Who are the best players in the Ohio Valley 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 go to CWRU, here are some people that should be nominated for awards:
All-Region: James Kennelly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWkVDIYANf0). If he isn’t the best player in the region, he is very close to it. The video linked is solely from his freshman year. A very explosive player with amazing offensive and defensive skills.
All-Freshman: Anil Driehuys (https://usaultimate.org/team-usa/u20/2022-u20-men/). The center handler for our team. Has very pretty throws in any condition. Does it all on both sides of the disk.
Coaching Awards: Eric Zarobila - He is the most dedicated coach I have ever had. Wants only to see the team succeed. Not only does he show up to every practice, but also puts more time into the program than most people on the team through practice plans, film analysis, or feedback emails. Puts his heart and soul into this team.
Anil Driehuys, as a dominant hybrid player on CWRU’s O-line (largely functioning as center handler) I believe should be carefully considered for the 2022 All-Freshman. His effort and dedication to our team makes a very large difference in CWRU’s mentality and poise during games and to have such a maturity as a freshman makes him a perfect candidate for this award,
James “Stonewall” Kennelly is a great consideration for All-Region. Since his freshman year he has been arguably CWRU’s strongest player and throughout his years on the team has expanded his role from being just a strong player to a leader. He masterminds much of CWRU’s offense and his intensity and focus during practice is infectious.
Eric “EZ” Zarobila has played frisbee internationally and in high level club across the country. This wealth of experience has made him a very well studied coach and a strong leader. Not only does he devote his time and patience to CWRU, he spends time with his players getting to know them personally as a friend. EZ is affectionately our Uncle and it makes a massive difference in how we not only approach frisbee but also how we live our lives.
I go to West Virginia, here is my say for a team that isn’t nationally known
All-Region: Ian Vilveac. He is the first WVU player to ever receive an AUDL contract (Thunderbirds Practice Squad). He recorded 45% of team assists this year, as well as helped be a co-coach for the year.
All-Freshman: Matthew Rubeck. In his first year of playing frisbee, he has improved so much. He is a defensive presence on the field, being a handler mark in a zone defense. He also cuts really well and can throw if he needs to.
Coaching Award: Xena Williams. Before hiring Xena, WV Wild was ranked 369 on USAU before covid. We are now going to regionals for the 2nd ever time in team history + now ranked in the top 150 on frisbee-rankings.com. Before sectionals, only 6 people on a team of 28 have ever played a full season of ultimate. That is 22 new people finishing their first ever season, playing in their first ever tournaments. She has turned the program around, and has improved the team on the field, as well as help us set up future generations for success. She is thinking about frisbee non-stop, has practice plans ready weeks in advance, and even takes time out of practice to put in some extra work with people.
Not-award related, can we just talk about how it is Friday at 11:15 and we still don’t know what fields regionals is at?
Here are my all region picks, based mostly on watching the backdoor quarters, semis, and finals on sunday from the case sideline (disclaimer that case didn’t play pitt, so i’m mostly going off reputation for their guys)
All Region 1st Team
- Henry Ing (Pitt)
- Will Hoffencamp (Pitt)
- Axel Agami (OSU)
- Eric Coglianese (OSU)
- James Kennelly (CWRU)
- Anil Driehuys (CWRU)
- Max Ramstad (PSU)
All Region 2nd Team
- Miles Cooper (Pitt)
- Noah Krumme (OSU)
- Michael O’Brien (CWRU)
- Elliot Skindzier (Cinci)
- Peter Zaccardi (CMU)
- Another Pitt guy, not sure who
- #69 on Cinci, I don’t know his name
Player of the year: Henry Ing
Freshman of the year: Anil Driehuys
Coach of the year: Eric Zarobila (CWRU)
Player of the year: Henry Ing - fairly self explanatory, dude is a walking mismatch.
Freshman of the year: Anil Driehuys (CWRU) - played a huge role for Case and was extremely polished. Very impressive player all around.
