No top seed even made the final at one of the most important bid-earning tournaments of the season!
August 25, 2026 by Asa Lee, Aidan Thomas and Zack Davis in Recap
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Elite-Select Challenge proved to be something of an odd, but highly important event. Some key teams come into the tournament missing players at WUCC. The quest for strength bids doesn’t care who is attendance however, giving each game and even each point a lot of weight. No overall top seed made the final in any division, and lower seeds made some noise in the mixed and women’s divisions. Read on for the top storylines from the event, and our reporters’ tournament top seven!
Women’s Recap | Mixed Recap | Men’s Recap
Women’s Division
Good Nightlock
With so much on the line regarding the bid picture, it was hard not to get trapped in the potential for a Cinderella run this weekend. Many teams were poised to write a weekend long narrative that’s immediately captivating and inherently compelling. However, all those set pieces made it easy to overlook the season-long Cinderella story #5 San Francisco Nightlock are in the process of writing.
Last season, Nightlock were happy to make Nationals. This season, they have a real shot to make the semifinal. The signs were there at the beginning and further coalesced in the U.S. Open, but their performance this weekend leaves no doubt they are serious national contenders.
Nightlock opened the tournament with a tough win over #16 Northampton Starling, and then cruised through games against Atlanta Ozone and #23 Colorado Kelp. Their bracket run was impressive, and arguably the most difficult configuration they could have had. They opened against regional rivals #10 San Diego Flipside. Nightlock and Flipside have faced off eight times prior to their 8 A.M. matchup, and Flipside have been victorious in all eight of those games, including earlier this year at PEC West where Flipside took the win 14-10.
But Nightlock finally put a notch in the win column with a 12-10 score to advance to the semifinal match. There, they found #9 Philadelphia Flight hot off a single point win over #21 Vancouver Traffic. Though the game was close initially, with Flight opening the game with a break, Flight ran out of gas down the stretch and Nightlock pushed through to the final, 14-11.
On the other side of the bracket, Pop worked their way to final by edging out Kelp 13-12 then slamming the door on #20 Chicago Nemesis early in a 13-5 blowout win. With both teams comfortably within bid-earning range, all that was on their minds was hoisting the trophy at the end.
There wasn’t much to the final in terms of tension. Nightlock opened the game on a 5-0 run, took half 8-3, then the game 15-6.
There was one point in the final where Pop felt like they could build momentum and force their way back in contention. Pop held out of half to make it 8-4, then forced a turn over at their goal line. Though they immediately had to punt, a bit of an errant throw and some quick feet from Abigail Keuhn got Pop the disc near half field. Some patient work from Pop got them to the brick mark and into redzone offense. Then, in what was more or less an encapsulation of Pop’s final performance, Frankie Saraniti’s throw was just a bit too high and wide, and it glanced off the hand of Amelia Zdechlik. Though Pilar Abele went full horizontal on the second chance, she came up just short of the grab. Nightlock held, and subsequently quashed any hint of momentum that Pop were building.
Nightlock move into the postseason poised to take one of the three Southwest bids alongside Fury and Flipside. From there, they may find that the glass slipper fits.
More Strength than Bids in the SC?
There was a lot on the line for the South Central this weekend, namely keeping the second, and possibly earning a third, bid for the region. Both Colorado Kelp and current bid-holders Dallas Dimes were playing with those stakes on the brain, and though both of them made it out of pools to the quarterfinal round, and both forced double game point once there, neither made it to the semifinal.
Dallas’ quarterfinal was particularly dramatic. They faced Nemesis on stream to start Sunday’s games. Dimes opened up to a 3-0 lead that looked similar to their game against Madison Heist in pools. However, Nemesis weren’t willing to go out like that. They rattled off a 9-1 run, taking half 8-4 and then holding to start the second half. Claire Schmitt was slinging the disc, and their favorite target (along with everyone else’s on Nemesis) was Jade Hostein.
