Dr. Peter Broe Classic II Recap

We’ve wrapped up our final tournament of the semester. With 9 teams, the Dr. Peter Broe Classic II ended up being one of the biggest tournaments of the year so far. We’ll go over all the scores and stories of the day, as we get ready for the second semester on the road to Nationals.

By Rylan Close (Kent)

MSU

MSU 6-0 UWP

MSU 8-0 CUW

MSU 5-0 CSU (Early Stoppage)

MSU 3-1 GVSU

Michigan State gets their revenge against GVSU and returns to the top of the standings after a close loss early in the season to the Lakers. While this team is a little more vulnerable than they were last season, they are still top contenders to repeat their championship from last season. They will look to build upon their performance next semester on the backs of their top names such as Matt Barribal, Nick Fedewa, and rookies like Eric Rapp. 

GVSU

GVSU 5-0 CMU (Early Stoppage)

GVSU 5-1 WMU

GVSU 1-3 MSU

GVSU falls short of MSU this time around. Expect these two teams to go back and forth every time they see each other, as this rivalry gets more and more heated every time these teams play. The addition of Joe Barber transferring from SVSU has been a huge boost in arm strength and catching for a team that already had much of both. Veteran leadership from guys like Ben Smart and Aaron Pope will be incredibly important for getting over the hump.

KENT

Kent 4-2 WMU

Kent 3-2 SVSU (OT)

Kent 4-2 UWP

Kent had a nice rebound performance after their previous matches at BGSU’s Tyler Webb Memorial tournament. Going 3-0 in some of the closest affairs they’ve had this season, including their first OT match since Nationals in 2019. Fighting through some high-adversity games is going to be important for this squad, and rookies such as Ben Welch, Rayshawn Shephard, and JJ Oldenburg stepped up nicely in the spotlight. While they may have some work to do before they can be considered top contenders, this team is incredibly young and has shown that they can play any team in the league close at full strength. 

SVSU

SVSU 5-2 CUW

SVSU 2-3 Kent (OT)

SVSU 3-1 WMU

SVSU has quietly been having some of its best tournaments of the season to close out the semester. After an 0-3 start at Akron’s Pink Out, the Cardinals have gone 4-2 to close out the year, with their only losses being to GVSU, and an overtime game to Kent State. Under the leadership of Cole Machiela, this team has been improving tremendously. Players such as DJ Goodwin and Kyle Krupp have been stepping up big-time in more prominent roles with this team. SVSU is looking like they’re recovering nicely from the large graduating class they had this past offseason.

WMU

WMU 2-4 Kent

WMU 1-5 GVSU

WMU 1-3 SVSU

The hosts of DPBC2 ended up having a rough day, losing all 3 of their games. This team desperately needs to build up some more arms, as quiet days from their top players Ryan Allor and Matt Barnett can highlight some of the weaknesses in the roster. However, the day wasn’t all bad, as other players such as Thomas Moseback, Nick Hoffon, and Randy Santana-Jimenez are showing significant improvement to their game. This team is still relatively young and has plenty of room to continue growing. Don’t be surprised to see this team have a bit of a rebound at Summit Street Slugfest. 

UWP

UWP 0-6 MSU

UWP 3-4 CSU (OT)

UWP 2-4 Kent

The Pioneers also saw themselves go winless on the day, getting blown out by the defending champion MSU, and having two rough losses to CSU and Kent. This squad has plenty of arms in guys like Caleb Newell, Caleb Laux, and Tomas Zander, but their biggest struggle at this tournament was catching. Being significantly out-caught was very clearly their biggest downfall against teams like CSU and Kent, and their arm talent can only take you so far. If this team can start to develop some more consistent catching, they can improve significantly in just a short period of time.

CSU

CSU 1-0 CMU (Forfeit)

CSU 0-5 MSU (Early Stoppage)

CSU 4-3 UWP (OT)

Cleveland State came out of the weekend with a solid 2-1 performance for the first time since 2021. Winning a forfeit match against CMU, and an overtime thriller against UWP. The Vikings have struggled with having enough numbers for tournaments this season, but when they’re at full strength, they’re much more competitive. Sky Thornsberry, William McCartney, and Alex Costello have been playing some of the best dodgeball of their careers so far. This squad will look to build upon this performance at the Summit Street Slugfest in Kent next semester, if they can keep up the necessary numbers, they should be able to do it. 

CMU

CMU 0-1 CSU (Forfeit

CMU 0-5 GVSU (Early Stoppage)

CMU 5-3 CUW

CMU came to this tournament undermanned, having to forfeit their first game against CSU due to a late arrival from one of their cars. But the games they were able to play looked promising. The Chips were able to win their first game of the season against an improving CUW squad. They might have a little ways to go in rebuilding the program they once were, but they’ve been able to show plenty of promise this season, and have already improved significantly since their doubleheader against WMU. 

CUW

CUW 0-8 MSU

CUW 2-5 SVSU

CUW 3-5 CMU

CUW had a rough but promising performance on the day, playing an improving SVSU squad close for a half, and going back and forth with CMU. The biggest issues CUW has are still a lack of arms and inexperience. This squad is still getting used to the strategies teams use on the court, and can be disorganized at times. Connor Knott and Paul Brock are great all-around players, but the team needs to develop some more arm strength to be able to compete with more squads around the league. This is still only year two of a brand new program, so expect them to keep getting better every tournament/season and for things to click better the more tournaments they attend.

Be on the lookout for more offseason content soon! Have a Happy Holidays during this winter break season.