Coach of the year: Boris Li (PSU)
First Team (No particular order)
-Henry Ing (Pitt)
-Tristan Yarder (Pitt)
-Max Ramstad (PSU)
-Axel Agami (OSU)
-James Kennelly (CWRU)
-Eric Coglianese (OSU)
-Paul Owens (UPenn)
Second Team
-Will Hoffencamp (Pitt)
-Anil Driehuys (CWRU)
-Nate Little (Temple)
-Mike Dzelzgalvis (PSU)
-Pete Zaccardi (CMU)
-Will Helinski (Pitt)
-#69 on Cinci (also don’t know his name)
PSU Coach here, here are my picks. I think I know the PA teams pretty well, and played the top teams from Ohio so I have gotten a solid look at most of the top players in the region.
All Region 1st Team
- Henry Ing (Pitt) - Best player in the region, pretty easy choice here.
- Will Hoffencamp (Pitt) - Basically the takeover guy on their D-line, will go every other, and will probably get the disc if he really wanted to. Also will crossover and be a huge part of their offense. I don’t know if there is a defender in the region that can lock him up.
- Axel Agami (OSU) - From what I saw, arguably the best defender in the region. He will probably take the opponent’s toughest matchup and has the skill set to lock him up, while also being a major contributor on a turn and also when he switches over to O
- James Kennelly (CWRU) - Probably the most annoying guy to cover from what I’ve seen. Makes everything look effortless with a killer first step that was an absolute problem for guys.
- Max (Robert) Ramstad (PSU) - Kinda a homer for this one but Max has been money for us all season long. Our guys are always looking to get the disc into his hands and they usually succeed, usually takes the hardest matchup on the opposing team too, and makes brings a different level of defense makes even the best players think a little bit more.
- Paul Owens (UPenn) - Was one of the most dynamic players that we played against in terms of athleticism. Made some crazy D’s and also dominated his matchup on offense. UPenn’s offense ran through Paul and he was usually the one getting the D’s to give his team a chance to score.
- Tristan Yarter (Pitt) - Crazy good athlete, probably the best puller in the region. Been playing for a long time and shows it in his skill and body control. Key player on Pitt’s D-line
Second Team
- Eric Coglianese (OSU) - Didn’t see too much of him in person, but saw a lot of film. Seems like the main weapon on OSU’s O-line and has all the tools to do anything that is asked of him
- Mike Dzelzgalvis (PSU) - Another homer but I absolutely think he deserves it. Kinda the yin to Max’s Yang, consistently scores 15+ goals in every tournament. Was injured on a crazy layout score in 2nd place prequarters vs UPenn, which can be seen here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zjt_qq5980xqaeN4Lxf0Pg0ERie631nm/view
Just unfortunate that he couldn’t continue playing through our run - Nate Little (Temple) - Absolutely devastating that Temple could not play at regionals but probably the 2nd best player in the air in the region behind henry. Absolute unit of a lefty who can break marks and shoot it too. Kinda annoying that this guy is in our region now tbh.
- Peter Zaccardi (CMU) - Best player on CMU who is solid at everything. Being the guy on a team that finished tied for 5th is pretty deserving of an All-Region pick.
- #69 (Cinci) - Not really sure what his name is but when their offense ran their handler dominator set, he was usually the one to bail them out and make the play. He definitely gave us the most trouble in our game and seems like he was well deserving of a shout out.
- Myles Cooper (Pitt) - I don’t know how much I gotta explain this one but Coop is a dog on defense. Don’t test him.
- Will Helinski (Pitt) - Another huge playmaker on Pitt’s D-line. Will has made some of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen on film and in person. But also has a level of consistency that is invaluable.
Rookie of the year- Anil Driehuys (CWRU) Was kinda like a baby faced assassin when we played them, has a level of maturity in his game that I haven’t seen in a while, and played a very good game against us. Dude is gonna be a problem
All-Rookie team - Don’t know too much but I can shout out a few names
- Alex Mullen (PSU)- Was #54 for us, came in as a dude who barely played in highschool and mostly played in the small league in state college, became an absolute killer for our team. He was our main puller, and took a beating in a lot of our games, but still showed up everytime to launch a pull, get the disc back on a turn, and then launch a flick huck 50 yards up wind.
