Eleven men’s ultimate frisbee teams braved the weather and drove down to Indianapolis for the Indy Invite. This year was different from past years as teams dealt with snow and wind during their games.
Ball State Wizardz (6-5, 0-2 Eastern Plains Conference) were one of those teams. The Wizardz finished in sixth place at this tournament. Junior Daniel Stephens played in both of the days of the tournament. Stephens said playing in the snow was very cold.
“A lot of sliding and not being able to get your cleats into the ground,” Stephens said. “I will say that playing as the snow fell was an amazing experience. Just playing in that environment, one that most people won’t ever get to play in, is pretty crazy.”
When the snow was falling on Saturday in Pool B play, the Wizardz managed to go 2-2 with one of those wins being a forfeit. The other win came against Missouri. The Wizardz won, 12-8, and moved onto the Quarterfinals.
On Sunday, the Wizardz had come out flat against Indiana HoosierMama?s. After tying the game at Universal Point, but couldn’t manage to beat them. The HoosierMama?s went onto place fourth in the tournament.
In the second game, the Wizardz cruised by Western Michigan Dark Horse, winning 15-4. Then it came down to the final game against Grand Valley State Lakers.
In this game, the Lakers had come out hot, winning the first half by two goals (8-6). The Lakers went onto beat the Wizardz by just one goal, 10-9.
In the end, the Wizardz held their seed, finishing in sixth place. Junior Caleb Spatt said that the team played okay.
“We are a good team but we seem to be holding back mentally when it comes to playing,” Spatt said. “This tournament helped build up our mental toughness but we still have a long way to go. I was happy that we held seed because losing seed is way worse than just holding it.”
The Wizardz need to keep their mental toughness up as they are the No. 7 seeded team this weekend at Illinois Invite. Spatt said, “it puts good pressure on us to do our best and to grow as a team.”
The first game of the Illinois Invite at 9 a.m. on March 31 in Rantoul, Illinois. The Wizardz square off against the Lakers.
Patrick Murphy 