Way-Too-Early USQ Nationals Outlooks
Now that the feelings of being completely burnt out have subsided, it’s time to get this blog back up and running again. I’d like to apologize for having such a lengthy hiatus, without literally any warning, that’s on us. Anyhow, it’s time to take a look at each team that qualified for USQ Nationals from the Great Lakes region, and give some predictions for each of the teams.
The favorites heading into the Great Lakes Regional Championship, Michigan dominantly asserted that it was the best team in the region, bar none. The only team to challenge Michigan the entire weekend was Bowling Green State University in the GLRC Championship match, a match in which Michigan avenged their Tournament Of The Stars semi-final loss to BGSU. Michigan has consistently shown improvement each year, but they always seemed to be dominated by a few big names. This year, Michigan not only has their big name players in Andrew Axtell and Matt Oppenlander, they also have the depth and discipline to make a deep run at Nationals. With other quaffle threats such as Zach Fogel, Bobby Huddleston, Matthew Oates, and the Schepers twins, the Wolverines have plenty of players they can trust to put up points with the quaffle in their hands. Michigan’s beaters show aggression and fearlessness on both halves of the pitch, led by Lisa Lavelanet and Erik Soreide, who are quickly making the case for being one of the top beating duos in the region. Their chasers run an incredibly well-oiled offensive and defensive system that is incredibly disciplined, and set up in such a way that truly makes every quaffle carrier on pitch a legitimate scoring threat. They’ve got the speed, the physicality, the discipline, and most importantly, the hunger that it takes to be a top team come USQ Nationals.
Projection: Elite Eight, or Final Four with a favorable bracket draw
Bowling Green State University
The big misconception around BGSU heading into this season was that their quaffle game would be worse with former captain Daniel Daugherty making the full-time switch to beater. As anyone from around the region can tell you, it seems to have only made BGSU a better team than it was last season. Led offensively by keeper Mike Gallagher, BG’s quaffle game has become more efficient since Daugherty donned the black headband. The BGSU offense is truly versatile, with players being able to both carry the ball up and lead the offense, as well as dropping back behind the hoops as a wing option. Defensively, BG is able to limit scoring opportunities behind the strong point defense of Kendall Kuhn, backed up by its ridiculously deep beating rotations, which features familiar faces such as Max McAdoo, Max Portillo, and Jenna Rindler, as well as some new faces in the aforementioned Daugherty and “Sunshine” Sam Roitblat. BGSU seems to be the perfect embodiment of a team that doesn’t rebuild, but rather just reloads.
Projection: Sweet Sixteen
Ohio State had a rough start to the season, failing to make bracket play at TOTS, and consistently being outclassed by the top tier teams in the region. The struggles were to be expected as OSU only returned a handful of players from the team that won a regional championship the year prior. However, since the season started, the team has consistently improved, to the point where it was able to fight and claw it’s way to the Final Four at GLRC. The spark that proved to be the catalyst for this improvement was star chaser Jeremy Boettner making the switch to beater during the first 18 minutes of the game. Alongside a truly elite beating partner in Julie Fritz, Boettner’s athleticism allowed him to take to beating rather quickly, and provided a new wrinkle to the Ohio State gameplan that most teams were not prepared for. Coupled with Ohio State’s young new players getting experience, the team continues to improve at a rapid rate. It remains to be seen who will be able to fill the massive void that will be left once Julie Fritz departs*, but for now, the future for Ohio State seems to be pretty bright.
*Fritz graduates in the winter, but her status with the team once she graduates is still up in the air
Projection: Does not qualify for bracket play at Nationals
When the season began for the Great Lakes Community Quidditch “A” team, it looked much like the beginning to their previous season as Blue Mountain Quidditch Club. All of the talent was there for a top team, but the cohesion just did not exist yet. At GLRC, Maelstrom struggled to shake off the rust and get on the same page early, but once Day 2 rolled around, the community team was rust-free and it showed, with them making it to the Final Four and playing a tight match with BGSU. This team has a ridiculous amount of depth in it’s beater lines, with Chad Brown, Trevor Campbell, Melinda Staup, and Danielle Anderson being led by 2014 Team USA beater, Ashley Calhoun. It’s quaffle carriers have plenty of weapons as well, led by John Gaffigan and Chris Barnard, who provide a perfect parallel of precision passing and shooting and full-power driving. This team will only continue to improve with time, and arguably has a higher ceiling than last year’s BMQC team did.
