My girlfriend too loves Owen! She would always come back from their late night chats looking so happy and satisfied. I would even pay for the meals they would share together. She told me his bed was the most comfortable one she’d ever been on. Thank god owen was there to keep her company while I stayed up all night studying zone defense. What a great guy Definitely has my vote!
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I’m Cal coach Evan Magsig. Really excited that Cal has made nationals and while the Southwest is very strong this year, I think that there are a few Cal players who have had tremendous seasons that deserve recognition.
All Region Candidates
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Gavin May - Has had an outstanding year as a centerpiece on both O and D. He consistently made big plays in big moments and showed tremendous versatility and ability as a Handler and a Cutter. With layout Ds, big skies, great break throws and just as good in small spaces, I haven’t seen any players like him in my 5 years (short time tho) playing frisbee. In addition to his on-field presence, he has capably handled so much logistical work for tournaments, flights, and battled all season to get Cal field space so that we can simply practice. I know it doesn’t matter for All-Region, but his resilient leadership and passion to get Cal back to Nationals inspired us to make it. Great Season Gavin
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Dexter Clyburn - In only his sophomore season, Dexter emerged as the center handler/primary initiator for Cal and perhaps the best player in the region. It feels like every aspect of his game improved this year - deep throws, decision making, break throws, overall athleticism…and that’s a testament to his work ethic and drive. I see he is generating a lot of buzz for POTR, and it’s well deserved.
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Kushal Khangaonkar - Kushal cleaned up a lot of his game this season and showed a very strong ability in the deep space and as a deep thrower. He also had several handblocks in key moments this season. His impact was most noticeable in the game to go – I believe he threw for 6 assists and caught a goal. Kushal’s a big game player
ROTY (or ROTR):
Cal has been very fortunate to have two back to back years with Freshman key contributors - Dexter last year and Ridge Huang this year.
- Ridge Huang: There’s so much to like about Ridge’s game - first step, his ability to learn quickly, his competitive fire, and his confidence to play in big points. Ridge was such a huge part of our offense this year - his ability to get open as an ace/reset was just plain fun to watch, and he pushed the offense downfield in many important/universe points this season. I don’t think it’s that crazy to say Ridge may have had the most consistent impact, and the most important role of any freshman in the country (maybe aside from Declan Miller? idk) this season, and I think he deserves recognition at that level
All Freshman Team:
After reading these threads, I’m realizing that the Southwest has had a pretty crazy freshman class and that’s very exciting for the future of the region. I’m not sure he quite makes it because of how dominant this freshman class is, but I do think that Carter Lankford (tall, long blond hair) deserves a shoutout, simply because he had a tremendous impact in his first ever season playing ultimate. He finished I think second on our team in goals with 47 (on 81 catches lmao), and practically lived in the endzone all season, capping it off with 3 breaks in the Game to Go against UCLA. He’s going to be a scary contributor in years to come
My All-Region Teams would probably be as follows:
1st:
Dexter Clyburn (POTR)
Gavin May
Calvin Brown
Brandon Van Deusen
Liam Jay
Kyle Lew
Dylan Burns
2nd
Aidan Curry
Marshall Wildmann
Kushal Khangaonkar
Alex Nelson
Simon Covington
Matt Barcellos
Anton Orme
Freshmen:
Ridge Huang (ROTR)
Selim
Toby Warren
Alexandre Belfiore (he played amazing every time Cal played Stanford)
Lastly, I’d like to shoutout the leadership crew of Donovan Mierlak, Sam Laur, Kushal and Gavin who battled through so much adversity, whether it was COVID, field space, scheduling conflicts or bureaucratic incompetence, this season felt much more difficult than any other in my time at Cal and its a testament to y’alls leadership that we found success
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I think Kien Warren is not that good, and also not that explosive, whoever wrote that did not fact-check that with me. I think that goes to Mario Ambrose, he can actually throw a flick (Kien can’t). Maybe Mario isn’t as tall or can’t jump as high or catch the disc while jumping. - Dylan Burns
Hey all, I’ve played on the Slugs for the past 5 years and was a captain for my junior and senior years. I started playing Ultimate my freshmen year, so it’s been amazing getting to learn the game and meet all of you in the Southwest.
Having started playing in college, I always looked at other excellent players and thought about some aspect of their game that I would want to incorporate into mine. So, I thought that would be a fun way to think about some of the best players in our region. This also just turned into a reflection on the year/brain dump.
