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.
In the D3 open division, you won’t find a more athletic defender then the University of Puget sound’s Jeremy Gordon. He consistently takes the hardest matchup and applies pressure no matter what. Cutters, handlers, it doesn’t matter. He puts his body on the line and makes up for lack of throwing confidence with sheer grit and grind.
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Bacchus
Bacchus has a deep team in all aspects but I’m going to make the focus of this post on freshmen and coaching.
Charlie Wagner and Orlando Impas both need to be considered for the All-Freshman team for the conference. Charlie has the best pulls in d3 NW (and is one of the best in the country) and produces flick bombs with unreal consistency. Orlando is sneaky, dependable, and resilient on the Bacchus O-line, easily flexing in and out of the handler position. Not to mention Levi Stahl and James Fishman who are dawgs in their own right, rounding out our D and O line respectively.
I firmly believe the Bacchus has the best coaching squad in d3 ultimate. Ben Whitenack has given the team a new sense of identity which stresses new levels of confidence and go-get-them attitude which the team has been driven by, while still holding on to our trademark goofyness. Sam Franer is a strategical weapon who fine tunes our play when it matters most in high-intensity high-stakes situations. His fire lights us up when it comes down to the wire, like in the game to go at confregionals where he told us we had “30 mins to win.”
Other D3 NW
Reece Painter of PLU got in the gym even more this year and absolutely bullied every single kid on Bacchus in the game to go with athleticism and explosiveness in the handler space.
Kai of Whitman is the only player to successfully sky my teammate Max at d3 NW conferences.
It has been a pleasure to play much of my college career against Caleb at Seattle U. He is a very complete ultimate player. He seems like a detail-oriented grinder with solid throws, cutting form, and decision making. His style of play speaks to me a lot.
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I’m the Bacchus head coach, read the following with that in mind. Also, I apologize to my players who I don’t name - you deserve a shout out too.
All Region Noms
PLU - Reece Painter - is dominant and anchors his team in a way no one else in Northwest D3 does imo. Automatic upline, great spacing, and body control. Him not being on all-region would be robbery and I’m not sure I could “keep it civil” if he’s snubbed.
Whitman - Leo Dungan-Seaver - That dude is really good, great bids, throws, and cuts. Complete package as far as I can tell. Love watching him play, don’t want him on the opposing team though.
Whitman - Tyler Shanahan- I thought he played really well against us and provided a solid base for the Whitman offense to run off of. Good throwing and handler spacing.
Bacchus
Leo Finley (Senior) - The Prince of Clean Ultimate. He doesn’t make mistakes, he is always open, and is exceptionally hard to guard deep. Plus, he’s got great throws, and the length to always break the mark. You have to make a choice of what to take away when guarding him and it’s always a bad one, good luck.
Owen Heh (Senior) - The Raging Royal. There isn’t a person with more hat spikes in the Northwest. Owen influences the game from both sides of the disc with energy, intensity, and sheer desire. An anchor for us and someone who will get dirty to get the job done. Their throws are great and love to show that the breakside is in fact open.
Sebastian Williamson (Junior) - The Consistent Count - Seb makes the right play for the right reasons and plays hard, clean defense. He has great throws, and knows how to use his body to be open in tight spaces. This is his first year playing sanctioned college ultimate and he has exceeded all expectations on and off the field as a leader and player on Bacchus. There is no disc out of reach of his bids and he is a joy to watch.
Anson Parker (Sophomore) - The Duke of Open Space. Anson has more highlight cuts in one game than most people have in a tournament. He’s patient, has great vision, and can make the tough throws. A true hybrid player, he distributes and moves like an elite ultimate player.
Leo Farley (Sophomore) - The Lord of the Lane - Farley is going to find a way to get the disc. On defense he plays heads-up D and will run himself into the ground in order to make the other teams life harder. On offense - he might have the best huck timing of anyone on the team and on the receiving end has top tier air awareness and the vertical to go with it. Consistently pulling in 2-3 schwilly discs a game we are lucky to have Leo cleaning up messes.
Max Zwerin (Sophomore) - The Sky Sovereign. There are only a few who challenge Max in the deep space. He’s fast, strong, and explosive. This year he has become a good thrower and team player who can time his cuts off of his teammates on the field. On D, good luck, this dudes running you down and once he gets the D he’s going to run you around.
All Frosh Noms
Charlie Wagner - Great range and touch on his throws, consistently open, and a tough defender. He’s got length and height to his advantage and makes use of it when he is downfield. Stepping into a major role as freshman he has excelled and is always looking to improve.
