Who are the best players in the Great Lakes region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
All Region:
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Collin Rassel (Indiana). Truly a do-it-all guy for Indiana. Anchors their whole game plan. Probably the best match-up defender in the region. Has some crafty release points as well.
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Theo Shapinsky (Michigan) - one half of the two-man show that is Michigan this year. Very athletic receiver and solid deep thrower.
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Aaron Bartlett (Michigan) - The other half. Very talented thrower and always open in small spaces.
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Eric Palia (Purdue) - Takes on the toughest matchup consistently whether on O or D and still shines.
All-Freshman:
Charlie Reidel (Indiana) - Import from the triangle, already getting minutes on O lines and UP D lines. Is already a problem athletically, when his throwing tightens up he will be in the All-Region conversation.
3 Likes
Grant Harris (Chicago) should easily be all-region. He’s super super consistent, never misses a throw, has every release point in the book, and is never not open. One of the elite center handlers in college rn
3 Likes
nate astrom (Illinois) deserves all region honors. he’s an absolute dog and has been doing it all for Rise all season
Anyone who watched the regional semi-final of Illinois vs UChicago will agree that both Grant Harris (UChicago) and Nate Astrom (Illinois) deserve all-region honors
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All Region:
- Grant Harris (UChicago). He sets himself apart with his quickness in small spaces and his ability to dominate on offense.
- Sean Miranda (Notre Dame). A powerful cutter who makes great decisions and who barely turns it over. Sean is great in the air, has a huge physical presence on the field, and has the ability to take over a point whether on O or D. He was instrumental in Notre Dame’s upsets during Regionals.
All Region:
Grant Harris (Chicago)
He is a tough guard in the handler space. He generates openness in small spaces and hits the breakside before a mark can even be established. He has immaculate footwork.
Nate Astrom (Illinois)
Nate is a true game breaker on both sides of the disc. He will beat you deep if you play him too close. He will beat you under and expose your defense with deep shots if you give him too much of a cushion. He plays with such a high level of energy.
Patrick Driscoll (SIUE)
Patrick is the heart and soul of an extremely young SIUE roster. He brings much needed experience and intensity. There really isn’t an answer to his offensive bag; he has nationals-level deep shots and mark-shredding breakside throws. Even so, his ability to generate openness off-ball in handler spaces may his strongest asset. He continues to be one of the toughest players to guard in the region.
All Rookie:
Jonathan Zawitkowski (SIUE)
Jonathan shoulders the offensive and defensive load of a collegiate veteran. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to watch him seamlessly transition to the next level of play. He regularly took the toughest defensive matchup against elite teams (and regularly won the matchup). He plays with such explosivity and aggression, yet he remains hyper-efficient (95%+ completion rate). He will be a hybrid threat in Great Lakes for the foreseeable future.
2 Likes
ALL-REGION:
Andrew Shen (Northwestern)
Andrew shouldered the bulk of Lake Effect’s downfield offense in our pre-quarters match-up. His physical gifts are obvious (speed, size, athleticism) but I was more impressed with his cut timing and patience.
Trevor Scott (Illinois)
Trevor is one of the most aggressive yet efficient center handlers in the region and was a large part of Illinois’s regular season success. He makes defenses pay by exploiting poaches with both his throws and his legs.
Joseph Lindemuth (Kentucky)
Joseph was Kentucky’s key to converting breaks in both of our postseason match-ups. He shouldered a huge offensive load and excelled in transition with his impressive pace of play.
ALL-FRESHMAN:
Putting the region on notice for the freshmen of SIUE. Hector Chaidez, Victor Chaidez, Dillon McGinnis, and Keaton Anderson all played a major role in their team’s success this year. In a stacked rookie class, Jonathan Zawitkowski stood apart with his defensive tenacity and offensive ability beyond his years. He was our answer for two of the region’s best handlers, Grant Harris and Ian Falck, and more than held his ground. His unmatched work ethic will take him far.
COACH OF THE YEAR:
Eric Badger (Illinois)
Badger’s dual investment in player development and advanced analytics helped elevate a veteran Illinois Rise squad to multiple tournament wins and a championship game appearance at Regionals. While the team came up short of its goals of making Nationals, the program is in good hands for years to come as long as Badger is in Champaign-Urbana.
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All Region:
Chandler Moy (Purdue): Best wind thrower in the region. Best scoobers in College.
Ian Falck (Northwestern): Literally the entire offense for Northwestern
Grant Harris (Chicago): Ian Falck but with better defense.
Eric Palia (Purdue): Can do everything at a high level. One of the best defenders in the Region.
Pat Driscoll (SIUE): Really good
All Rookie:
Grant White (Purdue): Best around throws and too shifty
Bernie Waldman (Northwestern): Impressive reset handling for a Freshman
Coach of the year:
Ryan Tappel (Loyola Chicago): Impressive leadership
5 Likes
All Region:
Ian Falck (Northwestern) Ian is impossible to guard and has a deep bag of throws NUT basically run everything through him.
