Who are the best players in the Great Lakes region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
Scott Stonis and Adam Albertin from Valparaiso. Scott is the skinny guy with the hat that skied your whole team. The kid is a human highlight reel and only a sophomore. He will be a force at conference and regionals this year and years to come. Keep your eye on him for the Donavan award in two years. Adam has taken command of the team and has shown himself a pure thrower. His throwing creativity breaks zones, marks and necks. He is a difference maker on and off the field and both of these guys would be fine additions to the All-Region team.
1 Like
From Wheaton, seniors Joshua Creedon, Jonah Karls, Jacob Van Dyke, and Holden Thompson are all worth considering. Creedon (grey joggers, #24) is the center handler and most of our offense flows through him. His hucks are very consistently on point, even 40-50 yards upwind. Jonah Karls (afro, #22) has extendable arms that he efficiently employs for skying and throwing hucks six inches beyond the discouraged mark’s outstretched hands. Van Dyke (#41) and Thompson (#8) are both stalwart cutters currently competing with each other for the team’s “Most Consecutive Middle Cuts w/o Displaying Fatigue” award.
From North Park, Drew Swanson and Scotty Nitchie are both solid, and also really fun guys to play against.
From Bradley, there’s a sophomore that puts in work on both sides of the disc and has a pretty great skillset. Really nice guy also. Blanking on his name, but I think its Tanner, maybe?
1 Like
From Wheaton, Jonah and Laramie are the main standouts and seem to run their entire offense. But they get solid play from all of their seniors. Jonah is a solid hybrid that’s got some ups. Laramie came in as the favorite for region player of the year but seemed to disappoint a bit in the one tourney they played in. Still he’s a dominate force and could possibly come away with region player of the year.
North Park has possibly the best handler/cutter combo in Brad Johnson (handler) and Drew?, #14 (Cutter). Brad has almost every throw in the book and has been around the game seems like forever. #14 is as athletic of a player there is in the region. Laramie and him will have a showdown coming hopefully in the regional final, that will likely show who the top cutter in the region is. They also have solid play from Scott Nitchie (handler) and #60 was a lockdown hybrid defender.
Bradley Has a couple returners that made a big impact. But there tall hybrid player was a pretty big force at Midwest throw down.
Knox has a handler that was a top player in the region last year. I believe his name is Kyle?
North Park has some studs and depth for the first time in 2 years or so. Brad Johnson is arguably the best pure thrower in the region and Drew Swanson is arguably the most dominant cutter in the region. Eric Lundgren and Curtis Pederson are also strong cutters whose play making ability can be a game changer. Tommy Johnson is one of the best handler defenders I’ve seen in DIII, same with Tim Clark who has made a strong case for Freshman of the year.
For Wheaton, Laramie has been a consistently great cutter for his whole college career. Super nice guy as well. Looking forward to seeing Laramie and Drew Swanson battle it out in the series. Jonah Karls is also a great well rounded player who is tough to guard.
For Olivet, Kyle Trojan runs their offense from the handler position. After Black Penguins graduated a lot of seniors last year, Trojan has stepped up as the leader of the team this season.
From Wheaton: Laramie and Jonah. Jonah all around good handler hucks into the wind are scary as a defender. Laramie an incredible defender and extremely hard to guard. These two on the field are a scary combonation
Bradley: Caleb their tall blonde handle commands the field and carries a lot of their offensive load. He is a great leader for them on the field.
Knox: Will “EC” is another handle that stretches the field going upwind. He is also a great leader for the young Knox team. During recent games against Knox he had great spirit towards me and my teammates.
North Park: Brad Johnson like mentioned in earlier nominations.
Wheaton:
#8 - Dude is pretty quick and has good endurance. Annoying to guard if you aren’t well conditioned.
#20 - Dude is pretty long and smart. Complete package and threat in the air. Good defender and pretty well conditioned.
#22 - Dude is pretty long and smart. Complete package and threat in the air. But a better thrower than #20.
#24 - Dude is pretty smart and good at throwing. Their team wants him to have the disc to boost and run the offense. Seems pretty relaxed while doing it too so that’s pretty neat.
#41 - Dude is pretty strong and quick. Runs a lot and plays good defense. Solid throws as well. Would probably slay if he didn’t go to Wheaton
#55 - Dude is pretty quick and has good endurance. Solid defender. Had really great flow last year.
#87 - Dude is pretty athletic. Pretty big too.
Knox
#7 - Dude is pretty smart and quick. The whole team runs through this guy. Good throws and solid defender.
#LongHairedDude - Dude has some solid throws, is pretty smart and is kinda quick.