*Ended up getting injured in our quarters game vs Cinci - Benji Fiedler (PSU) - Was the super tall blond eminem-looking mf on our team. Skied a LOT of people. Even more incredible when thinking back, he would clap catch skies over people before we taught him to catch it with one hand.
- Peter Kotz (Pitt) - Solid player for Pitt and has a promising future ahead of him. Nice guy and will be on the U-20 team this summer. Very impressed by Peter and looking forward to seeing how he develops
- Pink headband (CMU), Not sure if he was a freshman or not, but if he was, he played extremely well for them. Was generally the initiating and primary cutter on that team and I always had to have a gameplan against him.
Coach of the year: Shout out to Xena on WVU. She has a passion that not a lot of coaches have, and did very well to foster and build a team that made regionals for the 2nd time in team history. She deserves recognition even though her team was not in the running for the two bids to nationals
Kinda my thoughts on how the spring was and shout out to Christie and Brett for coordinating the circus that was finding fields and schedules. Honestly looking back, things went shockingly smooth for how chaotic things must’ve been behind the scenes and want to give some praise for definitely being some of the best Regional Directors in the country.
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Some nominations from Lehigh.
All region 2nd team: Deven Amann-Rao (number 12). One of the shiftiest offensive players in the region. Dominates in both the handler and cutting space on our O-line and has a beautiful lefty backhand (he is in fact a lefty I should add). Additionally, carried a newly founded mixed club team, Peep Show, from the Allentown area to regionals for the first time.
All rookie (slightly biased…): Ari Carp (number 93). Stepped on to our team as a top o-line cutter from the beginning of the fall. Finds a way to get open and positions himself in all the right spaces. Devastating speed in the deep space and elusive end zone cutting. Also, throws cheeky hammers. Currently trying out for Slow-White for club this summer and played with Squad (formerly Deathsquad) this past summer.
and so humble too!
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He’s already been talked about a lot on this thread, but I wanted to add a little more on Anil Driehuys. Anil has had a fantastic year for CWRU, he reached nearly 40% of our assists at regionals and has been a huge contributor on defense as well as offense. He has fantasic throws even in strong wind, is a dangerous deep threat as well, and an athletic defender.
I go to PSU. Here are my nominations/thoughts for the region.
(No particular order)
All region first team:
Michael Ing(Pitt)
Axel Agami(OSU)
Max Ramstad(PSU)
James Kennelly(CWRU)
Paul Owens(Penn)
Eric Coglianese(OSU)
Will Hoffencamp(Pitt)
All region second team:
Tristan Yarter(Pitt)
Anil Driehuys(CWRU)
Pete Zaccardi(CMU)
Mike Dzelzgalvis(PSU)
Will Helenski(Pitt)
Nate Little(Temple)
#69 on Cinci
Not sure in the weird covid year if its All Rookie awards or All Freshman Specific, but I can drop names for both(biased opinion!).
All Freshman:
Sean Brown(PSU) #2- Do it all utility player that plays both sides of the disc extremely well. Played both lines for us all season whenever we needed him too and made big plays in big moments that won us many games.
Zander Lutz(PSU) #17- Doesn’t make the most noise or the most amount of plays on the field, and theres good reason for it. Zander can absolutely erase whoever he’s defending off of the field and always took the biggest, most athletic matchup. Freak athlete on defense and a crucial centerpiece to out defense.
Peter Kotz(Pitt)- Not easy contributing on a team like Pitt as a freshman. Should be a scary sight to see for the next few years.
Anil Driehuys(CWRU)- Gonna be honest, did not know he was a freshman till I peeped this forum and was just like “damn”.
All Rookie (non freshman):
Sam Barnett(Psu) #23- Probably the biggest playmaker on Penn States roster in my opinion. Makes crazy layout Ds regularly including the game winning on universe kind. Is able to generate Ds and carry the offensive load on the other side of the disc very well. Is an excellent shooter who has racked up many assists in big moments including the game winner in the Cincinnati game.
Alex Mullen(PSU) and Benji Fiedler(PSU)- See Boris’s comments above
Coach of the Year: Xena Williams
Had the chance to watch her coach at sectionals. Definitely cares alot about her team and has a passion for her team that makes her an excellent coach. Her accolades and what she has done for WVU speak for themselves.