Coach of the year: Zubair
Freshamn of the year: Cal
All Freshmen: Drake Hill (Illinois), Cal & Kaindl (ISU), the rest i really don’t know
1st team:
Spielman, Specs, Shanny, Noah, another Magnum player, Percy, another Magnum player
never played magnum so i don’t really know of any names to highlight, I’ll defer to whoever Noah pointed out
2nd team:
Joe Byerly, Wets and/or Judah, 2-3 more magnum players, Cody Gray, Josh Deeman
NUT Senior Captain here, just gonna shed some light on teammates who were big contributors for us this year but haven’t gotten the recognition they deserve on here.
Jay Valdillez: #20, junior captain, Jay is a workhorse on the field; you can recognize him by his massive bids and oddly long neck.
Jonathan Piech: #25, Yes he has a twin, no they are not the same person. I don’t want to bore you with a sob story but Jonathan is truly emblematic of what hard work and dedication can do for someone. While many of the graduating seniors on NUT started their career on Bolt, Jonathan spent an extra year on the B-team and worked his way up to NUT D-line stud. By the end of the year he was playing every D-point and crossing over quite a bit for a depleted O-line. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as he does.
Michael Hamburger: #9, steals more than the Hamburglar himself. Burger has crazy hands and excellent timing in the air. Chances are you’ve been skied by him.
Kyle Rutledge: #12, It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention Kyle in here. He was mentioned above but I wanted to emphasize how important Kyle was for us this year. I’m excited to see how much he grows in the next couple of years considering how much he’s improved in his first two years.
FOTY- Andrew Patel: #17, kid was mentioned as a joke above but I gotta give a nod to him on here for real. A Hopkins alum, Andrew came in with a lot of pedigree but was extremely eager to learn more and has the chance to be a great player. Great throws, plus defense, needs to put on some muscle but overall a silky smooth player and great teammate. Nothing but good times from this one.
COTY- Kevin Yngve: Yngve worked tirelessly to create a constructive, positive, and energetic culture for this team and you could see it on the field. NUT was loud, engaged and ready to play no matter the circumstances. A NUT alum, Yngve has endless love for this team and we could not thank him enough.
-Will Frolich, #36
Some general thoughts:
NUT - Elan Kane and Kyle Rutledge probably won’t end up on my ballot but are noteworthy. Kyle has laid me out more than anyone else this season.
Notre dame: They have a guy who I kept matching up on they called Fitz, who I assume is Danny Fitzgerald
Would appreciate more ND input, as they definitely deserve a few nominations.
ISU: Jack “wears a beanie so you can’t see him on the line” Shanahan is top 7, he carried this team through a great post-season.
I think Karl “The Professor” Beck and Ricky “Happy Feet” Ramirez are all worth mentioning. They’re both going to be players to watch out for next year from a team with a huge returning core. Their handler Kaindl probably should be on foty team, he has throws and wins 50/50s with greater than 50/50 frequency.
Michigan has a ton of good players. They should be all over first and second team. I’m gonna put Noah Backer and Steslicki on my first team, just based on name recognition.
Uchicago: I’m putting Percy “Cool ultimate member” Stogdon in my top 7, probably top 3. He dominates against any team offensively and defensively. Jeff “Red Sox” Zhao is our above average o-line handler with some of the quickest feet and better throws in the region.
udah “The Giggler” Newman is a play-every-point guy for us who has huge flick hucks and a great inside break. He played all of his own and Jeff’s points on Sunday of regionals as Jeff was injured.
We also have a first year Milan “Purple Rain” Rivas. He’s been playing o line, taking a bit of a back seat to handlers Jeff, Abhi, and Cam, but demonstrates great consistency in moving the disc. He was a crucial part of our zone that led to our breaks against ND in the quarters. I’d stake a lot on the claim that he’s one of the seven best first years in the region.
Here’s how my ballot will shake out:
FIRST TEAM ALL REGION
Noah Backer – Magnum (poty?)
Steslicki – Magnum
Daniel Lee - Magnum (taking Michigan’s word here, if not it’ll prob be another Magnum player)
Ben Spielman – NUT (poty?)
Percy Stogdon - Junk
Specs – Undue
Jack Shanahan - Gnomes
SECOND TEAM ALL REGION
Jeff Zhao - Junk; above average o-line handler
Judah Newman - Junk
Michael kobyra – Undue
Jermery Burlillur (spelling?) – Gnomes
Fitz - Papal Rage
At least one Magnum player, still waiting on more input
Up in the air:
Beetle - Papal Rage
Ed Speyer - NUT
Jarred Elliot – Ill
Joe Byerly - Undue
Foty Team, mostly going off of other teams’ recommendations for the rest of this:
Cal - Gnomes
Milan – Junk
Kaindl – Gnomes
Aidan Gifford – Undue
As far as COTY goes, I do think Northwestern and Michigan deserve great recognition. Northwestern had a stellar season, on a team that specializes in depth and organization rather than relying on the star power of a few good players. They suffered some unfortunate injuries which may have slowed their post-season success. Michigan won our region again with a team that never let up, no matter the score or opponent. I’m sure this program receives some of the best coaching in the region, potentially nation.
I’m obviously going to advocate for my own coach, though, Zubair Abdulla. Every year he draws from a pool of less than 6000 undergrads and figures out how to compete. This year we only dropped maybe one game to a team seeded below us (ISU at sectionals) and broke seed in every tournament except for Indy Invite and Sectionals (seeded 3rd, placed 4th for both). Our program has sent at least 4 players to machine and 6 to the AUDL in the last three years. That alone serves as a testament to the great coaching we receive, which pretty much entirely comes from Zubair.
Because not many people know the freshman names, I’d like to throw support behind Scobey’s mention of Oliver Hirn for All-Freshman team from Notre Dame and also give a massive shout-out to Zack Veldman for All-Freshman. Both of these guys are going to be forces for us in years to come. Oliver started on our D-line this year and regularly made the most of Beetle’s incredible pull hangtime by beating the disc to the reciever. Veldman also started on whichever line needed him most, often initiating the offense or playing monster in zones. Both of them are already capable throwers and great, great athletes, and (along with Beetle, Collin Klenke and Danny Fitzgerald) had the most jaw-dropping layouts on our team. Please vote for them, they deserve it!