Whatever Dallas talked about at the half really seemed to work, as they found their rhythm and pulled off a 7-2 run themselves to get it to 11-11, game to 12, Dimes to pull. Nemesis worked the disc quite well, but the final pass sailed out the back of the end zone. Dimes went to work with 70 to go for the comeback win, but the stall count got high, and Katie Metzler’s pass to a streaking Hani Pajela was just a bit floaty and resulted in a turn. Nemesis didn’t give Dimes another opportunity and closed things out in short order.
Around the Complex
- #21 Vancouver Traffic continue to be stop and go, recording three wins on Saturday, and three losses on Sunday. They took a bit of a truncated roster, but still — beating Dimes on Saturday 9-8 then losing 12-6 on Sunday is a bit of a head-scratcher. Sure, pool play with bracket placements as opposed to a seventh place consolation game isn’t the same, but there were bid implications on the line. Traffic find themselves just .2 points ahead of the bid-earning line in the latest Projected Rankings update, with the loss to Dimes costing Traffic 54 points.
- Much of the tournament hinged on just a couple of key moments and missed opportunities. The quarterfinal round was overflowing with such games, with three universe point contests and one game decided by two goals. Some of the biggest pool play results, like Traffic’s 9-8 win over Dimes and Nemesis’s 11-9 victory against Flight, came by margins of two or less. Consolation play didn’t quite carry the theme all the way through, but there were still a sprinkling of such scorelines.
First Team All-Stream
Arenaria Cramer (San Francisco Nightlock)
Mars Bau (San Francisco Nightlock)
Quincy Booth (Philadelphia Flight)
Katie Metzler (Dallas Dimes)
Mia Beeman-Weber (Minneapolis Pop)
Claire Schmitt (Chicago Nemesis)
Mixed Division
Tower-ing Above the Competition
#17 Sacramento Tower were a step above the competition at Elite-Select Challenge, taking home the tournament title with a victory over #4 Philadelphia AMP in the final. Tower began bracket play with a 12-9 win against rival California squad #18 California Burrito, before beating an upstart Pittsburgh Port Authority team 14-10 who went undefeated on Saturday to make the bracket. They also earned a pool play win against #6 Seattle BFG, which might have been the most important result of the weekend, as it allowed Tower to dodge a quarterfinal matchup with AMP, as well as a semifinal matchup against #7 Washington DC Rally.
Despite what the 15-11 score might indicate, the final versus AMP was a hard-fought battle, with Tower only pulling away late in the second half. Turnovers were a significant problem for both teams, and as pressure mounted, so did the mistakes. In the end, however, it was Tower who came out on top, largely thanks to the efforts of Robyn Fennig, who made huge plays all weekend to keep Tower standing upright even in difficult moments. Against AMP, she often had to go every other, working through contact and various coverage rotations to provide her teammates with an open reset. Carson Crouch, Breana Marin and Sean Treacy all had standout moments as well, and Tower look to be in good form as they head towards regionals as one of the many talented Southwest teams hoping to qualify for Nationals.
AMP Go On the Attack
#4 Philadelphia AMP arguably had the hardest path to the final, surviving on universe point against a talented BFG team before matching up against tournament one-seed Washington DC Rally. In their semifinal game with Rally, AMP were broken immediately on the first point, but managed to claw back into the game, trading holds before breaking for half on a marathon point. AMP were unafraid to take risks, perhaps because they were down, frequently looking to shoot deep or taking difficult throws. While this resulted in a few turnovers, more often did it result in an easy score. And when the disc did hit the ground, AMP were willing to settle into the grind, working hard to get the disc back on defense. Lindsay McKenna was a major factor for the Philadelphia side, usually as the primary target for AMP’s hucks, although she was just as much of a threat to throw them herself.
Once they did go up, AMP worked hard to maintain their lead, continuing to play unafraid even as an increasingly desperate Rally team started applying heavy defensive pressure. They were even able to add to their lead after a Rally throw went a little past a bidding receiver, letting AMP punch in another break to go up 13-10. A pair of holds later, and AMP advanced to the final, beating Rally 14-11 in a likely preview of the Mid-Atlantic regional final.
