Florida Warm Up 2026: Carleton’s Defense a CUT Above (Men’s Div. Mega Recap)

The FWU final brought a potential preview of the national championship title fight! Plus, all-tournament first and second teams

February 6, 2026 by Josh Katz in Recap

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Thankfully for the teams at Florida Warm Up, the fans watching at home, and this writer’s freezing hands, the swirling winds that defined Saturday night’s quarterfinals subsided in time for the tournament’s final games. Sunday’s conclusion to play brought back sunny skies, quality ultimate, and a feeling of déjà vu, with #1 Carleton CUT and #4 UMass Zoodisc facing off in the final for the second straight year. And once again, it was Carleton taking down UMass, again by a 13-10 score, to be crowned Florida Warm Up champions.

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The defining story for CUT, all weekend long, was their defense. “We’ve been prioritizing defense in practice, trying to make sure everyone is bringing a lot of intensity to that side of the ball,” said CUT captain Declan Miller. “Even the offense, we know we’re going to make mistakes, and we need to be prepared to get it back. I thought we did a great job of applying consistent pressure all weekend, and especially today.”

Though it took until the twelfth point for CUT to punch in their first break of the final, the ferociousness with which they played defense was apparent from UMass’s first offensive point. Jonah Barry’s active mark forced Wyatt Kellman into a reset look, and Charlie Bitler’s pressure on the dump led to turnover number one. Nate De Morgan strolled into the most effortless-looking footblock for turnover number two. Turnover number three had the feeling of a “Let’s huck and play defense, I’m sick of this” deep throw from Caelan McSweeney. Which, if that was the strategy, worked. CUT turned back in one throw, and McSweeney got Zoodisc on the board with a hammer to Griffin Gee. Despite the hold, the tone had been set. Zoodisc had just two clean holds in the first half.

This is not to disparage UMass’ offense: CUT’s defense is probably the best in the division, and Zoodisc handled the task well for their first tournament of the year. It was very promising to see Wyatt Kellman playing at Warm Up after injuries hampered his regular season availability last year. Hopefully he remains healthy all year, and UMass can benefit from the sustained continuity. He and McSweeney were particularly impressive all tournament, as Ethan Lieman was a bit more muted, even if his talent was still apparent.

The biggest development for Zoodisc, though, was the emergence of Roan Dunkerley to fill the Luca Harwood-sized gap in their offense. He had a number of excellent throws on the weekend. In that quartet, UMass have the requisite throwing and cutting talent to once again have one of the best offenses in the division.

But back to CUT’s defense – the unit operates as if every player on the field is connected to a singular hive mind, such is the synchronization of their movement. Everyone is shuffling in unison, shutting down throwing lanes and locking down resets. The intensity that Miller preached creates a self-fulfilling cycle of excellence. Make one great play, and the energy on the sideline ramps up. Feel that energy on the field, and you’re empowered to make another great play. With the depth CUT have amassed, they can send wave after wave of pressure without fear of exhausting their resources.

The individual personnel, too, is phenomenal. Ryan duSaire is unquestionably the leader of the line, and he sets the standard for everyone else. His timing, his closing speed, his spacing, all of it is astoundingly good. If you want to get better at playing defense, just keep your eyes on duSaire at all times and do what he does. Bitler, Barry, Thomas Shope, and Aage Bonnell are all also excellent defenders in their own right. And then there’s De Morgan, bringing the offensive firepower that moves the defense from turnover-generating to break-inducing.

More on the final itself. It was Shope who got the block that led to the first break, reaching around Mason Stone to blow up an under cut and give CUT a short field. As they love to do, Carleton attacked quickly. Axel Olson picked up, and three throws later, Bitler had scored, and Carleton took half, 7-5.

CUT’s offense, unbroken in the first half of the final, was also impressive all weekend long. Declan Miller looked every bit the reigning POTY he is as their main threat. Unofficially, he was involved in eight (4G/4A) of Carleton’s thirteen goals in the final. Fin Fuhrmann and Ellis Newhouse were also excellent: Newhouse in particular was on point with his deep throws in the windy conditions. The fluidity with which those three play allows all three to cycle through various handling and cutting roles with a great understanding for the others’ talents.

The supporting cast around those three fill their roles exceptionally well. Nobi Lorenz churns up yards, Axel Olson throws with incredible precision, and Sarek Mallareddy attacks the end zone with vigor. Tej Murthy was, in my opinion, closer to the Miller/Newhouse/Fuhrmann triumvirate in impact when he played, but he was seemingly on a pitch count all weekend and left the final early in the second half due to injury.

Zoodisc got the game back to level terms almost immediately to start the second half. CUT seemingly had Kellman trapped along the sideline, but he fired off a high stall hammer to an open Stone for the hold. On the ensuing pull, Fuhrmann made perhaps his only major misstep of the weekend, deciding to reach up and attempt to catch the disc as it floated over his head. Gavin Abrahamsson picked up and forced the disc into Sam McCrory for Zoo’s first break.

A trade of holds, CUT’s lengthy and full of turnovers and Zoo’s expedited and clean, led to UMass’s only lead of the final. CUT turned it twice on underthrown hucks into the wind, but their defense prevented UMass from generating any positive movement on the counter. So after the second turnover, Jonah Stang-Osborne decided to let rip a massive backhand for Nima Lhamo to run onto. Lhamo outpaced and boxed out Fuhrmann, elating the UMass sideline and putting the New Englanders on top.

 

An aside about Stang-Osborne: it was nice to see him playing again, and playing so well, for Zoodisc. Kellman was quick to share how happy he was to have one of his best friends back and how valuable Stang-Osborne is to the team. His level of play was impressive for his first tournament in two years, and his willingness to take deep shots — and ability to hit them — added another dimension to UMass’ attack.

Postgame, Carleton’s Miller noted, “The goal is not to win Florida [Warm Up]. Florida is about learning opportunities.” You wouldn’t know that based on CUT’s response to going behind, as they immediately crossed players over in search of a minor comeback. De Morgan was on the line with the offense, and he and Miller went mostly every other (with an occasional Olson touch) for an easy hold. Olson and Miller then stayed out to play defense, and after a low McSweeney throw was dropped, CUT got their break right back on another Miller goal. CUT tacked on another break, again Miller assisting De Morgan, to take a two score lead. Even a UMass timeout was not enough to stem the tide, as CUT picked up a third consecutive break to get within a goal of a win.

Carleton had a chance at a fourth break in a row to win it, but couldn’t convert. An Abrahamsson goal kept UMass alive for a moment, but UMass didn’t have a chance to get any closer. CUT’s offense was clean and crisp on the final point, and it was Olson to Mallareddy at the front cone to seal their fourth Florida Warm Up title.

Kellman was unfazed after the game. “I felt great about our performance today and all weekend,” he said. “We were focused on our mentality this weekend, and I thought that was impressive. Last night, in the windy conditions, we heard all the teams around us complaining. We were loving it, having so much fun and embracing it. And I think that encapsulates our success this weekend.”

We still haven’t seen #2 Colorado Mamabird or #3 Oregon Ego in action thus far, so don’t start penciling CUT and Zoodisc in for a date on Memorial Day just yet. But these two sides were easily a tier above everyone else in attendance and more than proved their championship credentials. Hopefully, we’ll get to see these two teams go at each other multiple times the rest of the year. The individual matchups alone – Ethan Lieman vs Ryan duSaire, Gavin Abrahamsson vs Declan Miller, Wyatt Kellman vs Charlie Bitler – make each edition of CUT vs Zoodisc a must-see.

 

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