Ultimate teams reclaim state championships

The girls and boys Ultimate frisbee teams performed exceptionally and won state championships after a weekend of thrilling matches. The girls earned their third state title, and boys are back-to-back state champions.
By Tobey Balzer, Ultimate Frisbee Coach & Fifth Grade Science Teacher

Simply put, the Ultimate frisbee teams showed up last weekend and took care of business.

The boys went 3-0 on Saturday, May 4, earning them the second overall seed in today's bracket play. The girls had two games on Sunday, May 5, and needed to win both to take the title. 

In the first game, the girls faced Hillsboro and took advantage of our deep roster to rotate everyone in. We have been working hard to prepare for this game since our loss to them last week, and it paid off big time. We took the win with a score of 9-5. 

The second girls game was against Independence High, a team we hadn't faced all year. Both teams were on the line, ready to go, only to hear the lightning alarm go off and have to sit through a 30-minute delay. After some snacks, singalongs, and a conga line, we came out on fire and took a quick 3-0 lead. Indy answered with 3 of its own, and we were tied up. The game continued to be a series of runs. We took half 5 -3 but then traded points to be 5-5. This was the final push and what we had been working for all year. Our group came out with confidence and composure - trusting one another and hitting open downfield cutters. We took the last 3 points to win the game and our third state title. 

The boys had a long road to finals. Game 1 matched us against Templeton Academy. The boys made quick work and won 13-1. Game 2 was against Ravenwood. Using the full depth of our roster and saving some legs for the later matchups, we took the win 10-6. 

The semis were a rematch of last year's state title game against Independence High. These teams have met multiple times this year and traded wins and losses. In the second half, our boys found themselves down 5-8. Now, picture a sideline of 30+ high school boys being led by the chants of Connor Harris '25 and the experience of 12 seniors (many of whom have played together for seven years). The boys fought back to make it 8-8 and scored the winning goal to take the game 9-8 and head to the finals. 

The final was against a skilled River's Edge Christian Academy from Knoxville. The game went back and forth the whole time with neither team leading by more than 2 points. We had a huge point from our younger players to take half and a huge diving catch from Sean Franke to put us up by 1, nearing the end of the game. Our core O line of Danny Gerregano ‘24, Gavin Higgins ‘24, Jack Wellons ‘24, Xavier Warren ‘24, Adam Wang ‘24, Ryan Barrett ‘24, and Cam Thompson ‘24 played many points and relied on the chemistry they've developed over the last 4+ years.

However, as with the semis, the finals came down to one final winner-takes-all point. After a turnover from both teams, Adam Wang '24 put up a beautiful throw to the back of the endzone to a jumping Ryan Barrett '24, who caught the winning catch just over the fingertips of his defender, earning our boys' back-to-back state championships. 

We are so proud of our players and how they support one another. These wins are the results of countless hours of equal parts hard work and fun. Thanks to all the parents and faculty who came out to support us this year.




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