Who are the best players in the Southwest region? This is an open thread to discuss All-Region nominations, All-Freshman nominations, coaching awards, and more. Stay positive and keep it civil.
Joah Siegel is probably the most consistent player in the region this year. I have been watching his games throughout the elite tournaments and he has not once made a silly decision or incompetent execution error.
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First Team (in order) (unbiased):
Dexter Clyburn -Most impactful player to his (nationals level) team in the country
Kyle Lew -Probably would be my POTR but SLO looked fine without him
Anton Orme -Maybe the best player but I would say slightly lower impact than the people above
Toby Warren -Goated but POTY campaign is next year. Also got carried by a super deep team
Alex Nelson -Played more around the disc and was higher impact than previous years
Milan Moslehi -Difference between Santa Cruz SBI performance (bad) and rest of the season (good)
Max Gibson -Should have been first team last year
Second Team (in order) (even more unbiased):
Selim Jones -The perfect handler
Ridge Huang - Quick first step and very threatening when playing with Dexter
Alex Belfiore - Pretty Good at everything
Cole Mires -A top ten thrower in the region that has excellent game sense and isn’t unathletic
Carter Lankford -Really good defense and excellent offensive accessory player
Max Gade -Best defender. Offense is acceptable.
Kien Warren -Second best defender and a very unique throwing arsenal.
Underrated (no order):
Will Snyder
Oliver Faase
Keaton Orser
Robby McCabe
Any given SB guy
Dexter Clyburn
Milan Moslehi
DAWG (no order) (biased):
Max Gade
Carter Lankford
Gabe Schwartz-Ketchner
Rafael Castillo
Max Vandervelden
Milan Moslehi
All of SB
Most Improved watchlist for 2026:
Weston Collard
Bodie Shargel
Stevie Olsen
Jackson Friday
Mitchell Gibson
Malachi Merriam
Max Lee
Roty: Cole Mires
Most Improved: Will Snyder or Oliver Faase or Adi Vunnum
Coty: J O
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Good list especially if you have Joah Siegel as the SB guy in your third team. The guy is a stud.
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1st Team All Rizz:
- Carter Lankford
- Keaton Orser
- Kien Warren
- SB guy with sideline baddie
- Jacoby (Stanford)
- Anish Shrestha
- Wemby
1st Team All Unc:
- Wemby
- Devin Acuna
- Sam Jo
- Marshall Wildman
- Max Gibson
- Dodger Middlebrook
- Mitchell Gibson
1st Team All Tuff #wet
- Alex Belfiore
- Aditya Vunnum
- Selim Jones
- Dexter Clyburn
- Kyle Lew
- Cole Mires
- Gabriel Schwartz-Ketchner
Underrated all-region picks:
UCLA’s Loic Billaut is virtually unguardable. Haven’t seen anyone slow him down all year and his throws are only getting better.
Stanford’s Alexander Belfiore is maybe the most valuable player to his team in the region outside of Dexter.
Milan Moslehi may not be underrated anymore but he certainly deserves breakout honors.
Freshmen:
Slugs’ Cole Mires is legit. UCLA’s true rookie Marcos Young-Bowers is hyper-athletic and a defensive playmaker. Malachi Merriam is getting serious run at SLO and looks very polished. Van Harlee at UCSB also impressive contributor on O.