Nate Astrom (Illinois) Nate does a fantastic job of both stretching the field deep as well as being dominate in the back field.
Patrick Driscoll (SIUE) Patrick does pretty much everything for SIUE, being their QB1 as well taking key defensive match ups.
Nate Pascale (Loyola) Nate is the heart and soul of Loyola, he can play both sides of the ball shutting down key players when necessary while also being the primary weapon on offensive, without him this team wouldn’t have been nearly as successful this season.
All Freshmen:
Otto Koops-Elson (Loyola) Otto has played a key role in Loyola’s Oline, getting a lot of touches while being a big threat in the deep space.
6 Likes
All Region
Grant Harris(UChicago): Unstoppable in the handler space and amazing throws. A do it all guy.
Benjamin Spergel(Purdue): The motor of the o line, nobody can guard him.
Ian Falk(North Western): A one man army, he does everything for North Western.
All Freshman
Grant White(Purdue): Will brake any mark, is extremely shifty and hard to guard in open space, makes some of the crazier grabs you will ever see. He will definitely be a large part of this teams success going forward.
I can only speak to the teams that Notre Dame saw this season, but here are some players that stood out:
Ian Falck (Northwestern #8): Ian has a impressive range of throws and NUT’s offense centered around him
Eric Palia (Purdue #13): High intensity defender. Was a tough matchup in both our Conferences and Regionals games against Purdue
Patrick Schwartz (Notre Dame #8): One of the best athletes on any field he steps on. Crossed over and took on the toughest matchups all weekend for us. Had pivotal layout D’s and provided a stabilizing force on offense because he’s always open.
All Region:
Sam Bourne (Purdue): Super strong all around for Purdue. He is able to win unders, uses his athleticism to beat guys deep, and is also a strong thrower. Defensively he took on tough matchups, is one of the smartest defenders, and helps everyone out with great on-field communication.
Eric Palia (Purdue): Very athletic initiating cutter who can win anywhere and also has good deep shots. Excelled on defense against the best players on other teams.
Chandler Moy (Purdue): The rock of the O line. Super crafty break throws and over the tops that were huge against zones all year.
Ian Falck (Northwestern): Dynamic throws and was basically the offense for NW.
Grant Harris (Chicago): Great throws and cuts in the handler space that made the offense for Chicago work.
I didn’t play against them, but know Aaron Bartlett and Theo Shapinsky (both Michigan) to be two of the best and most impactful players in the region.
All Rookie:
Grant White (Purdue): Strong break throws and great hands.
All region:
Ian Falck (Northwestern) - All of Northwestern’s offense runs through Ian. He is the center handler that every team wishes they had, and has a very deep bag of throws.
Andrew Shen (Northwestern) - Very fundamental cutter and great in the deep space. He is the cutter that allows Ian to thrive with all of his throws. Has crazy jumps and can sky most players in the region along with being a great under threat.
Sean Miranda (Notre Dame) - Very solid defender and offensive threat. Has great positional awareness and is a very physical and talented cutter. When we played Notre Dame, all of their offense ran through him and he opened up the field in incredible ways.
Grant Harris (U Chicago) - Very talented handler defender and offensive player. He is very quick and very good in the reset space, opens up most of the field for Uchicago cutters.
Nate Astrom (Illinois) - As other people have said, anyone who watched the Illinois Uchicago game knows that Nate should be all-region. He can layout at chest height and is incredibly explosive. This allows him to make catches and get Ds that no other player can.
Collin Rassel (Indiana) - When we played Indiana, everything ran through Collin. He was explosive on D and had silky smooth-around flicks and backhands. Very talented defender and thrower.
Aaron Bartlett and Theo Shapinksy (Michigan) - not much to say, Michigan runs through them
All-freshman:
Bernie Waldman (Northwestern) - Very good O-line reset handler for Northwestern. Sneakily has a really good throwing arsenal and good hucks.
Coach of the year:
Penny Wu (Northwestern) - One of the best coaches in college ultimate at this point. Helps build players that can play in systems and play defense as a team. One of the reasons Northwestern put up 11 against Michigan was because of the team defenses that we used. Knows the game super well and has helped every player grow immensely.
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This is Julian Baldwin (#97) from Northwestern. First want to give some love to my teammates:
Ian Falck: Ian shoulders a huge load for us offensively and is super consistent. Also one of the first to crossover in big games, gives a great mark and communication on defense.
Andrew Shen: Incredible cutting instincts and timing, can sky you and has the endurance to grind out tough games, he would fit on any O-line in the country.
