Who are the best players in the Northwest region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
I want to shoutout my Utah State teammates as well as a few guys who really stood out to me at NW challenge. Also a few who I’ve played with/against over the last few years that deserve a spot.
All Region Players (1st or 2nd team but not necessarily in any order)
- Garrett Martin (USU): not gonna hype myself up
- Tony (Anthony) Mounga (USU): all around dominant player. Has all the tools in his bag as well as massive playmaking ability. If you’ve played USU, you probably remember Tony.
- Brock Hyatt (USU): dude flies under the radar because of his quiet personality, but he’s been our A1 defender for the last 3 seasons. Absolute clamps and has some of the most insane layouts I’ve ever seen. Absolute stud who deserves some love.
- Nathan Huff (Utah): another guy with all the tools in his bag. Huff runs the Utah offense and is really “the guy” for that team.
- Jace Duennebeil (Utah): Jace is fast. Probably scores half of the teams goals by himself.
- Manny Eckert (UW): in his 14th year on UW manny has been the rock on the o line as well as a pretty sick defender. Full package player.
- Tony Venneri (UW): DAWG. I think that sums it up.
- Jack Brown (UW): Playmaker. Big time player who gets better every time he plays.
- Stan Birdsong (UW): haven’t seen Stan play with UW this year, we haven’t played them yet, but Stan is another full package guy. Can run an offense or put the clamps on on defense.
- Dave Barram (UO): Rock of their offense. All around great player.
- Ke’ali McCarter (UO): This dude might be a freshman, just to be safe I’ll put him up here. Absolute athlete. Really a go to downfield option for ego.
- Sam Cook (UW): almost forgot the playmaker of playmakers. He’s been real good for a long time.
-I apologize to OSU, WWU, UBC and UVic. We either didn’t play them this year (OSU/WWU/UBC) or I don’t know their top guys names (UVic). Hopefully their teammates give them some love.
All Freshman: I don’t know who all the freshman are so I’ll only have a few here.
- Jonny Hoffman (USU): Clamp city. One of our top defenders and has been an absolute game changer since getting here last fall.
-Ben Hoffman (USU): The ultimate downfield option. Dude is faster than fast and jumps higher than high. He’s basically impossible to stop because he’s just so athletic. He’s actually on our Track and Field team too if that helps contextualize his athleticism. - Adam McNichols (UO): Big dawg with a lot of upside. Playmaker now, will be a star very soon.
My name is John Moore, I play for Oregon Ego. We’ve been lucky enough to play Utah State, UW (multiple times) and OSU (multiple times) so I thought I would share some stuff I’ve seen this year so far.
I’m gonna start with dudes that aren’t on Ego who have been super effective all season and got themselves extra defensive attention.
Lucas Chen from UW has been great all year at attacking deep space and scoring goals. He had a great game in the last round of NW challenge against us, and has been a #1 scoring option for them this season.
Assaf Golan is really good on both sides of the ball and a challenging matchup. Could play O or D and make an impact either way. He does a lot for UW
Jack Brown (UW) is super athletic and draws extra defensive attention from every team he plays. He’s also a great thrower and can stretch the field with deep shots. All around strong player and a nice guy off the field
Felix Moren and Ben Liu-May (Mey?) have a pretty phenomenal connection going on at OSU right now. Two great players for sure who are tough matchups and #1 options in the reset and downfield.
Garrett Martin (USU) is the rock of their offense and does a ton for them. He’s got some sick throws and deserves some recognition.
Obviously I’m gonna be biased talking about my own team, but i’m gonna try and remain somewhat objective here.
Keali McCarter is one of the most athletic players in the country and can take the top off every single time to pressure defenses. I have only seen K lose one 50/50 ball this season and that’s without inside positioning, too. He’s so fast and athletic he pretty routinely makes plays most people could never imagine.
It’s dope that Keali’s on our team because it allows Jackson Knox (the hardest working cutter in ultimate) to just cook people off the line cause he never stops sprinting. Knox might be the hardest working cutter I have ever had the pleasure and displeasure of guarding and playing with and against. He’ll boom on you too, he’s got hops the kid is just a problem.
Chander Boyd-Fliegel is a freshman this year and I think he’s in contention for regional freshman of the year. He has some phenomenal competition for sure but Chan plays like a 5th year and lays out like he’s 5’3 instead of 6’3. I’d rather jump with C than jump with Keali but it’s pretty close, he’s just a complete player great communication great throws huge layouts, the whole deal
Every team thinks their guy is the best center handler they have seen, but i’ve guarded every good center handler on every team we’ve played for enough time to get a good sample size. David Barram is the quickest, hardest to guard, most tear-your-hair-out center handler I’ve played this year. He’s got the throws, the poise, the experience, the swag, there’s noone i’d rather have leading us into battle on O-Line. Some players you can’t really clamp you just contain certain shit and dave falls into that category as well as anyone i’ve seen.
You aren’t touching the ball more than once per point if Gabe Nobis is guarding you. That’s if you get super lucky and are like a reset handler or something. If you’re downfield, just clear out honestly. Same deal with Itay Chang, this guy takes the other team’s quickest matchup on D-Line every game and has done great work all season.
Chander for FOTY
I’m out
Let’s just take some time to appreciate all the 6th and 7th years that shouldn’t even be eligible, but are running it back to lose in the pre/quarters for the 5th straight nationals!
I’m not too familiar with teams in Washington / Oregon, but I know the Big Sky Section.
All-Region 1st Team:
- Garrett Martin (USU)
- Jordan Kerr (BYU)
- Joe Merrill (BYU)
- Jacob Miller (BYU)
- Manny Eckert (WU)
- Tony Venneri (WU)
- Nathan Huff (UT)
2nd Team:
- Tony Mounga (USU)
- Sam Cook (WU)
- Chad Yorgason (BYU)
- Brandon Jordan (BYU)
- Dave Barram (UO)
- Stan Birdsong (WU)
- Jace Duennebeil (UT)
Rookie:
- Johnny Hoffman (USU)
- Ben Hoffman (USU)
- Elijah Watchalotone (UT)
- Chad Yorgason (BYU)
- Porter Oyler (BYU)
- Jensen Wells (BYU)
I forgot BYU counts 
I’d like to shout out Ben Perkel on Montana State Rum Runners for all-region. He’s an absolute beast of a handler, and everything on the team runs through him. He’s got the throws, the intelligence, the speed, the years of experience, and is also a fantastic leader. He played on the national level team Montana Moondog last year, and has continually shown how good he is on the club and college level. If you’ve played MSU, you probably remember Ben and how hard he is to stop. All around great player, well deserving of all-region.