Who are the best players in the North Central region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
At Northwoods sections this last weekend, two players really stood out to me as elevating their entire team play from a complete offensive, defensive, and leadership perspective: Darby from St. Olaf (don’t know his last name) and Remy Eisendrath from Macalester, the team I coach.
Darby keeps the Berzerker offense organized, managing the game flow through his decision making and excellent break throws, and executes with a high level of precision and skill. With the disc in his hands, St. Olaf is confident and rarely turns disc.
For Macalester, Remy has taken a team that usually struggles to make it to regionals to a 3rd seed at North Central regions. A combination of disruptive defense on every opponent’s biggest threat and unstoppable handler speed, Remy can shut down both handlers and cutters defensively while powering the team’s offense. As a captain, Remy keeps all players involved and motivated and maintains a balance of competition and camaraderie that every great ultimate team has. I think any team we played this weekend will tell you we outperformed expectations, and they’d also tell you that Remy is a big reason why.
Disclosure: As coach of Macalester, I’m much closer to the players on our team, and really can only comment on the teams from the Northwoods section, which I’ve seen in person.
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Michigan Tech won Lake Superior Conference for the first time ever. The team is once again very young; half of the team is freshmen. This year, I would like to throw out two names out for FOTY: Franklin Uganski and Mitch Denooyer. Frank is an athletic OLine cutter and Mitch is a defensive machine. Both are quite fast, and have great field vision, a trait not common in most freshmen.
As for POTY, I know Charlie Schuweiler is gonna be a lot to handle, as well as Tyler on St. John’s. I’m sure GoP has some dope dudes but idk you guys that well. I know Stump on Drake because we were guarding each other all club season. I’m sure every team here has a couple of nasty dudes, but these are just some of the names that come to mind.
Hope you all are ready for another sloppy ass regionals.
-Brendan McCann, Michigan Tech DiscoTech
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Full disclosure- I play for St. Olaf
As far as D-III FOTY, Drew Otterlei (number 81 on St. Olaf) has been playing at a level higher than most seniors this year. With an elite set of throws that can carve up zone defenses, and score against man defense in a single throw, he came into the Zerks offense without missing a beat and that efficiency has translated both on the stats sheets, and when you’re watching a game. Against St. Thomas on Sunday at conferences, Drew threw easily half of the assists in the game, probably in the double digits. His throws aren’t the only thing that set him apart, he also is more athletic than most players in the division and can match up on the other teams best player and then punish them after the turn.
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Bias alert I’m on Drake DUC.
Mitchell McCarthy of Drake is absolutely without a doubt the best player in the West Plains conference. No one can match up with him, and I can’t wait to have him blow up at regionals. He broke his pinky last year at sectionals so I feel like no one saw how awesome he can be. He’s got the throws, the skies, the layouts, and the energy that it takes to be a top notch player. In my mind he is so obviously one of the top 7 in the region that I feel he should even be up for the Donovan and I’m not kidding. He clearly hasn’t gotten the attention so far, but keep an eye out because he deserves it. 1st team lock, if not more.
If Brendan McCann is the best player on Michigan Tech DiscoTech, and Discotech is the best in Lake Superior, that’s gotta land him a spot on All-region right? He is the anchor for that team, and I know he’s busted his ass to make Discotech and himself the best they can be. He is the guy I always wanna match up with whenever he’s on the field, because I know he’s good.
Schuweiler of St. John’s is an easy pick for all-region but if you’re reading stuff here I probably don’t need to tell you that.
As for other guys region-wide, I’m sure there’s more than a few GOP dudes who deserve it but idk who they are. The guy with the gnarly Fu Manchu on Discotech whose name is escaping me is pretty good, probably deserving of an all-region shout out. Brandon McClintock of St. Thomas, my hometown homie definitely deserves a nod for all-region, along with the other main guy on St. Thomas who receives most of his hucks (no name tho sorry). Noah Werling on Drake could earn a spot as well. He’s one of the dudes I love throwing to the most because I trust him to come down with the disc. He accounts for a bunch of our scores for sure.
If you have a vote for coach of the year, Matt Stoker of Drake is your guy. He’s help turned DUC into what it is today and led us to our first sectional championship. Lot of respect for a guy who is as busy as him, but still puts so much time and effort into a team like us.