All-defense underrated:
Alex Clare, Ian Tsai, Jackson Kim, Zach Rosen (UCLA)
Drew Vetteth (Cal)
Micah Fong (SLO)
1st team all region:
Dex
Anton Orme
Kyle
Max Gibson
Toby
Joah Siegel
John Wall
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Josh Siegel is the TRUTH. I don’t understand how he hasn’t been included on everyone’s all region team…
Just check out this clip from him at NWC:
Joah Siegel is HIM
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joah siegel is so hot
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1st Team All Region:
Dexter Clyburn
Anton Orme
Kyle Lew
Carter Lankford
Toby Warren
Alex Nelson
Alex Belfiore
2nd Team All Region:
Ridge Huang
Max Gade
Milan Moslehi
Keaton Orser
Cole Mires
Max Gibson
Mitchell Gibson
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First Team:
Anton Orme (SLO)
Dexter (Cal)
Wembanyama ()
Kyle Lew (SLO)
Max Gibson (SLO)
Toby Warren (UCSC)
Loic Billaut (UCLA)
Second Team
Marshall Wildmann (UCLA)
Alex Belfiore (Stanford)
Milan Moslehi (UCSC)
Joah Siegel (UCSB)
Keaton Orser (SLO)
Alex Nelson (SLO)
Lebron James (Lakers)
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Kind of boring to just list the same top players every year, and a bunch of people have already done that, so I’m going to list the people who surprised me this year. Very unlikely I’ll know any of their names so vague physical descriptions will have to suffice.
UCSC/SLO: Sorry to say no one really surprised me from either team. Everyone I thought would be good was good. Congrats for being good I guess. The only surprise I think was Kyle’s around backhands were transcendently good which is especially ironic given how shitty they were in high school.
I do think Micah and the other guy with longish dark hair stepped up quite a bit this year, but not entirely surprising.
Cal: Pink hat guy, Wembyama lookin’ guy (Bernie?), buzz hair/dyed blonde guy was frustratingly good imo (#23?). Another tall blonde guy that wasn’t Carter, #3 i think (Carter was good but no surprise there). #26 also was sneaky good. Drew V took a big step up. Eric not being injured was huge. Lots of people stepped up to make them better than last year despite losing Gavin and Sam.
UCSB: Lots of people. “Weaver” (no relation to Aaron Weaver, so he says) took another step up this year. #21 and 23 were both surprisingly good this year imo. I also feel like UCSB played really well as a team this year. Really hope they get knocked out before the game to go
Stanford: Another team that really makes the most of their players. Max V + the guy the wears a white visor were sneaky good role players. Their big dude skied kien and was pretty impressive overall.
UCLA: I knew everyone who was gonna be good sorry to disappoint idk
Humboldt: Benen Shea, too bad he’s transferring out
UCSD: Tynan and Max continue to play at a super high level and use their entire team well, not just playing dominator. I thought visor guy (who I think is in his 4th year) whos always been solid seemed to be a more consistent 3rd piece to the team this year.
Nevada-Reno: I love that they still have a team man. Never let it die.
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This is Mario Ambrose
First team
Anton
Kyle Lew
Dexter
Toby
Milan
Belfiore
Red hat guy on SD
Rookie of the Year
Gimme Cole Mires in a tight one over Gabe SK.
Dpoty:
Kien Warren
Poty:
Kyle because he is somehow replacing Calvin Brown and you can’t tell
Then Dexter (haven’t really seen him play that much this year tbh) then Toby then Anton (sorry Anton you are goated I am biased )
Most Improved:
Adi on Cal super impressed
Hello, I’m one of the coaches on Cal’s Ursa Major.
From Cal, Ridge and Dexter are our already-known powerhouses on the field. Everyone also seems to know Wembernyama and Carter too. Mitchell Gibson is one of our primary playmakers, especially defensively, and adds a lot of depth to our team - if you don’t already know his name, remember it. Nolan Emis should definitely be considered for the All Freshman Team because he came in as a freshman with zero competitive frisbee experience, and within a few months is on our starting D-line, getting the toughest person matchups and getting blocks against the top teams in the nation (ie UNC), and is subbing onto our O-line in competitive high level games.
Other players who stood out to me across the division: Milan from UCSC for being very consistent on and off the disc, Kyle Lew from SLO has gotten so much better year over year both on O and D, Max Gade from SLO is phenomenal on defense, Everett from UCSB for being a solid overall defender, and Leo Jacoby from Stanford also has good play-making defense.
Also playing SJSU was fun - they have a cool coach and they have a couple players who were ferocious with the disc!
