WCVI Finals
Texas chaser Kody Marshall shrugs off a UCLA tackler in UT's 190*-80 championship victory. | Photo by Monica Wheeler
No. 2 University of Texas Austin (Austin, TX) were the first to arrive, their faces etched with focus and the resolve to prove themselves after they lost their regional championships to Baylor University (Waco, TX) in February. The silvered-ranked team wasted no time before breaking off into warm-ups and tackling drills, showing-off their signature physicality for the crowd and opponents.
No. 3 University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) arrived a few minutes later, and congregated into a team huddle for a strategy session that lasted right until brooms up. The distinct pre-game rituals spoke to the teams' character: Texas would fight with discipline, focus, and physicality while UCLA brought speed, strategy, and acumen to the field.
As the teams readied for battle, a syndicate of snitches paraded around the field, waving the Western and Southwestern regional flags to the cheers of spectators. Leading the march armed with a water pistol was the six-year old super fan Oliver, now known all over the world as Mini-Snitch. Mini-Snitch snuck up on UCLA to spray them with his pistol, before snitch director Jeff Brice (also known as Conway Cooperson) carried him away to applause. But the tiny tot returned one more time, to douse the crowds with water—a welcomed shenanigan in the 90 plus heat.
The match's real snitch, Charlie Jordan, was apparently impervious to the weather, wearing a wool-knit hat as he performed military push-ups with Brice on his back. That was the last sight the seekers had before brooms down, eyes closed. They did not see Jordan depart from the pitch, alongside his snitch comrades, a wave of yellow splashing against Austin Tindall park.
UCLA struck first blood in the championship match, as Jeffrey Lin capitalized on Asher King Abrahamson's aggressive beating, scoring from behind the hoops. Texas' Christopher Morris soon equalized, as the two teams traded blows in the early going.
Neither team was able to grasp much of an advantage early as one goal begot the next. The two teams traded goals, with keeper Zach Luce scoring thrice for UCLA, interspersed with a pair of goals from Texas chasers Kody Marshall, and Audrey Wright. A brute force goal by UCLA's Jake Tieman evened the match at 50. Although even at the start, Texas began to assert its edge towards the middle of the game. Texas scored once more to make it 60-50, then took advantage of a yellow card issued to Tieman for an illegal tackle to make it 70-50. Moments later, with the snitches now released, Tieman's tournament ended as a tackle from behind garnered his second yellow card, and an ejection. With Tieman gone, the floodgates opened. Texas chaser Simon Arends made it 80-50, with teammate Augustine Monroe following suit soon after. UT extended their margin to 120-60, losing keeper Stephen Bell to a straight red card (audience endangerment) in the process, when the seekers returned to the pitch. Trailing by 60, UCLA fought valiantly to extend the match, having their seeker Michael Maben set up defensively against his counterpart Kenny Chilton. As the two dodged water balloons hailed by auxiliary snitches, UCLA cut its deficit to 50. A yellow card to UCLA's Corey Osto for player endangerment put Texas a man-up, and shortly thereafter they extended their lead to 70, 140-70. The teams traded goals once more, as UCLA tried to stay in the match, but another yellow card put them a man down yet again. When Texas took advantage, to make the score 160-80, UCLA changed tactics and went for the suicide snitch, a decision that proved unpopular with those in attendance. The UCLA seeker didn't have much of a chance, however, as Chilton challenged the snitch. His determination brought the snitch down to the ground, but Texas seeker grabbed the sock from his shorts before the yellow man fell to the ground.Waving the tail in the air, Chilton welcomed his team as they mobbed the field. The scoreboard glowed with the finals' results: 190*-80. University of Texas-Austin had become the first non-Middlebury World Cup champions.
At the closing ceremony, Texas wasn't the only team to thrust those spray-painted hoops into the air. Division II champions Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, TX) and runner-up Loyola University (New Orleans, LA) celebrated their accomplishments to the cheers of the crowd, and UCLA grabbed the silver before sprinting off to catch their plane back to Los Angeles.Not all victories were won on the field, as the IQA Commissioner reminded us. Alex Benepe—dressed head-to-toe-to-top-hat in all white—awarded the Xander Manshel Award to the teams voted tops in sportsmanship and spirit: Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY) in DII and the Paris Phénix (Paris, FR) in Division I.
Even those without trophies in their suitcases or wins under the belt left Florida with something much more valuable—no, not those IQA shot glasses or Northeast pinnies … the memories of WCVI and the resolve to return for WCVII.
Texas seeker Kenny Chilton is mobbed by his teammates after pulling the winning snitch. | Photo by Isabella Gong
Full Results can be found here: World Cup Results