-Alex Stumphauzer
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Brendan McCann is a super fun player to watch and can compensate for his teams lackluster (also can play while looking great in a blue one piece)
Edit: for being short hes not awful
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Writing from Macalester:
I second what Stump said. Mitch on Drake stood out at Ugly Dome and Old Capitol as the most complete player, elite throws as a handler and physical in the air with all cutters. Stump picked apart our zone and these two really run the show.
Brandon on UST has all the throws: the high release flick, the lefty backhand, and a precision hammer that leave the mark feeling screwed. Their #46 (jimmy?) I think is a new guy and he can fly.
GoP has such a system down. Having played them multiple times, it seems like it’s a different dude doing the damage each time. I still think Abe is the main horse, but an injury forced others to take over the primary handling with little slippage. Good luck covering Will Yetvin under… It ain’t happening.
Only played once against SJU. #11 Justin Wollin mighta thrown the most bombs on their team in this game, some more lefty hucks going down the break side right into the receiver. Don’t know their names well.
I felt like Olaf cutters were strong but even with the already mentioned Darby and Drew powering them from the handlers. Darby looked especially dominant in the games I watched.
Haven’t played many other teams. Carleton C has a handler named Russ whose deep throws picked us apart and always curled back to the break side- difficult to defend.
Ill give some of my own guys a shout out on another post later
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DUC coach here.
Watched some talented players at the West Plains Conferences and wanted to throw some names out there for the All Region discussion.
First off, your boys for Drake.
Mitchell McCarthy(#10) is as described by Stump. Total game changer whenever he’s on the field. Sets the tone with intense defense and does anything you need him to on offense. Dominate downfield cutter? Yes. Great deep thrower? Yes. Filthy breaks? Yes. For my money he’s going to be the person giving Charlie Schuweiler trouble for Player of the Region and is a phenomenal candidate for the Donovan award this year.
Alex Stumphauzer(#54) is quick to talk up his teammates but is an incredible talent for Drake this year. He is easily in the top 5 for throws in the region and if you underestimate his defensive abilities he’ll make you regret it. He has a very complete game and is going to be hard to stop for anyone.
Noah Werling(#21) is DUC’s best cutter. He’s that guy that if a disc goes up to him cutting deep I’m 99% sure he’s either going to sky his guy, run it down, or make an athletic bid to secure the catch. His defense has improved drastically over the course of the year and he makes lay out D’s look easy. He is also quietly one of DUC’s top throwers. Hits all the easy stuff with a lot of spin on the disc and will make the hard throws you don’t expect him to. Proud of the work he’s put in and am excited for him to dominate at Regionals.
Other players I’ve noticed through out the year.
Kevin Molina-Grinnell(#30) great play maker and defender. Works hard for the disc and hard to take it away from other teams.
Ray Schroeder-Grinnell((#14) Dominates the disc for Grinnell and has some filthy up wind puts. Does a lot for them on offense.
Alec Straus-Coe(#4) He’s the guy that does everything for them. Their best all around player and play maker. He is the reason they have a lot of their success and is extremely well spirited. His play was able to lift them up to Regionals.
Brandon McClintock-St. Thomas(#55) Great thrower for their squad and has one of the sickest hammers I’ve ever seen. We played against him at Ugly Dome and he was a big reason they had a lot of success on offense. He makes the game easier for his teammates around him due to his throwing ability.
Excited to see everyone at Regionals and report back with some more names for you all to consider. Maybe this year I’ll just go ask some of the GOP player’s names so that way we can actually talk about them. Good luck this weekend, everyone!
Other players on Macalester to look out for:
Pradyut Bansal has the best hammer on this side of the Mississippi. Alex Delhagen has the best pulls, lefty and righty. Don’t fight Orion Dick Neal in the air. Don’t slow down on your in cut or Malik Earle will hit a massive lay out D. Jonah Giese will tire out any defender. Brian Call’s marks are elite. And don’t try to argue a rules violation with Aidan Cowan.
This is Alec Straus of the Coe Kohucks. He has been talked about a bit in this thread all ready but I just wanted to second his nominations. Alex Stumphauzer is a great player and definitely deserves an all regional nod. He always plays the game with the best spirit and he is a fantastic leader for the strong duc squad.
