Sports
Ohio Men’s Ultimate Starts Spring Season In North Carolina
By: Erick Starkey
Posted on:
The Ohio University men's Ultimate Frisbee team begins this spring season as it heads to Charlotte, N.C., to compete in the Queen City Tune-Up where the Bobcats finished second in 2013.
"The role of this tournament in our overall season goals is to set the bar for ourselves for the rest of the season," team captain Connor Hunt said.
The Bobcats were placed into Pool C along with four other teams, Harvard, Iowa, Connecticut and Appalachian State. On Feb. 8, the team will compete in pool play where it will face each of the four other teams in its pool.
Harvard was in the same pool as the 'Cats last year at the same tournament and the Bobcats won 12-11, while Harvard went on to take third place. Harvard is a national threat as the Crimson finished tied for ninth in the College Championships in 2013.
"Last year at Queen City, we played a close game with Harvard and came out on top,” Hunt said. “We're hoping that this year we can repeat that result and play deep into Sunday.”
Iowa did not play in this tournament last year. Connecticut was in a different pool in 2013 but went 3-1 in pool play and finished in seventh overall. Appalachian State went 0-4 in pool play in 2013 and did not advance to the championship bracket.
If the Bobcats place in the top three positions in Pool C, they will advance to the championship bracket, which will take place on Feb. 9.
"Our goal for this weekend is to win the tournament, which we can accomplish by playing the best we possibly can at every point and trusting in our teammates," Hunt said.
If Ohio takes part in the championship bracket, the ‘Cats have the chance to face national powerhouses along with conference rivals. Two national powerhouses that the team may face are North Carolina, who beat Ohio in the championship game at the QCTU in 2013 and finished tied for fifth in the nation in 2013.
"They [UNC] are definitely a favorite for winning the College Championship this year so running into them would be tough," the captain said.
The Bobcats may have to face North Carolina-Wilmington, who also finished tied for fifth in the nation in 2013. The Bobcats also have the possibility to compete against Dartmouth who finished tied for fifth in the nation in 2013 along with the two aforementioned teams.
There is also a chance to face Ohio Valley Conference teams Ohio State, Pennsylvania or Penn State.
"We definitely have the talent to make a run to the finals, it just depends on how consistently we can play and whether or not we end up running out of legs from having to play a short rotation," Hunt said.
The Bobcats begin their weekend as they face Connecticut at 9 a.m., followed by Appalachian State at noon. They round out their day with big matchups against Iowa at 1:30 p.m. and Harvard at 3 p.m. in hopes of reaching the championship bracket on Sunday.