*This is all from my own opinion and my own perspective as a 4th year player on Cal UGMO, where I was primarily an O-line cutter this season.
California
Alex Pan (#19) is the center handler, and backbone for almost all of our offensive strategies. Teams we face continually put their top defender on Alex, yet he is always open for an upline, always able to throw the breakside throw, and continues to huck to open cutters downfield undeterred. When I’m trapped on the sideline and starting to panic, I just think back to what Alex said to me before the point - looking me straight in the eye saying “hey Josh, just look for me, and I gotchu. I’ll be open.” and so I look at him and here Alex comes right towards me wide open with his guy four steps behind or bent in half already. Ultiworld loves writing about this guy, and photographers love taking photos of him too - if you ever come face to face with him in a casual setting, you will understand why.
Ashwin Vaidyanathan (#17) is in my opinion, our team’s best all around specialist. Ashwin’s brain is his biggest weapon. If you watch him on O, he shreds any team’s zone with his perfectly spaced cuts, perfectly timed crashes, and perfectly executed fake-fake-fake-throw (off hand). On D, he matches up against players who tower over him physically, but Ashwin’s wittiness, quickness, and prediction abilities all result in him gathering blocks. Off the field, he writes long emails and compiles detailed film analyses for our entire team. This guy doesn’t know how to dance, but will dance with more effort than you’ve seen before. Some of his best kept secrets are that he’s also one of the “best” Settlers of Catan players in the nation, and has at least one (original content) Youtube videos with ~2mil views.
Tommy Lin (#25) is our senior captain and is the epitome of leading by example. On the field he’s never caught with his hands on his knees and always giving his all. If you somehow manage to cut upline with him defending you, he’ll be right there on that inside shoulder, and if unfortunately your thrower throws it, you should probably start playing D because Tommy will have bid for it, caught it, and slid forward on the grass several yards. Sorry! Outsides of games, he leads us all through our elite GPP warmup and never misses any of our gym or field workouts. He’s a close friend, and I’ve seen how much he’s sacrificed (school, career, social life, etc), all just to encourage everyone on UGMO and push us all to our very best. Hands down also one of the best smilers on our team, nicest guy on the team, and probably the best bass player in the entire college ultimate scene. Yup.
Brian Kooperberg (#77) was our defensive answer to some of our largest rival’s best players. When Stanford tried their “throw it deep and high to Mike Becich” strategy, Brian Kooperberg came along and implicitly implied “hi my name is Brian Kooperberg, not Mike Becich, so why do you keep throwing it to me?” every time he jumped, and slapped (or caught) the disc out of the air. Sectionals and Regionals have absolutely magnified the difference he makes on the D line. Brian knows more about every single sport and the history of those sports than anyone else I’ve met, and also once partnered up with me in a CS project where he helped me and we did really well. His voice range also lies a whole octave plus a few whole steps below yours.
Jace Bruner (#15) aka Big J, because he makes the biggest plays on our team. If this guy is guarding you, I am so sorry, because if you even so much as think about how you’re going to catch a disc, Jace will come from behind you and just snatch it without any physical contact. Imagine a defender who doesn’t fall for your jabs, doesn’t get tricked by your hesi move, and doesn’t know how to run slower than you… Without a doubt, you need him on your universe line, and I can say with confidence that he will make a positive difference for any and all double game points. Outstanding guy on and off the field too. Has super blue eyes.
Evan Magsig (#33), Max Williams (#87), and Drew Palmer (#8), as mentioned above by gupnotGoP are some of the top rookies in the region. All three of them have stepped up into major contributing roles on both our O-line and our D-lines. Watch any of our games, and you will see Drew scoring in the end zone for a break, Evan getting Ds and breaking ankles on O, and hear Max repeatedly reaching stall 7 or 8 on his mark in our zone set before the thrower releases an uncomfortable throw. Each of them have their own unique flavor to bring to this team, and I am so excited for these three as they continue to grow!
I’m going to leave the Cal player list at this (seniors + 1 other player + freshmen).
USC
Sam Cook continues to make great plays as a thrower - releasing from any angle and being able to get the disc anywhere on the field - and as a receiver - skying dudes and grabbing discs way out of reach. But I wonder who he would be and what their team would be without Wyatt Paul. Wyatt comes down with amazing grabs in the air, and when other teams try to adjust their defensive strategy, he just figures out another weakness and capitalizes. Definitely one of the toughest cutters I’ve guarded before. David Sealand is a star on their O and D, and deceivingly fast and physical. One of the toughest matchups on O or D I’ve faced in this region.
SLO
I don’t even know most of these guy’s names, but everyone mentioned in this thread is probably great. Shout out to the freshman center handler who wears a visor (#81), as watching him throw and just stay composed is extremely inspiring, and also watching #27 who apparently is also a freshman(?) have ideal spacing and getting open on all his cuts too, is also extremely inspiring. Ian Sweeney literally stands out by being a head taller and am arm longer than everyone else, but he’s also just an amazing defender and a great handler (and cutter). His throws are nearly impossible to stop and he has a deep understanding of the game from all angles.
UC Davis
Nick Tolfa is the one worth mentioning here, and a lot has been said about him already, so I don’t have too much to add. But he plays with confidence, class, and confidence. He’s a spirited player on and off the field. I’m sure he’s a great teammate to have!
UC Santa Cruz
Aaron Hom, small dude with giant calves, has amazing throws and extreme athleticism.
Stanford
Kevin Tien has my respect for grinding hard up and down the field, on both offense and defense. His team needs him to generate turns and make big plays on offense and defense. Calm and composed. Watching him in his first Spiders (AUDL) game this season was really cool. Nick Nirning is an amazing thrower, with release points that make no sense whatsoever, and with step outs that look so effortless - because, well, he doesn’t really need to step out. Mike Becich is the guy with the obnoxious speakers, and is probably one of the best deep threats in the region. I’d like to see him against some of SLOs top players.
Coach of the Region
Daniel Silverstein (California). This should not even be a competition. But I’ll speak about it briefly. Four years ago, Dan joined UGMO (same time as myself), and his vision was grand - to take UGMO to Nationals. For three years, he planned strategy and player development with seemingly infinite insight. We always gave it our all, but it was never enough. I thought last year would be our best chance to go to Nationals. But this year, Dan spoke up before anyone else, proclaiming that we this year, 2019, we would go to Nationals. Step by step, everything started to align. All his thoughts and plans the previous years suddenly made more sense. Coming into Regionals this past weekend, we felt so confident and well, we did it. Dan did it.
Dan brought together a bunch of dudes who’ve never played ultimate before, who never believed in themselves as athletes, and a bunch of dudes who prioritized school and career before frisbee, and concocted an impeccable plan - one which would carry Cal UGMO from sometimes-sunny Berkeley, CA down to probably-sunnier Austin, TX!!