Projection: Elite Eight (or Final Four with favorable draw)
Ball State may be without players like Trevor Campbell and Melinda Staup, but they are by no means in bad shape. Led by the ridiculously athletic Tyler Walker, Ball State returns much of last year’s team, which boasts a true showstopper at keeper in Blake Fitzgerald, a deceptively good Matthew Brown at chaser, and an experienced, intelligent beater in Erin Moreno. Beyond their “big four”, so to speak, Ball State has the best seeker in the region in Jason Bowling. Walker and Moreno make a great beating duo, however, the players that back them up aren’t especially noteworthy. Ball State features the most depth in their quaffle lines, but even then, outside of a few solid pieces like Nick Kaufman and Jake LeMay, Ball State has yet to truly develop any other weapons outside of its primary ball handlers. That being said, so long as Walker and Bowling are present for the Cardinals, they have the potential to win almost any match.
Projection: Play-In Round
After years of saying “this is the year” for Miami, they’ve finally broken emphatically into the top 10 of the region. Despite the departure of Matt Dwyer, Miami’s quaffle carriers have improved under keeper Matt Mignery, who is a very good distributor and on-pitch leader for the team. Also emerging as a true threat this year has been Gracie Rapnicki, who has just continued to rain down points for the RedHawks. Their beaters are led by Braden Grimes and Connor Stonecash, who are both aggressive, tenacious players, which couples well with Krista Siegfried’s more conservative approach to beating. Miami’s beaters could be even better, but the loss of Stephanie Raudenbush and Tina Kinstedt have left a whole that hasn’t quite been filled yet. Miami, like Ohio State, is a team that continues to improve with time, but will be denied a bracket play spot at USQ Nationals.
Projection: Does not make brackets
Michigan State University
The Spartans seem to have all the pieces to be a top-tier team, but have not put them together yet. Their quaffle carriers match up very well with most teams on paper, led by Jacob Heppe, Kyle Judkins, and Ian Hoopingarner, with some deadly threats that post up by the hoops, namely Sara DeLongchamp. Jim Richert has emerged as a clutch seeker for MSU, getting the grab to defeat Lake Effect Tempest in a snitch-range game to qualify for Nationals. The big concern for Michigan State comes down to its beaters. While Brandon Ollio and Jacob Bobeldyk are certainly no slouches, the rest of the beating corps leaves a little to be desired. Frankly speaking, MSU had no business being in a back-and-forth bludger battle with the beaters of Tempest, who, as a whole, are an average at best group. Sarah Walsh has shown great strides, but unless there is some serious improvement among the group as a whole, it will be a case of always the bridesmaid, never the bride for the Spartans.
Projection: Does not make brackets
OU has improved leaps and bounds from last season, frankly speaking. Prior to this year, OU was viewed as a cupcake team by many in the region, and despite picking up a deferred bid to USQ Cup 8, went winless at the event. This time around, led by Ryan Scott and Joe Dent, OU has picked up some athletes and begun molding them into quidditch players. The players I was most impressed by were beater John Williams, who sort of plays like a Tyler Walker-lite, being far and away the best beater on the squad, and Noah Boettner, brother of Ohio State’s Jeremy Boettner. OU’s improvement has been a sight to behold, but they have not yet improved enough to challenge for a bracket play spot at Nationals.
Projection: Does not make brackets
Central Michigan University
The Centaurs fought their way through the consolation bracket at GLRC to take the last bid to Nationals, ousting Indiana University in the process. The CMU quaffle attack revolves around Taylor Felton, who is a superstar in the making, undoubtedly. Unfortunately for the Centaurs’ quaffle attack, that’s where the game-changing players end. While there are undoubtedly solid pieces around Felton, such as Mae Overholt and captain David Weir, there are no truly elite quaffle players on the squad, similar to OU. They all range from good to below-average. The beating game, however, is a different story entirely. Led by Jack Slater and Rebecca Bennett, the CMU beaters are what drive them to the success they have experienced thus far. The beaters open up the lanes to let Felton run the quaffle game, which has been responsible for the majority of CMU’s points. Behind Slater and Bennett are solid pieces such as Matthew Booth and Cameron Kniffen, but, like their quaffle lines, there just is not enough depth for this team to truly make an impact at USQ Nationals.
Projection: Does not make brackets
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