Ezra Rich: Great on both sides of the disc, gets the most layout Ds on our team and this year has really expanded the bag and can rotate into the handler space, break zones with crafty throws, etc.
For all freshman, want to shout out Bernie Waldman, he stepped into an O-line handler role right away and had been very composed. Great resets and can layout to save possession.
Other players that stood out in our games:
Nate Astrom (Illinois): Ridiculous layouts, so explosive. Important for Illinois on both sides of the disc.
Sean Miranda (Notre Dame): Huge presence for Notre Dame, he was always their first cut and so much of the offense flowed through him. Has some of the biggest hops I’ve ever seen.
Aaron Bartlett (Michigan): Pretty obvious pick, he has great defensive awareness and went every other for Michigan in their short field offense
Mainly chiming in to give some love to other MagnUM lads.
All-Region:
Jimmy Baker: Arguably the best thrower in the entire region, lockdown defender, and impossible to defend. Jimmy’s been an unsung hero of MagnUM’s success for years.
Jordan Bacharach: The most physically dominant player in the Great Lakes.
All-Freshmen:
Julius Cohen: Only so many freshmen in the nation who are catching the O-line centering pass on a Nationals team. Killer thrower with great decision making, and a lockdown defender on the turn.
Josh Wang: The other end of MagnUM’s o-line freshmen duo. Incredibly athletic and consistent player.
For other teams, I’d especially echo what people have said about Ian Falck, Andrew Shen, and Nate Astrom. They all made some fantastic plays at Regionals.
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All Region:
Aaron Bartlett and Theo Shapinsky (Michigan) - The best players on the best team in the region. Enough Said.
Nate Astrom (Illinois) - Was clearly the best player on Illinois in the regional final and an absolute workhorse both ways.
Ian Falck (Northwestern) - One of the most talented throwers in the region and a massive reason for Northwestern’s successes.
Honorable mentions: Will Zamsky (MSU), Grant Harris (UChicago), Jordan Bacharach & Jimmy Baker (Michigan)
All-Freshman:
Julius Cohen & Joshua Wang (Michigan) - Major pieces of the MagnUM O-Line who play far beyond their years, anchoring the Michigan backfield.
All region:
Grant Harris (Chicago): elite thrower, quick first step, very shifty, leads a very good Chicago team
Nate Astrom (Illinois): do it all player that controls the game
Pat Driscoll (SIUE): big factor of SIUE’s underdog run this season, leads the team in and off the field, remarkable throws
Jacob Geisen (SIUE): controls the skies, if the disc is in the air, he’s coming down with it 99% of the time
Ian Falck (Northwestern): is northwestern’s offense
Andrew Shen (Northwestern): athletic, fundamental cutter that is very difficult to guard
All Freshman:
Jonathan Zawitkowski (SIUE): Efficient starting O-Line handle that guarded the other teams best players more often than not
Hector Chaidez (SIUE): starting D-Line handle with great pulls, great backhand hucks, and underrated handler defense. Led a feisty siue D-Line
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Illinois captain here, wanted to highlight a few standouts from our team and the teams we played.
Illinois:
Nate Astrom is the real deal.
Trevor Scott was a rock on our O-line. His throws opened up the field, and he was a key reason for our offensive success this season. Undoubtely deserves all-region consideration.
Kai Tang is a defensive workhorse and a headache for anyone trying to guard him.
All-Freshman:
Kushal Kothapalli was a standout Freshman from us this year. He fits in seamlessly on our O and D lines with experienced throws and relentless cutting.
(Michigan) Theo and Bartlett are obviously super talented but I also want to shout out James Baker Jr. for a great performance in the regional final. Great throws, tough to guard.
Ian Falck (Northwestern)
Unlimited throws, insanely talented. A lock for All-region IMO
Grant Harris (Uchicago)
Unmarkable. Punishes defensive mistakes and is impossible to gameplan against. Another all-region lock.
Pat Driscoll (SIUE)
Led SIUE to their first regionals and has huge flick hucks. He elevates the competitiveness of those around him.
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All Region Locks:
Aaron Bartlett and Theo Shapinsky (Michigan) - nothing new to add, great players on both sides of the ball
Nate Astrom (Illinois) - electric defender, put on a show at regionals
Grant Harris (UChicago) - fantastic handler and gritty defender
Sean Miranda (Notre Dame) - great athlete, contributes on O and D
All Region Considerations:
Andrew Shen (Northwestern) - Fantastic athlete and receiver
Jimmy Baker (Michigan) - great handler, coordinates MagnUM O
Trevor Scott (Illinois) - shifty and consistent thrower, directed the Rise O this year
Collin Rassel (Indiana) - high quality break throws and intense defense
Freshman of the Year:
Bernie Waldman (Northwestern) - athletic receiver and consistent thrower
Michael Hlavaty (UChicago) - impressive athlete and cutter
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