Dexter - This man’s step-out backhand is outrageous. We played Cal on Saturday of regionals, and it was windy AF. We agreed at a point that trying to throw upwind arounds was not worth it for us (inside or upfield only). The rest of the game I kept watching Dexter throw the butteriest backhand arounds from anywhere on the field; the wind meant nothing. I swore, ‘This should not be working.’ But over and over, it did. So ya, I would love to incorporate some of Dexter’s step-out backhands into my game (idk exactly how I’ll make up for the height/length difference yet, tbd). Dexter is also just a fantastic player everywhere on the Field. My POTR candidate!
Calvin - I wish I could make Calvin at least look like he’s having a hard time when I guard him. The poise, the throws, and the game IQ; Calvin has got it all. If I could incorporate one part of Calvin’s game into mine, it would definitely be the throws. Say whatever you want about consistency (I believe hes got it), but this man is creative and GOOD at slinging plastic. Notable throw was in the SBI game against SLO where he cranked this ridiculous same 5th backhand blade for a goal against us. I look over to see a slo player (can’t remember who) throw his hands up and go, “only calvin.”
Kyle - Wicked quick, good throws, and pretty explosive on D. Kyle and I got to play against each other a bunch which was always fun. I definitely would take some of Kyles explosiveness on D. Whether its a catch up run through a mondo-bid, kyles pretty sick at defense.
Matty B/ Reilly - Long handlers and know how to use it. I felt like they both were always able to move the mark around really well because they can threaten so much space. I loved watching that and hated playing against it. I’d take some of that (height/length also tbd on this one).
Gavin - If I could somehow take a little bit of Gavin’s build I would, but the build is not what makes him an elite player. At first I really didn’t understand how Gavin was so effective at getting open in small spaces or catching EVERY skyball in existence, but now I have a lot more respect and understanding for his play. He is elite at reading a disc, and even better at boxing out. Maybe someone could outjump him, but I doubt it if he’s boxing you out. Gavin’s throws have also gotten so much better every year (giving me that Dexter backhand vibe).
Curry - I love this guy/goof/goon. I’ve gotten to handle with curr for the past 2 - 3 years and its been a blast. Honestly learned so much from him and Aidan Terris (shoutout TLC backfield) about the backfield and how to not look like an absolute goober with the disc in your hands. The part of Curry’s game that I want to steal is his consistent and unwavering love of the game as whole. Beyond the score, or the tournament, or the season, I have never seen someone so in love with the community and environment of a sport as much as Curry is in love with Ultimate. After playing the game for so long, Curry is really able to step back and see his relationship with ultimate holistically, and derive a lot of drive, passion, and empathy from it. Its a real skill, and one that I hope I develop over my time playing.
Rookies
Toby Warren - Insane athleticism + good throws + addicted to ultimate. Toby was good out the gates and I loved playing with him. I attribute a lot of our success this year to the ability of Toby and Selim to step into a new team and really help contribute/anchor an elite college D-line.
Selim “The Dream” Jones - This kid is RAW. He came in 8 months ago and he was really good… then he kept getting better. Heart of gold and always a team player. Probably played more points than me at regionals, and he had 0 turnovers, one more time, ZERO turnovers (allegedly, I haven’t watched all the footy). That’s WILD for the amount of backfield run time he put in. Southwest gonna have to deal with Selim the Dream for the next bit. Glad he was on my team this year so I didn’t have to get roasted by a freshman.
Ridge/Loic/Luca - Three other really really really good freshmen. All probably roasted me at some point this year. My above point no longer stands.
Quick Hits
Dylan Burn - (edit/addition) This guy has played just 3 and half years of competitive ultimate and is one of the top contributed in the region. I’ve always been wicked impressed with how fast Dylan picked up the game and was always willing to keep learning. That’s why he’s so good… and going to keep getting better.
Anton (poly) - I could write a blurb about ton. Throwback to wavestorms. Idk why we didn’t know/realize how fucking good you were then. A really really good cutter and a consistent thrower. Summer SC pickup is always fun.
Simon Covington (Stanford) - Can do it all. Really explosive. Also really nice and genuine person
Tall Poly Cutter (Alex?) - He baptized Kien (slugs) in the Santa Clara tournament and then went viral on TikTok/Insta? He’s really fun to watch. Sticky hands, great reads, and gets wayyy up there
Keenan (Davis) - Smooth backfield
Tall-Red-Hat (UCSD) - great hucks, better cutter, seems nice as well
Sam Laur (Cal) - Crazy bid in our sectionals game, gets better every year
Kushal (Cal) - super nice person, quick cutter
Lotto (UCLA) - didn’t know him too much, but i know hes raw. Really fast and gets UPPPP
Ethan Kleinman (slugs) - Amazing deep defense and also will get up on you
X (slugs) - Wicked fast and also a really good handler defender. Great defensive intuition
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I ain’t reading allat