Despite a tough loss to a lower-ranked Tower team in the final, AMP still have many things to be proud of as they head towards Nationals, especially when you compare the relative difficulty of each team’s path to reach the championship game. Building on the momentum from a third place finish at PEC East, AMP continue to prove themselves as title contenders, finishing second at ESC with strong wins over other perennial Nationals qualifiers.
The Toro Question
#8 Durham Toro were seeded second coming into Elite-Select Challenge. They finish the tournament seventh, with a 2-4 record that includes losses to two unranked teams, Pittsburgh Port Authority and Saint Louis Good Company. While they avoided any major upsets on Sunday, losing to two consensus favorites in Rally and BFG, then beating #20 Huntsville Space Force to take seventh, their lackluster performance at ESC leaves a multitude of questions to be answered as the Series approaches.
Toro are currently set to play at Pro Championships, which is the last major regular season tournament before the Series begins. There, they have an opportunity to earn wins over strong teams and solidify their position in the rankings as contenders. A strong US Open shows they have the potential to match up against the best, but they leave ESC looking vulnerable. How Toro respond will shape the rest of their season.
Around the Complex
- In the third place game, Pittsburgh Port Authority took down regional rivals #7 Washington DC Rally 15-13. Port Authority started the morning with a win over Huntsville Space Force, before taking a close loss to eventual tournament winners Sacramento Tower 14-10. Thanks to their breakout performance at ESC, Port Authority skyrocketed in the rankings, putting themselves one spot shy of bid-earning range and entering the Series as potential favorites to steal a bid and qualify for their first-ever Nationals.
- #6 Seattle BFG took fifth with a 15-9 win over #18 California Burrito. Only losing to both of the eventual tournament finalists, BFG finished a successful regular season as early favorites to qualify for Nationals, with the potential to make a deep run in the bracket.
- #14 Seattle Mixtape rebounded after a disappointing Saturday, finishing ninth after handling the rest of the competition. Without any statement results against nationally ranked competition, Mixtape head towards the Series outside of bid territory and as a dark horse candidate for the Northwest’s sole bid, though they’ve been in a similar situation before…
First Team All-Stream
Lindsay McKenna (Philadelphia AMP)
Khalif El-Salaam (California Burrito)
Robyn Fennig (Sacramento Tower)
Sean Treacy (Sacramento Tower)
Ian Sweeney (Seattle BFG)
James Pollard (Philadelphia AMP)
Naomi Fina (Seattle BFG)
Men’s Division
Elite-Select Challenge drew to a close with an exciting day of bracket play that will shape the end-of-year bids in a big way. #11 Atlanta Chain Lightning were a big winner, upsetting #7 Minneapolis Sub Zero in semifinals and pushing #10 Philadelphia Pacmen to universe point in the tournament final.
Atlanta was the only team to play Philadelphia closer than three points on the weekend. Sam Grossberg starred with seven assists in the championship for Pacmen, beating an Atlanta team that got a boost from Grossberg’s college teammate, Stefan McCall.
Pacmen reached the final via wins over #17 Vancouver Furious George (15-10) and #15 Denver Johnny Bravo (15-13), while Chain Lightning handled #19 Chicago Haymaker and Sub Zero, both by 15-12 scorelines. Bravo beat #12 Austin Doublewide and Sub Zero toppled #24 Madison Mad Men in the other quarterfinals.
However, the tournament was about much more than first-place. With a host of bid-earning hopefuls in attendance, critical games raged on around the complex as teams fought for every crucial rating point to earn potential bids for their region to Nationals.
Middle of the Pack
Sub Zero bounced back from their semifinal loss to Chain Lightning to rally and beat Johnny Bravo 15-13 for third. Both teams played the weekend without significant contributors, with Sub Zero missing Nate De Morgan and Micah Davis, and Bravo operating without Quinn Finer and Jordan Kerr. Sub Zero proved to be very capable outside of their stars, going 5-1 on the weekend. Bravo should have done their part to lock up a bid for South Central, as they went 4-2. For that they can thank the exploits of Dennison Bechis, Nanda Min-Fink, and veteran Jonathan Nethercutt, who were the leaders for Bravo’s semifinal run; all three players posted at least six scoring contributions in Saturday’s pool-clinching win over Chain Lightning.
