This past weekend, Carleton’s frisbee teams traveled to Wisconsin to compete in USA Ultimate’s (USAU) North Central Regionals. While both the women’s and men’s D-I teams competed in Madison, the tournament for men’s D-III teams took place in Appleton.
Carleton Ultimate Team (CUT), who competed in the men’s D-I tournament, placed first out of 14 teams. CUT went undefeated (4-0) the entire tournament, decisively defeating both opponents during pool play by a margin of 12 or more points. In bracket play, CUT beat Iowa State’s ISUC 13-6 during the semi-finals before facing off against the University of Minnesota’s Grey Duck in the finals.
The final matchup between CUT and Grey Duck came down to the wire, with CUT ultimately winning 12-11. On the winning play, Declan Miller ’26 assisted to an open Leo Xiao ’25 on the left side of the end zone.
“It was amazing, honestly … speaking for CUT, we haven’t been there in five years, but it was like a big emotional moment all around.” Jace Dean ’23 said. “Everyone was happy, and I think half the team cried after we won and it was sick — it felt so fun to be a part of.”
“Last year, we lost two games in a row to be eliminated from nationals contention — it hurt a lot, [and] it’s a defining moment for our current team,” Xiao added. “That experience has driven this team to work much harder and smarter than the previous year … Our team culture is also vastly improved; our ability to punch back after getting punched is one of our greatest strengths.”
Syzygy, who competed in the women’s D-I tournament, also placed first out of nine teams. Syzygy went undefeated (7-0) the entire tournament, comfortably winning against teams by a margin of seven or more points during pool play. During bracket play, Syzygy dominated against Iowa State’s Woman Scorned in quarter-finals 15-1, and rolled past University of Wisconsin Madison’s Bella Donna in the semifinals 15-4.
University of Minnesota’s Matrix, Syzygy’s opponent in the finals, proved to be the team’s toughest challenge of the tournament. However, Syzygy ultimately prevailed by a score of 13-11.
“Regionals was a really great experience for us …Our team showed a lot of grit and focus throughout the Madison weather, with strong rain and winds barely impacting our play,” Emma Chin ’23, one of the captains of Syzygy, commented. “Throughout the whole weekend, our whole team contributed to the sideline energy, which was something we had been working on.”
“Going into the tournament, we have played a lot of the same teams already … Most of our games [during the tournament] were decisive wins, except for our final game against Minnesota was, like, very close,” Allie Fridkin ’23 said. “We had beat [Minnesota] the weekend before [by a large margin], so it was kind of a wake up call for us … in terms of how seriously we needed to take every game, and … never expect to just, like, win.”
Both CUT and Syzygy will advance to USAU’s D-I College Championships in Mason, Ohio, which will take place May 26-29.
“In these next four weeks heading into Nationals, we are looking to continue honing our play and pushing each other to get better every day during practice,” Chin said of the team’s goals. “A really critical part of the team that we are trying to center this year is enjoying our time together and …working hard while continuing to grow towards our ceiling.”
“Although [CUT is] a team with Nationals appearances in the past, Nationals is a new experience for everyone on this iteration of CUT,” Xiao stated. “We’re ecstatic to have earned another month of meaningful practice with each other and excited to ball out in Ohio on Memorial Day weekend.”
Other teams that competed at the North Central Regionals this past weekend included Karls, who placed 14th in the men’s D-I tournament, as well as CHOP, who placed fourth in the men’s D-III tournament. Karls’ sole win during the weekend happened during pool play, where they defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Sub*Par 11-8. CHOP went 4-2 during the entire weekend, advancing to the second round of the second-place bracket before falling to the Carthage Blitz in a close 9-10 loss.
It is also worth noting that the North Central D-III Women’s Conferences also took place earlier this term, from April 15-16. Carleton’s Eclipse dominated the weekend, going undefeated (5-0) and winning every game with a margin of 11 points or more. Eclipse decisively won against Michigan Tech’s Superior Ma’s in the finals 15-1, earning a trip to USAU’s D-III College Championships in Obetz, Ohio, on May 20-22.
