Sports
Ohio Ultimate Preps For Tourney No. 2
By: Erick Starkey
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The Ohio men's ultimate team is set to compete in the field of 24 teams in Axton, Va., for the Easterns Qualifier tournament, where they finished second in 2013.
The Bobcats are joined by foes from the Queen City Tune Up along with teams they have not faced yet this season. Ohio is coming off of a 13th place finish at Queen City on Feb. 8-9.
This weekend’s tournament features a wide range of clubs. Some are national powerhouses and others are looking to make a name for themselves.
"There's a lot of parity at this tournament, and I think everyone going is going to think they can beat everyone else, so it's not so much fear, more so seeing who can execute better," said team captain Connor Hunt via email.
UNC-Wilmington comes in as the number one seed after a seventh-place finish at Queen City. They beat the Bobcats in the championship game in 2013 at the Easterns Qualifier.
Other teams who are off to a winning start will be in attendance this weekend: Georgetown, Appalachian State and Michigan State, who finished sixth, eighth and 12th, respectively, in the QCTU.
The Bobcats will also see fellow Ohio Valley Conference teams like Ohio State, Penn State and Pennsylvania.
But the 'Cats are not too worried about who they may matchup against.
"We don’t necessarily want to focus too much on who we're playing as much as we do things in our control, such as how we play, no matter who's on the other side of the field," Hunt said, "Our biggest challenge is going to be finding out a way to cope with Matt Olsen's injury and juggling who plays on which lines."
The Bobcats seem to be ready to head south Feb. 22-23 and compete with mostly out-of-region competition for their second tournament of the year.
"We want to play our best every single point, and ideally win each game we play one point at a time," Hunt said, "We also want to continue to focus on growth as a team and making sure everyone's getting better."