Levi Stahl - He’s the kind of person you want on the line with you. It is hard to talk highly enough about his intensity on D and impact on the field. He can play handler or cutter D and is always making life hard for the best players on any team.
Orlando Impas - Orlando dominates from downfield and excels at timing his cuts for the needs of the handlers. In zone he’s dependable and resilient. His lefty break is tough to block and he’s got great defensive intuition.
Coaching
Idk much about this one but I want to shoutout August Schwartz, Sam Franer, and Tadao Kumasaka for all their work, energy, and insight during this year of Bacchus.
UPS player here:
I’d like to nominate both our coaches; max bommarito and Adam fischette.
I’ve been playing frisbee for nine years and have not had or seen coaches that do more for a team. They an amazing job creating an environment for competition and development for new players, which is essential in D3 ultimate. During games they provide strategy and feedback at a really high level. Especially in the context of a program that integrates a lot of players without prior frisbee knowledge, max and Adam have done an amazing job.
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Coach of UPS here, in a year with two teams clearly above the rest, the majority of the All Region teams should be devoted to Whitman and LC. While we didn’t play those two teams in the Spring, I trust that their players will get the recognition they deserve, especially want to shout out Kai from Whitman and Leo from LC.
Other players
Seattle U - Has a tallish Cascades player who is talented both away and near the disc. He is a matchup nightmare and allows them to challenge deeper teams.
PLU - Reese really leveled up his play this year and made some big plays in big moments, very reliable receiver and even when pushed to go every other stays consistent. He is incredibly spirited as well.
Now I’d like to give my biased shoutouts for some UPS players.
Ben McAuliffe (Senior) - May not be one of the 7 best players in the region, but his handle of the offense is as good as anyone’s and really allows things to flow. He lead our team in completion percentage and would be a welcome addition on any team.
Chris Nicol (Junior) - Chris is going to continue to shine as he is asked to do less and less. His footwork and first step is elite and it shows when he leaves defenders steps behind him. His physical handler defense is exhausting to play against and he has never seen a disc he won’t bid for. On a deeper team he would be the perfect grinder to crank out ungaurdable under after under.
Xander Rudolph + Jeremy Gordon - I call these dudes Grit and Grind because they are not afraid of the hard work. Both marking together in a zone, they lead the team in blocks and are hard to guard on a turn both being able to handle or go downfield and churn out goals.
Freshman -
Sahaj Olivar - One of the most talented players I have ever coached, Sahaj should not only be freshman of the year in our region, he should challenge for a spot on the all region team. Sahaj unlocks the field with elite level throwing ability and experience with the game. This kid loves frisbee and would love nothing more than to play every point. Even though he is primarily an offensive player, he has excellent layouts that he uses to generate d’s on turns or when he crosses over.
Alex Rossmeisl - Alex is a great addition to a team that needed more throwers to push the disc down the field, he does just that. Once you see him point, you know the disc is going up. Alex started the year inconsistent and showing flashes of greatness, but by the end of the year found a great groove and started to generate some highlight plays for the d line.
Dom Navarre - Dom has great athleticism and size which found him playing on the o line as a freshman. He is sure handed and has the ability to go up and get discs over much more experienced players. Number of clap catches above defenders heads? Too many to count.
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PLU player here.
All-Region:
Reece Painter–PLU: Not much that hasn’t already been said here, but as a player in my fifth season, Reece is the best player I have had the pleasure to play alongside in my career. The dude has an unguardable upline, great decision making, fantastic leadership, scary good pulls, and the best body awareness I have ever seen. This is a no brainer.
Blake Clapp–PLU: The heart and soul of our team, Blake brings great defensive awareness to the field. His ability to guard well in 1:1 matchups against top players is commendable, but where he really shines is in his ability to read the next throw in the zone–he has had more layout D’s as a wing than anyone I know. On top of his defensive abilities, Blake is a consistent offensive threat. Good decision making as a thrower and has great spacial awareness on the field.
Jamie Kauffman–Seattle U: The center of their offense, he makes great decisions and can go up and get the disc against anyone in the conference. Great low release options as well as deep hucks. He and Reece provided for a popcorn–worthy matchup, and Jamie deserves all-region as much as anyone.
Leo Finley–Lewis & Clark: A pleasure to play against, and yet a player I never want to have on the other team. Great throws, stays chilly when necessary, and overall seemed like the anchor of LC.