Recap
Midwest Fantasy Recap
Guest writer Eric Wasser gives you some insight into the drama-filled Midwest Fantasy.
A few weekends ago, Aroma Park, Ill. hosted a tournament full of drama, incredible seeking and Jaenicke’s craft root beer. Midwest Fantasy was certainly an exciting kick off to the major summer fantasy circuit.
Halloween Pool
Team finishes:
1st: Orange Crush 3-0
2nd: Black/The Evil Icelandic Hockey Team from The Mighty Ducks 2 2-1
3rd: Lime Green/Hoodrats 1-2
4th: The Purple Stranglers 0-3
Orange Crush
GM: Cody Narveson, Keeper, University of Minnesota
It was expected by just about everyone that Cody Narveson’s team would be competing with David Wilber’s The Evil Icelandic Hockey Team from The Mighty Ducks 2 (formerly The Night’s Watch) for control of this group. After handily dispatching The Purple Stranglers and forcing the Hoodrats to make a suicide catch, Orange Crush found itself in the unfamiliar situation of being held almost out of snitch range by the powerful defense of The Evil Icelandic team. The Evil Icelandic Team’s combination of Wilber himself at point chaser, his familiarity of playing with keeper Brandon Booth (Central Michigan University) behind him and the Texas beating phenom Michael Duquette (University of Texas) proved to be the most effective transitional offense. Iceland continuously took advantage of defensive stops to quickly score on unprepared teams. Down forty when the snitch returned to the pitch, Orange Crush was granted relief when beater Peter Lee (Lost Boys) was able to pull Duquette out of quaffle play by protecting the snitch. This allowed chaser Grant Daigle (University of Kansas) and keeper Eric Wasser (University of Michigan) to score two unanswered goals, giving Team USA seeker Sam Roitblat (Bowling Green State University) the opportunity he needed to make a quick catch, giving Orange Crush the ten point win, as well as an undefeated in-group record and a promising bye into the quarter-finals.
The Evil Icelandic Hockey Team from The Mighty Ducks 2 (Black)
GM: David Wilber, Chaser, Central Michigan University
As covered above, The Evil Icelandic team dominated the transitional game in all of its matches. The acquisition of chaser/seeker Craig Garrison (Lone Star Quidditch Club) provided extra speed and depth to the chasing game, as well as completing the inexhaustible seeking trio of seeker Jef Fischer (Central Michigan University), Brandon Booth and himself. This trio was only bested once throughout pool play and their championship run (excluding a suicide in pool play from The Hoodrats), and it’s no shame to lose one catch to one of the best seekers in the nation alongside an extremely highly touted beater from the best team in the Western region.
The Hoodrats (Lime Green)
GM: Drew Stroud, Beater, Illinois College
The Hoodrats had brilliant moments when their only major scoring threat, chaser/keeper Benjamin “Snowman” Ackland (Great Lakes Quidditch Club), was able to work in sync with starting beating duo Amanda “Turtles” Nagy (Lost Boys) and Tad Walters (Loyola University New Orleans). This team, however, was left vulnerable past its first string. Being forced to suicide twice (against Orange and Black), it was only able to pull out one win the entire weekend against the rather unimpressive Purple team. Stroud had a couple of solid picks but would have needed more viable substitutes and should have spread out his top players along multiple lines to balance his team’s resources.
The Purple Stranglers
GM: Alexis Moody, Non-Playing, Chicago Phoenix
This tournament was a long downhill road for Alexis Moody’s team. It started out with her choice to take seeker Jacob Drewa (University of Minnesota) over Sam Roitblat and Margo Aleman (University of Texas). The decision to take chaser Amber Harmon (Central Michigan University) wasn’t terrible, especially considering the lack of female chasers in this tournament. However, she never made the jump on a big name quaffle carrier beyond that. Things got more complicated when Moody attempted to use a point beater instead of chaser to eliminate open passing options. While this strategy may have worked early in the team’s first games, the pool quickly adapted and took advantage by neutralizing the strategy with an offensive beater, creating consistent driving opportunities. The team stuck with this strategy throughout the weekend, making for a long, winless tournament.
Ohio Quidditch Pool
Team Finishes:
1st: The Planeteers/Light Blue (formerly Mint) 2-1
2nd: The Midwest Pirates of the Caribbean/Teal 2-1
3rd: Blue Mountain Preview/Blue 2-1
4th: Grey Pride Parade/Grey 0-3
The Planeteers (Light Blue)
GM: Julie Fritz, Beater, Ohio State University
Julie Fritz’s team was the overwhelming early favorite after the draft based on her dominant beating skills being paired with beater Chad Brown (Bowling Green State University) and the quaffle play combination of the Midwest’s break-out player of the year chaser Jeremy Boettner (Ohio State University) and keeper David Prueter (Central Michigan University), who is often called the best keeper in the Midwest. The Planeteers stumbled early in pool play, falling in their first game on a controversial snitch catch to Blue Mountain Preview . Beyond that point in pool play, they were able to comfortably move past Teal on a snitch catch, as well as Grey. Overall, this team performed as well in pool play as expected. Teal hung with them until the end, and they lost (with quaffle points tied) mainly due to a very quick catch. The one major question left hanging over the Planeteers’ pool play performance is how Chad Brown taking a more competitive approach to the first day may have changed things. He is notorious for sandbagging at fantasy tournaments, and that may have been a major factor in this team’s results.
