Hybrid, meanwhile, advance to semis for the fourth time in five years, where they’ll get #4 Fort Collins shame. in what should be an excellent matchup on the showcase field at Canyon Crest Academy.
No Stopping shame. Just Yet
- shame. 15-9 Slow | Game Recap | Stream
#9 Boston Slow were able to trade holds for most of the early points, and even took the first break of the game, but #4 Fort Collins shame. were able to close out a comfortable win to get back to the semifinal round for the third consecutive year. After shame. underthrew a pass meant for Casey Wu, Boston worked the disc the length of the field thanks to strong handler work from Yuge Xiao and Peter Prial. Xiao capped it off with an around to Alex Kapiamba.
Slow maintained offensive discipline and flow, but any small mistake or miscue that led to a turn became all but impossible to get back. Giant downfield receivers like Sandy Brown, Kasey Anderson, Rory Veldman, and Joe Anderson opened up shame.’s deep game. They opened huge swathes of the field just by cutting to the end zone and gave their team an outlet on every point.
It didn’t get better for Slow in the second half. Yuge Xiao and Piers MacNaughton did their best to keep their team in the game but shame. were just too good. Simon Montague, Matty Russell, and Jade McLaughlin just kept guiding their team to the end zone every time they touched the field. Russell, in particular, had a great game, ending with a 1G/4A/3D statline that doesn’t even highlight his best moment.
Slow had plenty to be proud of this tournament, even if shame. turned out to be just a little above their ceiling. The bracket is forcing shame. to play Hybrid in semis, so we’re in for a real treat heading into Saturday.
Drag’n Thrust Their Way To Semis
- Drag’n Thrust 15-11 Toro | Stream
- Drag’n Thrust 15-5 | Rally
#3 Drag’n Thrust return to the semifinals after their comprehensive win over #2 Durham Toro. With a legacy of success and legitimate championship hopes, Drag’n Thrust broke a deadlocked holdfest to take half and never looked back. Brian Vohnoutka and Caleb Denecour each tossed four assists while Sarah Mondschein and Jane Koch took the lead defensively, each coming away with a block. Like they ended the first half, Drag’n Thrust ended the game with a break. Koch’s block on Player Pierce’s first-throw scoober set up a one-throw break as Bret Bergmeier found a wide open Owen Suelflow to end the game.
Though Toro surely were hoping to continue their weekend, they made a splash in their return to Nationals by winning their pool for the first time in program history. Just getting to Nationals is already an accomplishment, and Toro reset their expectations in a positive way with their performance this weekend.
To get to this game, Drag’n Thrust needed to first play in the morning prequarter round. In their prequarter win, Drag’n Thrust simply overwhelmed #13 Washington DC Rally, winning each half by five goals in a 15-5 demolition. Kyle Suelflow made his case to be considered the better Suelflow twin with a 2G/5B line, and James Pollard put up his own impressive line of 1G/3A/2B in a proper display of Drag’n’s defensive dominance.
New York Does Work
- XIST 15-10 Sprocket | Game Recap
#6 New York XIST took down last season’s silver medalists #8 Boston Sprocket to advance to their third semifinal in four seasons. XIST struck early and often, breaking on each of their first two defensive points to open up a 3-0 lead, one they’d never come close to relinquishing in a thorough victory over last year’s finalists.
The big four of XIST’s offense – Jolie Krebs, Sadie Jezierski, Oliver Chartock, and Axel Agami Contreras – were all impeccable for New York. All had multiple goal contributions, and Agami Contreras was the only one to throw a turnover.
Sprocket generated some turnovers, but were only able to convert their break opportunities if Tannor Johnson-Go was crossing over to their D-lines. Johnson-Go, for his part, was excellent as usual: 2G/4A/1D/1T. But XIST were largely able to shut down his running mate Zach Singer (1G/2A/3T), and no one could step up to replace his production. Ben Simmons in particular was a star defensively for XIST. He had two blocks (including a ridiculous bid around Johnson-Go after he slowed up coming under for a catch).
While Sprocket’s season ended perhaps earlier than they wanted it to, their improvement from the early part of the season to Nationals was evident and the team can be proud of the hard work it took to accomplish even that much. XIST advance to play #3 Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust in Saturday’s semifinal.
Sprocket Survive AMPed-Up Challenge from Philadelphia
- Sprocket 14-13 AMP | Game Recap | Stream
On the Ultiworld showcase field, #15 Philadelphia AMP fought valiantly against the Tannor Johnson-Go/Zach Singer duo of Sprocket, but came up on the short end of a 14-13 result. Tannor and Zach combined for eight goals and seven assists against just three turnovers to pace the Sprocket offense. Bobby Roos (2G/2A), Lindsay McKenna (1G/3A), and Ethan Sarles (3G/2A/1D) led AMP’s upset bid.
Slow Speed to Quarters
- Slow 15-14 Disco Club | Game Recap | Stream
#9 Boston Slow broke on universe to take down #5 Austin Disco Club. Ben Sadok and Raymond Tetreault each had two goals and three assists for Slow, and Davis Whitehead had a 1G/2A/1D line. Disco Club’s defeat was not without a valiant effort from Joey Wylie (2G/3A), Reese Bowman (3G/1A), and Madi Cannon (2G/2A). Slow advance to quarters for the third straight year, while Disco Club’s season ends in prequarters against a Northeast foe for the second straight season.
Lawlessness! Arizona Wins Wild West Showdown
- Lawless 15-14 Mile High Trash | Game Recap
Way off in the corner of the Surf Cup Sports Park complex, away from all the cameras, #14 Denver Mile High Trash and #16 Arizona Lawless put together a game that epitomized all that there is to love about ultimate. High-flying bids, booming hucks, tight defense, debatable calls, a thrilling comeback attempt, this prequarterfinal matchup had it all. In the end, Lawless had just enough offensive firepower left to get a hold on universe and advance to the quarterfinals.
Lawless built an 11-7 lead, but Trash were not quite ready for their season to end. Riley Kirkman-Davis tried to do his own Travis Dunn impression, almost singlehandedly willing Mile High Trash to a win. He put up 1G/3A/1D line in the second half as part of a 2G/5A/1D line overall, including a rather ridiculous takeover point for Denver’s first break of the second half. After a Charles Cannon block, he ran the Mile High Trash offense all the way down the field, only stopping when the rules dictated he had to and striking into the end zone for a goal that brought the game to 11-9. Lawless steadied the ship and were able to hold enough times to advance once again to the quarterfinal.
Tomorrow, the semifinal matchups of XIST vs. Drag’n Thrust and Hybrid vs. shame. will take place in the evening round of semifinals. Follow along with the action first-hand by watching tomorrow’s streamed games.
