With the 2024 ODC officially in the books, here is our recap from each team.
By Wes Peters, Rylan Close, Mitch Porter, and Ethan Lehmkuhl
UC
UC 7-1 CSU
UC 4-1 Miami
UC 3-2 OSU
Parallel to the Michigan Dodgeball Cup, Cincinnati gets a three-peat of its own, defeating Cleveland State, Miami, and finally Ohio State in a top-down fantastic effort. The usual suspects made their presence clear, with Matt Rosinski, Will Hyatt, and Ryan Engelman (You’ll see his catch on social media for weeks) all playing great. But what really put them over the top were the performances from players like Isaiah Montgomery, Sterling Gauche, and rookie Connor Buttari. The whole starting lineup top to bottom had key moments on the day, and they needed every single bit of it to finally beat Ohio State for the first time this season on the biggest stage. The Bearcats had been falling to the wayside a little bit this season in terms of title discussion, with teams like OSU, MSU, and GVSU getting most of the attention. After Saturday’s victory, it’s clear the Bearcats are just as much of a threat as any of those teams, and the talent seems to be clicking at just the right time. If they can keep this momentum going come nationals they could just as easily bring home two trophies this year.
OSU
OSU 3-1 BGSU
OSU 4-3 Ohio
OSU 2-3 UC
The Buckeyes started their day as the #2 seed with a first-round matchup against BGSU. They took care of business with a 3-1 win before moving on to Ohio in the semis. This game was exciting from start to finish, with neither team scoring 2 points in a row until OSU scored with 2 minutes to go to go up 4-3. Colson Bunch stepped up in a huge way for OSU this game, making countless kills and catches in clutch moments. The championship versus UC was also extremely back and forth, as expected. The Buckeyes held a 2-1 lead late in the second half but were not able to close out UC. Ohio State will look forward to bouncing back at Akron’s WAR with probable matchups against Grand Valley State and Nebraska. Expect this team to be hungry come April.
OU
OU 4-2 Akron
OU 3-4 OSU
OU 4-3 Miami (OT)
The Ohio Bobcats came into the Ohio Dodgeball Cup as the 3rd most favored team to win the cup, behind Ohio State and Cincinnati. Their performance on this day lived up to the hype that they displayed on their 7-game win streak coming into the tournament. Cruising in their first-round matchup, the Bobcats knew they had a monumental test awaiting them in the second round. In what would likely have been the match of the day at just about any other tournament, they fell just short to Ohio State, losing 4-3. You could tell they had a game plan for this matchup, and it nearly was enough to pull off the upset. Claiming a come-from-behind OT victory against Miami in their last game of the day, Ohio proved they aren’t going anywhere. Ohio will lose star player and captain Terence Checkett to season-ending surgery, but I expect him to still affect the game for the Bobcats off the court come nationals. Looking further ahead to next season, along with Cincinnati and Michigan State, they stand to lose probably the least talent after this season. Look out NCDA.
Akron
Akron 2-4 Ohio
Akron 3-2 BGSU
Akron 4-1 Kent
Akron performed at the Ohio Dodgeball Cup exactly how many expected they may. As the 6 seed in the region, they drew the 3-seed Ohio Bobcats, who they lost to 4-2. Tough first-round draw for a talented Zips team, for sure. They followed that up with a competitive 3-2 victory over Bowling Green State and finished with a convincing 4-1 win over Kent State. This Akron team has been loaded with talent the past couple of seasons – heck, they’re possibly the biggest club by numbers in the NCDA. It’s tough to say what this team lacks, as they are well-coached, know the rulebook front-to-back, and are very disciplined out on the court. They were an overtime away from making the final four last season, and yet they found themselves as the 6th highest-ranked team in a dense Ohio region in late February. With 6 weeks or so until Nationals, this panel can’t wait to see if they can put it all together again in time for the big dance.
Miami
Miami 6-2 Kent
Miami 1-4 UC
Miami 3-4 OU (OT)
Miami is another team with high hopes and aspirations for a great Ohio Dodgeball Cup performance, but probably fell a bit short of what they realistically could have hoped to achieve. Riding high off of the upset victory over Ohio State a few weeks ago, the Redhawks began the day with a back-and-forth game with the Golden Flashes, which turned into a blowout in the second half. They then matched up with the (at the time) two-time defending ODC champion Cincinnati Bearcats. This game didn’t go their way, UC played a very patient, methodical game, stifling the 4 biggest starts for Miami all match long. Cole Ginocchio was the victim of many a team throw in this match, spending much of his time in the outline. All in all, Miami had bright flashes of good performance this game, but ultimately fell 4-1. Their last game of the day is perhaps the most perplexing. While their 4 stars shined bright in this match, and role players stepped up big in key spots for them, they dropped a very winnable match (they lead 2-0!) to the Ohio Bobcats in OT. Miami has several star players at the top of their roster, but need a few more reliable, athletic arms to supplement those stars. It is worth noting that Miami had multiple players missing due to injuries/illness, and some depth could have made a difference in their match versus Ohio.
Kent
Kent 2-6 Miami
Kent 7-1 CSU
Kent 1-4 Akron
Kent came into the day shorthanded and with a rough draw against a scorching hot Miami team, and had a 1-2 performance on the day. Losing to both Miami and Akron and defeating CSU. The good news for the Flashes is that they had quite a few reserves rise to the occasion and make some solid plays on the day. Rookies like Noah Huth, Gustav Kotlarsic, and Grace Tonelli all made the most of their extended playing time. Kent State is a very young team right now and has time to develop some of the depth that they have behind their usual starters. If they can keep up the recruiting efforts and bolster their depth with playing time (potentially even with a B-team in the future), they can set themselves up to be future contenders for a while.
BGSU
BGSU 1-3 OSU
BGSU 2-3 Akron
BGSU 5-0 CSU
Bowling Green State came in as the 7th-ranked team in Ohio and thus drew an unfortunate first-round match against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Make no mistake, this is a very young team, on the rise. While they went 1-2 on the day with losses to Ohio State and Akron and a victory over Cleveland State, their losses were both quite competitive. Falling only 3-1 to OSU is a quality result for this Falcons team, and staying competitive with Akron right to the bitter end shows that this team has grown tremendously in the past couple of years, and probably quite a bit even just this year alone. With the Ohio region being as densely populated and flush with talent as it is, the Falcons could struggle to stand out, or they could carve out a spot near or at the top as early as next season. Time will tell.
CSU
CSU 1-7 UC
CSU 1-7 Kent
CSU 0-5 BGSU
We finish off with the last ranked team in the Ohio region, the Cleveland State Vikings. While all three of their results may have been lopsided, they put up a lot of fight at the Ohio Dodgeball Cup. They were at one point down only 2-1 to Cincinnati. While this year is yet again not their year, this team is one recruiting class away from catapulting themselves into the middle of the pack in their region. They are a solid catching team and have had good numbers all year long, with each player steadily showing improvement since the start of the season. They lack true firepower to hang with many of the teams they often face, but like I said, one good recruiting class can change everything.