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Wembernyama is bernie wang
First team
Kyle Lew (slo)- best thrower in region, really hard to guard
Anton Orme (slo)- best all around player
Dexter Clyburn (cal)- elite handler cuts/throws, most important player to his team
Toby Warren (ucsc)- greenest light of all time but it works a lot the time
Max Combs (ucsb)- crazy athletic, elite hybrid on offense and block getter on D
Carter Lankford (cal)- frustratingly good, monster in the air just overall solid
Max Gade- best defender in the region, lays out all over the place and quite good on offense after a turn
Honorable mentions (second team)
Alex Nelson (slo)- also a monster in the air, havent seen him do as much this season as previous but we all watched last year’s semi
Ridge Huang (cal)- has filled in nicely as cal’s center handler when Dex is not on the field
Milan Moslehi (ucsc)- hella fast, always open on high stall for a bailout look
Keaton Orser (slo)- consistent handler for core, they have played better since his return from injury
Max Gibson (brother on cal also good) (ucsd)- undeniably good, height makes him a consistent deep threat and also probably the best thrower on squids
Loic Billaut (ucla)- very quick and hard to guard, orchestrates the smaug offense
Selim Jones (ucsc)- good dude glad hes back from injury, sick throws and plays
Quick hits (raw bruhs)
Everett Grass (ucsb), Akilesh Swamy (usc), Tynan Sander (ucsd), Mario Ambrose (ucsc), Seamus Shogren (ucsc), Kien Warren (ucsc), Alex Belfiore (stanford), Colin Baylis (ucsb), Sam Kaplan (ucsc), Bernie Wang (cal), Marshall Wildman (ucla), Luke Weaver (ucsb)
(Lots of other ballers but SW is loaded!)
ROTY- Cole Mires (ucsc)- crazy throws (Gabe also raw)
Runner-up- Stevie Olson (ucsb)- tap in
First Team (New Legendary Mix):
- Max Gade
- The Lion
- The Wolf
- Ridge Huang
- Cole Mires
- Dexter Clyburn
- The Jaguar
Second Team (A Wild Ride):
- Toby Warren
- Toby Warren
- The Jaguar
- Toby Warren
- The Kelp (Me)
- Suncreen Guy from SC
- Toby Warren
Underrated (A Mix of Hidden Gems and Legends):
- Oliver Faase
- Small Dog
- Robby McCabe
- Mitchell
- The Wolf
- The Lion
- Will Snyder
DAWG (Legendary Tier):
- Gabe Schwartz-Ketchner
- Rafael Castillo
- Max Vandervelden
- The Jaguar
- Carter Lankford
- Milan Moslehi
- Max Gade
Awards Recap (Same fire, just random order):
- ROTY: The Lion
- Most Improved: Will Snyder or The Lion
- COTY: Ledge (the mystery continues…)
God Bless
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So at regionals I found out that a lot more people read my posts than I ever imagined, and now I feel bad for trolling and would like to give a (slightly) more honest and down-to-earth take. I will also not hold back from listing numerous SLO players this year, nor bias towards players that “surprised” me.
First Team All-Region (in order):
Dexter Clyburn (Cal)
Kyle Lew (SLO)
Anton Orme (SLO)
Alex Belfiore (Stanford)
Toby Warren (UCSC)
Alex Nelson (SLO)
Ridge Huang (Cal)
Second Team All-Region (still in order):
Selim Jones (UCSC)
Max Gibson (UCSD)
Keaton Orser (SLO)
Robbie McCabe (Cal)
Max Combs (UCSB)
Luca Adams (UCLA)
Luke Weaver (UCSB)
Honorable Mentions By Team:
SLO: Max Gade, James Whealan, Dodger Middlebrook (I will forgive his blatant off-ball block fouls, a pet peeve of mine, because he is otherwise an absolute beast on defense with no lack of skill). I gave Kyle the slight nod over Anton but my confidence is low on that. Feel like they could rock-paper scissors over it.
UCSC: Mario Ambrose, Kien Warren, Milan Moslehi, Cole Mires
Cal: Carter Lankford (BPOTR last year, but seems like people forgot about that so he might get it this year and probably next year too tbh), Adi Vunnum, Drew Vetteth, Eric Johnson. I personally give Robbie the slight nod over Carter for the 3rd best player on Cal, but there’s plenty of people who disagree with me on that so I’m not dying on that hill.