For Haymaker and Madison Mad Men, their Sunday morning losses forced them into a critical fifth-place bracket, where they were joined by Doublewide and Furious George. Entering the day, Furious George, Doublewide, and Haymaker, in that order, held the final three bids by projected rankings, while Mad Men sat on the outside looking in.
To kick off the fifth-place bracket, Mad Men avenged their prior two losses to Haymaker, toppling the Chicago-area squad 14-12, and Furious George handled Doublewide, 14-10. Furious George then kept Mad Men at bay to earn a 14-11 win. Vancouver will walk away very happy with their efforts in the midwest, as their 3-3 record should be enough to earn a third bid for the Northwest, where they figure to be in a three-team battle with Seattle Sockeye and Eugene Dark Star to get to Nationals. Rex Yuen was a standout for Furious George, anchoring the offense and providing a key facilitator when he crossed over. His hucks were on point, firing four assists against #25 Portland Red Tide in a crucial win that sent the Canadian squad to the top bracket.
Haymaker, who had pushed into bid-earning range on the strength of an upset win over Doublewide on Saturday, then fell to the Austin-area squad in the seventh-place game, finishing their Sunday 0-3 which could very well end their bid-earning dreams. It’s an unfortunate result for Chicago, who was a hold on universe away from a 3-0 Saturday performance, but instead, they end the weekend with a 2-4 record and likely outside the top 16, relegating their hopes for Nationals to a potential game-to-go against Toronto GOAT.
Ninals
Over in the ninth-place bracket, most of the teams that entered Indiana in the bid-earning conversation likely lost their best chance on Saturday, when they fell to the consolation rounds.
However, it’s not over until it’s over, so there were still rating points to be gained, and #14 Raleigh Durham-United took full advantage. They beat Charlotte baNC and #23 Virginia Vault, 15-11 and 15-12, respectively, to earn a matchup with Red Tide. There, RDU pulled a Houdini, coming back from 12-8 down to stun the Maine squad 14-13, twisting the knife on Portland’s faint bid-earning hopes in the process. Whether it’s enough to claw their way back to a third bid in the Southeast remains to be seen1, but it was an impressive weekend for RDU.
Prior to their collapse, Red Tide looked to be putting on their best late-season performance to push for a bid. They blasted Arizona Nighthawk 15-8 and Indianapolis I-69 by a 15-7 scoreline. Now, their hopes for Nationals may rest in whether #18 Montreal Mephisto can do enough for a third bid for the Northeast at Pro Champs in a couple of weekends.
In other ninth-place quarterfinals, Vault edged out Ottawa Phoenix, and I-69 upset #20 SoCal Condors for a big win. Vault crushed I-69 to finish in 11th place, Condors won the 13th-place game over baNC, and Nighthawk claimed their lone victory of the weekend to hold seed at 15th, toppling the dismal Phoenix who lost all six of their games.
First Team All-Stream
Sam Grossberg (Philadelphia Pacmen)
Owen Erdman, (Philadelphia Pacmen)
Stefan McCall (Atlanta Chain Lightning)
Nick Spiva (Atlanta Chain Lightning)
Nanda Min-Fink (Denver Johnny Bravo)
Dennison Bechis (Denver Johnny Bravo)
Rex Yuen (Vancouver Furious George)
Honorable Mention
Jonathan Nethercutt (Denver Johnny Bravo)
Hayden Austin-Knab (Atlanta Chain Lightning)
Stewart Kelley (Portland Red Tide)
Malik Auger-Semmar (Vancouver Furious George)
Quinn Snider (Vancouver Furious George)
Joe Cercello (Chicago Haymaker)
Kenrick Koo (SoCal Condors)
Projected rankings doesn’t seem to think so ↩