This is where my bias begins, but I feel that Zoe Bakken-Heck deserves an all freshmen nod. She came to the Kohucks with a lot of experience and she has killed it as one of our main handlers for the entire year. She can definitely grow a lot, but look for her to be a strong leader of the Kohucks in years to come.
Alec Strauss here again, I spelt my name wrong in the last post… but I’ve got another nomination for the all regional team.
David Priggie from Luther B was absolutely killing it against Coe. Even in the bad weather on Sunday his throws were amazing. I was standing at the back of Coe’s zone and would be mesmerized as his hammers would just float perfectly over me to his teammates for scores. He also played with amazing spirit.
After a classic North Central weather weekend, I’d like to add closing thoughts on players who stood out to me. Charlie Schuweiler deserves to win POTY again this year. His throws in the wind were the best of any player there. Also, Tyler (dunno last name, but #18 on SJU) played awesome, his mark is the best I’ve faced in college.
Darby on St. Olaf’s had some dope throws, as well as #21 who was pretty quick. Also, I think #81 was a freshman for Olaf and he was really good too; he will be a stud in coming years. Also, shout to Olaf for staying on campus and supporting a valiant cause. Everyone in the NC is proud of you guys, keep up the good work.
GoP played a great system, but Abe really stood out; he didn’t ever make mental errors and facilitated the offense very well.
Stump ran the show for Drake, he has legs.
As for Michigan Tech, my team, I think we were more competitive than people thought. The team is still a majority of freshmen which is exciting. Frank Uganski (#6) may have caught three quarters of our teams goals. Mitch Denooyer (#9) was consistently making big plays all weekend. I think both deserve serious consideration in the FOTY voting.
Drake coach here again to report on some of the great players that represent our region.
Didn’t get to see St. John’s play this weekend but I’m assuming that Charlie is still a baller and Tyler Meyer is still a workhorse. Would love to hear more about what other teams thought of their play.
I was able to get some names of GOP players that stood out for them.
Alex Rafkin had some of the best pulls I saw all weekend. Really an underappreciated skill that can change the entire game. I believe they said he was a Freshman as well so that seems pretty unfair.
Will Yetvin was a speedy cutter that made big plays for them downfield.
Michael Ebako-Hodgson really clean cutter who just always seemed to be open down field and didn’t really turn the disc over. Very patient and polished player. While some of his other teammates probably have flashier plays he is just out there making the game look easy.
For Macalester
Remy Eisendrath was easily their best player. Big throws, crafty breaks, and lock down defense. This guy was the whole package and could also be in consideration for POTY.
Malik Earle absolutely balled out on defense. He was often charged with guarding our team’s best players and he made life really hard for them. Exciting player to watch.
Also shout out to Graham, the coach of Macalester. The team as a whole was well disciplined and played great defense. I was really impressed with their on field organization.
For St Olaf
Andrew Darby Lawrence is a phenomenal thrower, excellent defender, and great thrower. Really polished player who was impressive on and off the field. He had great spirit and about as much fun playing competitive ultimate as you’ll see. He was one of the players I was most impressed by last weekend. Deserving of a first team All Region nod.
Andrew Otterlei played great for St Olaf as well. Big throws and smart defensive player.
Big shout out to St. Olaf for having their priorities straight day two of Regionals. They were in a great position to go far day 2 but ultimately decided that their were more important causes to pursue. It’s hard to put competitiveness aside and do what’s right for your fellow students. Couldn’t be more proud to share a Region with this team. You guys are the real winners from last weekend.
For Michigan Tech
Brendan McCann is the driving force behind that team’s success. Great thrower, tough defender, and incredible spirit. Really everything you could ask for in a leader. Plus that mustache makes all the ladies swoon.
Drake Slater was the guy who touched the disc the second most after Brendan. Solid thrower who seemed to have no problem being the possession guy on the team, a role that is really under valued on most teams.
Michael Merwin also deserves a shout out as their head coach. He has a really young squad but got them to play disciplined enough ultimate to really be a competitive force in the region this year. It’s incredible what he has done with that program.
Thanks to every team for a great year of competition. Good luck at Natties, St. Johns!