UCSB: First would say I’m impressed by this team’s growth in the last two years. I was personally more scared of them than UCSD this year. I always feel like I’m in a little bit of a coach’s battle against Rhys (I try to remind myself of his travel call against Curry in 2022 SBI to find extra motivation) in their games. Saw Max and Everett mentioned already so I didn’t mention in my previous post, and have heard lots of debate amongst my own team as to who’s better. I’m going to personally give the slight nod to Max, now that he’s complimented his A-tier athleticism with disk skills and ball knowledge. Everett gets the honorable mention here, in addition to Alex Cheng, Colin Baylis, Nathan Johnson, and Steven Olson (who overestimates himself atm, but he is really good and his potential makes me worried for future years as a regional opponent).
Will give an honorable mention to their zone offense. Really made them a great matchup for the game to go. I think they were the closest team (14-12 final?) to upsetting in the game-to-go since USC was good in 2019?
UCSD: Tynan Sanders, obviously. They have a number of good players who I don’t know the names of and they don’t have numbers listed on USAU. #22 and #11 (according to video) are the two the caught my eye the most outside of Tynan/Max. #11 must be a senior cause I remember him from the post-covid year. I’m still slightly more scared of UCSB, but UCSD has always seemed to be able to be competitive against top tier teams even if they don’t consistently pull out wins.
Stanford: Max V and Max Lee are the main ones I’ve noticed outside of Alex, but also #12 is a really good defender (despite having attended the dodger middlebrook school of off-ball blocking fouls) and #27 has been a nice pickup for their air defense squad.
UCLA: Marshall Wildman could have easily made first-team above if he prioritized his own performance, but he seemed to find his niche this year more in building up his team, and it showed in what was probably, quite frankly, their closest run at making it to nationals since the pre-covid era (14-11 loss to Cal where they would’ve faced a 50-50 G2G vs. UCSB, vs. never being within 4 points of either UCSC or Cal at regionals since 2019 if not earlier). Loic Billaut had a relative breakout year - I thought he plateaued a bit during his first two years (relatively speaking here, he was on team USA) but really felt harder to guard/plan for this year. Another guy who was noticeable shaved his head at regionals so I had a hard time finding who he was from earlier footage.
Rookie of the Year (in order):
Cole Mires (UCSC)
Steven Olson (UCSB)
Ari Princus (SLO)
Breakout Player of the Year (in order):
Adi Vunnum (Cal)
Drew Vetteth (Cal)
Eric Johnson (Cal - maybe he’s always been this good but first full non-injury year)
Max Combs (UCSB)
Will Snyder (UCSC)
Coach of the Year (excluding myself bc that would be biased):
Rhys Gretsch (UCSB)
Lucas Dallman & Christian Cortes (Stanford)
Classiest, Best Sportsmanship, High Level Competitors:
Dexter Clyburn (Cal)
Marshall Wildman (UCLA)
Keaton Orser (SLO)
Max Gibson (UCSD)
Selim Jones (UCSC)
I spend a lot of time on these because I spend a lot of time sizing up opponents, but I’m not perfect at it and I’m certainly not trying to think about making a fair all-region list when scouting. So if you disagree with something or think I snubbed someone you’re probably not wrong, feel free to make a post and disagree.
I’ve been to a couple UCSD games and all I can say is “Wow!” Bodhi Brenner has been such a standout, especially as a freshman. He plays with incredible poise and makes decisions very quickly. Truly a joy to watch and I believe he is a strong candidate for the all-freshman team. Go Bodhi!!!
I’ve been watching a little bit of UCSC film and went to one of their games against Cal and one their freshman, Gabe S-K, truly impressed. He showed grit and tenacity on defense, and didn’t give up on a single play every point I’ve seen him in. Go Gabe!!!
@johnny Was cal beating usc back in 19 truly considered an upset?