The Midwest Pirates of the Caribbean (Teal)
GM: Matt Eveland, Beater, Ohio State University
Matt Eveland’s team performed exactly as expected in pool play. They lost a close game to the pool-winning Planeteers and bested Blue Mountain on a snitch catch by Jack Norgren (Michigan State University). Chaser Chris Bowman (Ohio State University) ended up being integral to the team’s success in pool play, sharing the majority of the offensive production and point chaser responsibilities with chaser Brian Neibecker (Miami University). Beater Tina Kindstedt (Miami University) played brilliantly alongside Eveland, helping the team retain control in many defensive situations.
Blue Mountain Preview (Blue)
GM: Luke Changet, Beater, Blue Mountain Quidditch Club
It’s hard to criticize a team and GM whose main goal was not to win the tournament but instead use it as a tryout for a future community team. That being said, Blue Mountain had a fairly successful showing. In the first game of the tournament, Blue Mountain toppled the early tournament favorites, The Planeteers, through a strong defensive game that kept them in snitch range centered around Devon McCoy (Ball State University) at keeper. Blue’s expected win against Grey was textbook, and its loss to the Midwest Pirates came down to a snitch catch by future Blue Mountain seeker Jack Norgren, a missed acquisition that was predicted to hurt Changet’s chances in this tournament.
Grey Pride Parade (Grey)
GM: Zak Hewitt, Keeper, Bowling Green State University
Zak Hewitt’s “autodraft” (providing a list of players to be picked by the tournament directors in order) went far better than anyone expected, most likely due to the leadership of captain Samy Mousa (beater, University of Kansas) at the tournament, since Hewitt could not attend. A solid defense centered around beaters and aggressive beater play from Mousa on offense allowed chaser Justin Peters (University of Arkansas) to plow through defenses, thus keeping Grey in contention until it was ultimately defeated each game due to its lack of a true seeker.
Christmas Pool
Team Finishes:
1st: Maximum Carnage/Maroon 3-0
2nd: Turn Down for White/White 2-1
3rd: Can’t Staup; Won’t Staup/Green 1-2
4th: The Lannisters/Red 0-3
Maximum Carnage (Maroon)
GM: Daniel Shapiro, Chaser, University of Missouri
On day one, seeker Margo Aleman (University of Texas) had a huge case for pick of the tournament. In the three group stage games, he caught three snitches in under 2 minutes combined. However, one of the main reasons for Carnage even being in snitch range was keeper Nick Berg’s (University of Minnesota) consistency and leadership on the pitch. Berg provided much needed size and strength to accompany chaser Becca DuPont’s (Texas A&M) finishing ability and Aleman’s speed. He consistently stopped offensive drives and took advantage of no-bludger situations. This team lived by the snitch game all through day one and looked unstoppable if no one could find a counter to Aleman.
Turn Down for White (White)
GM: Doug Whiston, Beater, University of Kansas
Doug Whiston’s investment in chaser Hai Nguyen (University of Kansas) proved to be a smart one. Hai’s speed, flashiness and experience provided the offense this team needed to beat Green and Red, as well as keep Maximum Carnage in range. Going into bracket play, White certainly looked capable of taking down any other team. White’s beater corps wasn’t as high profile as many of the others over the weekend but was certainly solid enough to make up for a chasing defense that was largely unproven in day one and showed signs of possibly breaking down without bludgers.
Can’t Staup; Won’t Staup (Green)
GM: Melinda Staup, Beater, Ball State University
In pool play, Melinda Staup’s self-referencing team name was definitely the under-performer of the day. Struggling to find consistent offensive production, Can’t Staup rarely scored in pool play without Team USA alternate chaser Andrew Axtell (University of Michigan) on the pitch. The expected power beating duo of Staup and Trevor Campbell (Ball State University) didn’t play nearly as many minutes together as expected and ultimately faltered. Can’t Staup’s only win was an expected out of range routing of Red, and Can’t Staup didn’t show signs of turning anything around strategically.
The Lannisters (Red)
GM: Kelby Brooks, Keeper, Houston Cougar Quidditch
The Lannisters were the unfortunate punching bag of their group. Boasting an excellent seeking game, as well as a hugely physical chaser defense anchored by chaser/keeper Ian Strickland (Houston Cougar Quidditch) and chaser Malek Atassi (University of Michigan), the team was crippled by offensive beaters and their lack of a distributor. They proved time and time again to be a team of too many off-ball chasers, and the reliance on driving stifled offense in all three pool play games. Being out of range in all three, they were never able to utilize the potential of rookie seeker Benjamin Griesmann (University of Michigan), as he spent the entire time defending the snitch.
