The last bids to the D-III College Championships will be decided this weekend!
April 29, 2026 by Josh Katz in Preview
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There are few more exciting portions of the ultimate calendar than spring College Regionals. For some, these events will be the culmination of a season — or even college career — while for others it’s just another step on their path toward the D-III College Championships in just under a month. Count on plenty of dramatic action and unexpected results along the way as every team fights to ensure they fall into the latter group.
Two regions will take to the fields this weekend across the country to decide the final representatives heading to Waukegan. We’ve got you covered on the storylines to watch.
Great Lakes
Score Reporter
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Number of Bids: 1
Expected Qualifier: Asbury
In the Hunt: Butler, Hillsdale
Potential Spoilers: Grace
Excitement Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The two-bid Great Lakes was fun for a year, but we’ve returned to normalcy in 2026. Davenport moved up to D-I, returning the Great Lakes to the one-bid status they’ve held for nearly all of D-III’s history. Though maybe not the most compelling region when thinking about who will take home the national title in a few weeks, with three seemingly equally matched teams atop the region, there’s potential for plenty of excitement in Schaumburg this weekend.
The favorites are Asbury Ultimate, who were the shocking earners of last year’s second bid before flaming out in the Series. They’ve earned that favorite tag on the strength of two narrow wins over Butler Big Dog at Conferences by a combined three points, so the margin for error is still small. Christopher Bauer, Asbury’s main handler, is one of the best throwers in the region and maybe the country. The lefty is at the center of everything Asbury does on offense, and if he’s clicking, their offense is near impossible to slow down. While Bauer’s throwing most of the assists, Sifaan Amanu is the person most likely to be on the receiving end for the goal. Amanu, last year’s Great Lakes ROTY, has blossomed into a devastating deep cutter on a line that desperately needed one. In Bauer and Amanu, Asbury has the offensive duo needed to make a run through the bracket and to their first Nationals appearance in its second year as a program.
But Butler is no pushover, and that’s largely thanks to the play of Donovan nominee Sam Ingham. He’s their most talented player, filling whatever role necessary on offense, taking on the toughest matchups on defense, and playing nearly every point for a Big Dog team looking to make their first Nationals appearance since 2023. His big game experience with the Indianapolis AlleyCats in the UFA could come in handy late in games and deep in the bracket on Sunday afternoon.
The third head of the Great Lakes triumvirate are last year’s Nationals attendees, Hillsdale Chargers. Greg Moreno may have moved on, but they return the Hamiltons, Jake and Jedidiah. Jake, a senior, is their main handler and led the team in assists at Nationals last spring. The younger Jedidiah, only a sophomore, led that whole tournament in blocks and makes it nearly impossible to test the Chargers’ defense deep. He’s also a threat in the deep space on offense with his height and poise. Two losses to Butler at Conferences leave Hillsdale seeded third this weekend, but they definitely have the talent necessary to pull off the upsets and return to Nationals.
If anyone from outside the top three is going to pull off the Cinderella run to make Nationals, the odds favor Grace Lancers, thanks mostly to Nathan Close. He is the first, second, and third name on the scouting report for Grace and shoulders that incredible load with remarkable poise and confidence. If they’re scoring, he’s almost certainly involved in some way.
New England
Score Reporter
Location: South Portland, ME
Number of Bids: 3
Expected Qualifier: #1 Middlebury, #11 Williams, #14 Bowdoin
In the Hunt: #22 Brandeis
Potential Spoilers: Colby
Excitement Level:🔥🔥
Last year’s two bid Regionals led to some incredible fireworks on Sunday, but this year’s bump to three bids feels more fitting for the talent in New England. It may make this weekend less exciting, but should everything go according to plan in South Portland, the Nationals field will be better off for having all three bid earners competing in Waukegan.
Top seeded Middlebury needs no introduction. Everyone is fully aware of how good the Pranksters are: they’ve been number one in our Power Rankings all season, their only losses are to D-I top 25 teams in Michigan and Minnesota, and they have the two best players in the division on their roster. Those players are, of course, Peter Mans and Louis Douville Beaudoin. The left handed duo are terrifying to play against with how many different ways they can win on offense. And on the off chance they’re not playing particularly well, Geir Hartl and Oscar de Swaan Arons can pick up the slack. Things don’t get much easier when the D-line is on the field: Gavin Rice and Nadav Melamede are no slouches, and they frequently have one of the O-line stars crossing over as well. It would be a shock for the Pranksters to not win the region outright this weekend.
Williams WUFO are seeded second, and outside of a frankly bizarre loss to UMass (B) in February, have looked the part of a fringe top-10 team all season long. The transition from the Danny Klein-Charles Tantum years into the Adam Kohn-Wade Buchheit led team has gone smoothly for WUFO, and the Kohn/Buchheit duo are ready to make their impact on the National stage in a few weeks. The pair of former ROTY runners up have become stars for WUFO’s backfield with their throwing prowess, aided by the exceptional cutting of David Kimberly. Barring another UMass (B)-esque performance on Sunday, getting back to Nationals should be a straightforward exercise for Williams.
The third bid earners are Bowdoin Clown, whose demise after the graduation of Cole Fairfield was greatly exaggerated. Zach Widmyer and Theo Barton have stepped up in a huge way in Fairfield’s (and Ben Halperin’s) absence, doing just enough to earn a third bid for New England and make their path back to Nationals that much easier. Widmyer’s confidence and calmness in the backfield is remarkable for any college player, much less one in just their sophomore year. Barton’s game is a bit showier, with a greater emphasis on the deep game and tremendous defense. The duo play nearly every point for Bowdoin: the more rest either Clown can get on Saturday, the greater their chances of upsetting Middlebury to win the region for the first time in program history.
If anyone is going to upset the expected order, it’ll be Brandeis TRON, who have surged back into national prominence thanks to the development of Ryan Carmichael and the addition of rookie Nathaniel Friedman. Carmichael is the centerpiece of the offense, always initiating downfield or getting the disc in the backfield. His dominance in small spaces is key for TRON’s offense. Friedman is the shot taker for the offense, always willing to put the disc deep. He has the touch to make that strategy work, and TRON’s upset chances rely on him going supernova from range while limiting turnovers, a tall task for any player, much less a rookie. Though you never want to completely rule a team out, especially in D-III, it would be quite the shock for Brandeis to emerge with a bid this weekend.
