UNC once again took down the tournament in inclement weather, with Chicago making a surprise run.
February 15, 2026 by Alex Rubin in Recap
Ultiworld’s 2026 college coverage 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.
One of the main pilgrimage sites every year for teams hoping to make their mark on the season, Queen City Tune Up returns with a heavyweight women’s division field and a solid, if less top-heavy, men’s division. In both divisions, Atlantic Coast title favorites look to defend their turf against formidable traveling contenders. Drive, polish, and an ability to adapt to what could prove to be poor weather conditions on Sunday should determine whether the home or away sides come out on top. Read on for full video streaming details.
Tournament Recap
Death, taxes, and UNC winning a rainy Queen City Tune Up with an altered schedule. While the players change and storylines around them come and go, it seems like every year the same outcome manifests at this particular patch of grass in Rock Hill, SC. This weekend, it proved no different: #5 North Carolina Darkside beat Chicago Fission 15-9 to once again win a cold and wet QCTU.
No Doubter for Darkside
Without Carolina Kickoff this season, this was the first look at Darkside. There was not a whole lot of surprise if we’re being honest. Josh Singleton continues to evolve as a thrower after spending the early part of his career as a downfield slasher. Matthew Barcellos was comfortable leading the attack from either line. What is most impressive about UNC, though, is not their star-driven play, but the way that the team is able to coax impressive performances out of their role players and build a players’ skill set over time. Max Goetz has developed from an O-line fill cutter into a two-way threat capable of leading a counterattack offense without other crossovers. Eli Fried has grown from an athletic goal-scorer and block-getter into someone willing to drive 35 yard hammers into the pounding rain. With less heralded players like Noah Bush, Daniel Zhang, and Dov Bearman blossoming and able to now take on important roles, it is no wonder that Darkside moved through the weekend undefeated.
Detractors might say that their two games that were decided by two points (13-11 win over Davenport and 11-9 win over UNC Wilmington Seamen) were to lower-ranked competition and indicate a lower floor for this team than in years past. However, close games during the last round of pool play against a motivated opponent and against a bitter regional rival are to be expected. Besides, UNC won them both. What more is there to say. Darkside will take the field again at Smoky Mountain Invite in a few weeks against even stronger competition–that should give a good indication as to their potential for the rest of the season.
Transfer Portal Comes to Ultimate
Players moving to a new school either as a standard transfer or upon starting a new graduate degree is not a new thing, but has there been a more impactful transfer this season than Xander Wilcox? The former Duke center handler is playing both ways for UChicago, bringing a poise to their backfield sets, launching pinpoint hucks, and bumping the confidence of a team filled with upperclassmen who had a solid set of fundamentals.
It would be unfair to pin all of Chicago’s success just on Wilcox, but he clearly has a big hand in everything they do. He played nearly every second half point in their semifinal win and forced opposing defenses to guard every inch of space on the field. Wilcox’s throwing range covers the whole of the playing surface, but it is his accuracy and processing speed that make him elite. With him on the field, Chicago can score from anywhere and the dynamic power of their offense might be enough to see a Chicago team that has not touched Nationals in the modern era sneak into bid-earning range.
What is perhaps most impressive about Chicago is that they have the strong coaching and leadership necessary to develop over the course of the season. A few weeks ago at Florida Warm Up, they lost 13-8 to #24 Virginia Night Train. This weekend, they turned around that result into a 12-10 quarterfinal win. Another note about Fission: they were playing this weekend without three main starting players including captain Michael Hlavaty. While every team deals with injuries and absences throughout the season, Fission has the ability to reach an even higher level once everybody is back on the field.
Two-Bid Great Lakes??
Between Chicago and Davenport Panthers, there will be some action towards the bid bubble coming from the Great Lakes. With #14 Michigan MagnUM still the team to beat, both Chicago and Davenport (and Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, etc.) will be hoping for an unprecedented second bid1
Davenport wowed the teams present with their athleticism. With Jacob Felton putting up moonballs, Connor Concannon, Rowan Jamieson, and Kai Creed were either running down hucks or posterizing their defenders if they had time to catch up. Creed impressed also with clearly improved throwing and backfield mechanics compared to his mostly defensive and downfield role last season. While this style might not hold up as well later in the season, the conditions at QCTU were not that much different than a typical Great Lakes Regional, and the semifinal contest between Davenport and Chicago might as well be a preview for late April. What each team does between now and then from a strategic standpoint and on the results/bid-earning level will determine who wins that rematch, and it will even matter for the Nationals picture.
Is a Two-Bid Atlantic Coast Also Out of the Question?
With how good Chicago looked on the other side of the bracket, surely UNC Wilmington is happy with their weekend. The Seamen posted a 13-10 pool play win over Chicago that was good at the moment and looks even better in retrospect with the context of Chicago as a tournament finalist. Losing by only two to Darkside in the semifinal is a positive result for a team that hadn’t been to a semifinal at this tournament in the post-COVID era. As the core of Christian Belus, Stewart Kelley, and Ryan Manuel enters their third season together, the Seamen seem to have the best hope of the deep pool of contending Atlantic Coast teams in putting together a competitive enough season to earn a bid.
NC State Alpha likewise punched above expectations this weekend. A 4-0 pool play seemed more reminiscent of the Nationals mainstays of years past rather than the not-so-near miss last season. With another season ahead for Matti Lee and Henri Lessard, combined with the team’s strong fundamental base and talented coaching, a return to the season’s final weekend is not out of the question.
Dreary Disappointment
With certain teams impressing this weekend, others were bound for disappointment. #13 Penn State Spank was upset by NC State in pool play and ended up playing for fifth rather than for first as they were expected to compete. While Spank has plenty of talent left from two seasons of Nationals appearances, it is looking like it might be closer to a season long experiment to figure out how to replace the heavy touchloads of Alex Mullen and Zander Lutz rather than an easy fix.
#22 Tufts E-men were the no.3 seed entering the weekend, but finished in 13th place. Upset losses to Alabama Yellow Hammer, UNC Charlotte Skyrise, and Virginia knocked them out of championship contention. For their part, Virginia lost to NC State in the fifth place bracket quarterfinal following their upset loss to Chicago in the main bracket. While both teams performed well in the expanded Florida Warm Up earlier this month, continued competition has shown room for development. In competitive regions, each will want to show improvement next time they take the field.
South Carolina Gamecock Ultimate suffered through a winless weekend. Just last year they were in the tournament final here at QCTU, but without Gavin Russell or Tyler Catton on the field they could not replicate the feat this time around.
And lastly, everybody should be somewhat disappointed by the weather. At this point, it is par for the course in this particular place during this same weekend each year. Yet no amount of mental preparation or freezing fortitude can make it such that there isn’t just a bit of frustration for the reality that it should be warmer and sunnier in South Carolina, even in February.
The last time the Great Lakes earned a strength bid was in 2014 when Northwestern rode a string of early season upsets at Florida Warm Up to the bid bubble only to have their next two tournaments cancelled by weather, forcing them to create a one game “Boomtown Invite” tournament against Chicago so that the team had enough games to be ranked. ↩