Bracket Play Highlights
The Lannisters
Despite a painful performance in pool play, the Lannisters were a completely different team in bracket play. Losing two players, including Atassi, the Lannisters’ hopes looked even worse in bracket play. However, they showed up to their first game as a completely different team.
Sometime between playing Can’t Staup in the morning (a game postponed because of rain) and playing Blue Mountain in the play-in game, they developed a cohesive transitional offense that allowed them to match most goals by Blue Mountain through physicality and gave Griesmann the opportunity he needed to make his first and only SWiM pull of the tournament. This game, and subsequent elimination of Blue Mountain, started off a day of snitch range games determined very quickly.
Unfortunately, injuries and exhaustion set in during the quarterfinals and they hung just outside of snitch range with The Evil Icelandic for almost fifteen minutes. Griessman defended the physical barrage of the Booth-Fischer-Garrison seeking trio, while also taking big hits from David Wilber attempting to get the catch through brute force. Finally, with the snitch handicapped and subs wearing thin, the Lannisters ended the game on their own terms with a suicide catch. The added experience and physicality of Atassi may have been enough to keep the Lannisters in range and give Griessman an opportunity to eliminate The Evil Icelandic but instead this game kicked off their championship run. Considering their abysmal showing in pool play, the Lannisters’ turn around and quarterfinal exit ought to be a source of pride.
Can’t Staup; Won’t Staup
After an ultimately disappointing third place finish in the Christmas pool, Can’t Staup; Won’t Staup flipped the switch in bracket play and surprised everyone. It started in their play-in game against the Midwest Pirates of the Caribbean. The defensive beating of Eveland and Kindstedt was able to counter Campbell’s hyper-aggressive style enough to allow them to match Axtell’s offensive production. What really prevented the Pirates from running away with this game was the increased confidence of keepers Blake Fitzgerald (Ball State University) and his teammate Ian Books (Ball State University). Fitzgerald showed flashes of brilliance intercepting passes and shots in front of the hoops and distributing to Axtell and company. On the other end of the spectrum, Books used his size and strength to plow through Teal’s defensive chaser lines as Campbell distracted the beaters. Both players proved that there will be a seamless transition in Ball State’s offense next year, despite the loss of perennial superstar McCoy. However, altering their strategy as soon as the snitch was released, Campbell exited the quaffle game and protected it mercilessly. This gave Green the time and opportunities it needed to make up for the fact that it lacked a primary seeker, as utility Travis Hammock (Mighty Bucks) made the first of his major catches to advance his team.
Can’t Staup’s performance looked similar in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Playing Narveson’s Orange Crush after the Pirates, Green was further outclassed in the quaffle game, down twenty when the snitch was released. Campbell continued to show his mettle as he fended off Sam Roitblat and Peter Lee, giving Fitzgerald the freedom he needed to prove his worth again, coming up with a quick catch to prevent the Crush from pulling out of range.
In the semifinals, Margo Aleman was bested for the first and only time. It was the only game where there was immediately a beater on the snitch, as opposed to a one-on-one seeker battle in range. All of Aleman’s quick catches came from out speeding the seeker and making a dive to his left, grabbing the tail back-handed with his right hand. Campbell was able to stifle this with quick, accurate beats, while nearly uncontested by Carnage’s underwhelming beater play. Hammock came up big again and took the few chances Campbell allowed him to send his team to the finals.
Turn Down for White
Gifted with an easy (although prolonged by defensive seeking) play-in game with the Purple Stranglers, Turn Down for White met up with the Planeteers in the quarterfinals. Jeremy Boettner and David Prueter played altogether too similar roles to pull away in the quaffle game as they were expected. Hai Nguyen and Lawrence Lazewski were able to take advantage of the lack of a physical drive-stopping defense to score many close range goals, consistently keeping the game within ten points. The investment in Tyler Macy (Florida’s Finest) paid off for the first time in this game, sending White to the semifinals to face The Evil Icelandic.
The Evil Icelandic Hockey Team from The Mighty Ducks 2
The story of The Evil Icelandic’s championship can simply be described as dominant. The only game that Wilber’s squad lost was also the only time it was kept in snitch range. The depth of its chasing was unmatched with Booth usually leading the charge, assisting Garrison and chaser Chris Fischer (Central Michigan University) for easy buckets. When he was resting, there was no decline in quality as Garrison was also able to distribute while Wilber plowed through opposing chasers and keepers. Third round pick chaser Alyssa Marassa (Illinois State University) proved to be an excellent investment, playing scrappy, relentless defense and getting open for outlets behind the hoops. After getting a pass into the quarterfinals thanks to excellent quaffle point differential in pool play (+160) where The Evil Icelandic moved passed the Lannisters, it then outmatched Turn Down for White at every position in the semifinals, winning 120* - 50. Michael Duquette played big minutes in every bracket game, rarely resting and neutralizing opposing beaters and chasers alike to let the quaffle play run free. In the finals, he was the first beater to match Campbell’s physicality and aggressiveness, which allowed the Evil Icelandic’s seekers to go unfettered at the defending Fitzgerald and Hammock repeatedly, until finally both opposing seekers and the snitch were worn out and Iceland secured the championship 170*-100.
