Bucking divisional tradition, pool play went mostly to seed amidst heavy wind
March 29, 2026 by Josh Katz 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.
Contrary to the numerous upsets that took place in D-I Easterns, D-III’s edition was full of chalk on Saturday. All four top seeds won their pool unbeaten, the bottom pool seeds all lost all of their games, and just two games failed to go according to seed. The howling wind didn’t help either: many games devolved into pure upwind-downwind strategies and a lot of fruitless hucks into the wind. Before we get into some of the main storylines from the day, and as a way to emphasize the power of today’s wind, please enjoy Richmond’s Eric Harnisher catching his own pull as it blew back towards him.
Atlantic Nope
#13 Richmond Spidermonkeys and #14 UNC-Asheville Mudpuppy entered this weekend just under 100 points away from the last strength bid. With #2 Elon Big Fat Bomb still looking like the clear favorites in the region after Saturday’s play, climbing the rankings seemed like a necessity. Unfortunately for fans of the Atlantic Coast, both teams squandered chances to get into bid-earning range on Saturday, and the AC seems set to return to one-bid status this spring.
UNC-Asheville had the more difficult day of the two teams, failing to win a single game. They started the morning well enough, breaking on the first two points against #20 Wesleyan Nietzsch Factor. But Mudpuppy’s smaller roster could not keep up the intensity throughout the game, and their early lead slipped away and became a 13-9 defeat. Owen Stout and Brandon Bass each had their moments of impressive play for Mudpuppy, who were ultimately too loose with the disc, even accounting for the wind, to post the results they needed. Low numbers produced lower outputs as the day wore on, and UNC-Asheville’s 12-4 defeat to Claremont in prequarters was the nail in the coffin on their bid chances.
Richmond’s quarterfinal matchup with #15 Williams WUFO presents a last-ditch chance to shoot up the rankings for the Spidermonkeys, but it will be hard to overcome the hole their loss to #25 Oberlin Horsecows has left them in. Richmond was unable to manufacture a single upwind goal in that game despite numerous opportunities. Gabe Gehtland, in particular, struggled going upwind. Obviously, throwing downwind is easier, but the difference in throwing quality was stark. He had perfect touch on so many of his downwind throws, such as this hammer to tie the game at 10, but some of his upwind throws were the sort that might only work in still indoor conditions.
Coastal Chaos
No team had a more up-and-down day than #16 Claremont Braineaters, who entered the weekend with one goal in mind: do enough to keep the second bid for the Southwest. Through two and a third games, things looked great for the Brains. A blowout win over Messiah and a comfortable win over Davidson started things off, and Claremont quickly took a 6-3 lead on Williams in their final pool play game, poised to post a statement win.
From there, everything fell apart. WUFO scored four straight, including two upwind goals, to take half 7-6, earning the valuable halftime break in the process. Williams got another upwind break in the second half, finishing the game on an 8-2 extended run across halftime and putting a serious dent in Claremont’s strength bid hopes. Until one round later, when the Brains eviscerated a tired UNC-Asheville team 12-4 in prequarters, setting up another showdown with a team from the Northeast and resuscitating their bid dreams.
Williams’ own strength bid wasn’t completely safe heading into the weekend either, though their aforementioned win over Claremont probably secured it. WUFO’s handler core was especially impressive working upwind through Claremont’s zone looks. Adam Kohn and Kiva Zimmerman were calm and composed fighting through the wind and Claremont’s many long arms.
The same was true for #10 Bowdoin Clown, though their own undefeated Saturday probably moved Clown into lock territory for a bid; they’ll get to take on Claremont in quarters on Sunday morning in a possible Nationals preview and a chance to reverse Claremont’s fortunes again in the bid race.
Other Notes
#1 Middlebury Pranksters’ and #2 Elon Big Fat Bomb’s results weren’t quite as dominant as one would expect given their opponents. Each faced a stern test from lower seeded foes (UNC-Asheville and #18 Berry Bucks, respectively) before playing a tight game with each other in a mostly meaningless crossover round, which Middlebury won 13-11. Quarters shouldn’t present too much of a test for either title favorite, and it’d be a mild surprise if the final on Sunday afternoon isn’t contested between these two.
Oberlin isn’t going to earn a strength bid for the Ohio Valley, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they steal one at Regionals and end up in Waukegan. They’ve developed a strong cadre of handlers this year: Jack Ryan, Ryan Ward, and Carlos Sofge-Osorio impressed during their upset of Richmond. Add in the many talents of Sebastien Kline, and a lot of functional depth, and you’ve got the makings of a solid team. If the OV gets two bids, as is the projection at the time of this writing, it’s easy to envision the Horsecows running the backdoor bracket and taking advantage of a tired opponent in the backdoor game to go.