#They have some other decent cutters those two throw to
Valpo
No idea
Kalamazoo
Pretty solid overall team Unit. They have a good offensive system and have good flow. I think maybe #20 was the dude that most stood out?
North Park
#2 - Solid overall player. Has throws. Has defense. Nickname “ground zero”
#7 - All-Freshman nominee. Try to catch him. Nickname “shiny teeth”
#8 - All-Freshman nominee. Dude just balls out. Nickname “the future”
#10 - Runs the offense, has the throws and plays good defense. Nickname “glazer”
#11 - Makes good decisions. Balls out. Plays good defense. Nice quads. Nickname “engaged”
#13 - Smart little tall guy that runs a lot, catches a lot, drops not a lot. Nickname “handsy”
#14 - Tall guy. Likes to run, jump, score, D, and scare people. Nickname “zestypotatoes”
#21 - Cutter guy that likes to score, run, ballout and win. Nickname “the accountant”
#22 - Little guy that doesn’t like practice but likes to dominate. Nickname “AYY EYE”
#24 - Old guy that likes to be smarter and have better throws than everyone. Nickname “yoda”
#60 - Skeptical guy that hucks too much and gets called for fouls a lot. Nickname “Voldemort”
#88 - All-Freshman nominee. Big smart guy that likes ultimate a lot. Nickname “prodigy”
2 Likes
The DIII Regional Preview stated that Laramie Aspegren was the only remaining superstar in the region. After being at the regional tournament I think this couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only are there other superstars in the Region, but there are better superstars in the Region. The tournament this past weekend exposed this truth.
Top Handlers in order:
#24 -Brad on North Park. He was the best handler this past weekend and might’ve had the best weekend out of any player in the region. His throws are second to none. What he lacks in athleticism he makes up for in intelligence. He was a fantastic moderator of the game, not allowing things to get chippy. Also his up-wind hucks absolutely devastated the competition.
#7- Will on Knox. He had the best combination of speed, athleticism and throws in the region. He absolutely dominated when he was out there and seemed to play almost every point for Knox.
#10- Scott on North Park. He was a defensive master and dropped dimes on everyone he played. Also seemed to be a fantastic team leader. It seemed that every time I looked over he was throwing a hammer to an open cutter in the endzone.
#23- Tojan on Olivet. He played almost every point for Olivet, seriously gave so much heart. Also, what a team leader, on an off year, stayed positive and lead his team through the regional tournament. He also had some great down-field hucks along the way.
#24- Joshua on Wheaton. Didn’t play but has nasty back hand lefties and runs his whole team. From what I saw at Midwestern Invite he was the best player on Wheaton.
#21- Scott on Valpo. Dude is a nasty sophomore with big things ahead. He’s a hybrid cutter/handler that skied everyone out there. Watch out for Valpo in coming years.
#8- Tim North Park. All-Freshman nominee. Dude is a beast and will be a force in the region for 3 years.
#22 Jonah on Wheaton. Hybrid Cutter/Handler. With #24 out he had to step in as a full-time handler. Good player but could not figure out how to throw through the Knox cup.
All-Region Cutters
#14- Drew on North Park. There were numerous cutters on North Park that made a big impact but the one that sticks out is #14. This weekend he was the heart and soul of the Lost Boys. He dominated on both offense and defense in the air, often guarding the best player on the other team. What he lacks in throws he makes up for in decision making and intensity.
#21- Eric on North Park. Could not be guarded on any unders. Devastated the other teams. The combo of deep cutters and #21 under could not be guarded by opposing teams. When he got the disc he made some nice down-wind throws.
#20- Laramie on Wheaton. The proclaimed “superstar” did not dominate as many anticipated. He cruised against weak competition but when it came to the big games he seemed to hide down-field. Either way, he is a solid cutter, with good speed and hops. It is a shame we didn’t get to see him face off against the tandem of North Park Cutters, especially #14.
#60- Curtis on North Park. Hybrid cutter/handler. Had some absolutely mind-boggling up wind hucks. He was a leader on and off the field, constantly coaching up his teammates. What he lacked in athleticism he more than made up for in hard-nosed defense.
#24- Shaggy on Valpo. I believe he is a freshman and if he is he should be an All-freshman nominee. He was dominating everyone in the air.
Honorable Mention: #2 Knox, #11 Wheaton, #22 North Park, #8 Wheaton, #17 Eastern Illinois.
Coach of the year nominee: North Park does not have a coach but the combination of humble and intense senior leadership transcends down to the young guys. I nominate their captains for coach of the year. (#24, #60, #14, #10)
1 Like