Tag: UWP

Cornhusker Clash

Cornhusker Clash (841 N 14th St, Lincoln, NE 68508)

This week kicks off the first tournament of the year for teams of Nebraska, DePaul, and Platteville. The Cornhusker Clash should be a blast and should provide some quality games for the teams participating. The last time that Nebraska held a tournament was two years ago and Platteville and DePaul attended. These teams all have experience which makes this a much different tournament than two years ago.

Let’s take a look at the teams at the Cornhusker Clash.  Continue reading “Cornhusker Clash”

Zanderthon Throw-Down Recap

By: Erik Zander and Matt Bautch (both UWP) with Zigmas Maloni in parenthesis for minor additional commentary.

So Saturday, February 20, 2016, three teams came together to battle in the Zanderthon Throw-Down.  These teams were Platteville, Nebraska, and DePaul, it was a mix of very different styles of play which made for some good matches. Here is the breakdown of the matches from that day.  Continue reading “Zanderthon Throw-Down Recap”

Zanderthon Throw-Down Preview

Erik Zander [UWP-C] writes…

I would first like to say thanks for the teams that are making Platteville’s first ever real home tournament possible.  The teams involved on Feb 20, 2016 at Williams Field House are: Platteville Pioneers, DePaul Dodgeball Society, and Nebraska Cornhuskers.

10:00am UWP-JV UNL
11:15am DePaul UNL
12:30pm UWP DePaul
1:45pm UWP UNL

Continue reading “Zanderthon Throw-Down Preview”

King of the Mountain Recap

This weekend Central Michigan University hosted the King of the Mountain dodgeball tournament.  At this event we saw schools from Michigan, Ohio, and even Wisconsin in attendance.  There were a lot of questions heading into the event, and I came away with quite a bit of insight on the teams that made the trip to Mt. Pleasant for a great tournament.  Below I have the scores from the tournament and some of my takeaways from the event as a whole: Continue reading “King of the Mountain Recap”

King of the Mountain Dodgeball Tournament Preview

On February 6th, Central Michigan University will host their second home tournament in as many weeks with the “King of the Mountain” Tournament.  In attendance will be a good variety of schools from around the Midwest.  CMU will welcome Saginaw Valley State and Grand Valley State from Michigan, Kent State, Ohio, and Akron from the state of Ohio, and Wisconsin Platteville will also be making the trip to Mt. Pleasant for this event.

All in all, this will be a great mix of teams both in terms of the NCDA region they represent, and they level of talent which they possess.  There should be some very entertaining games during this event.  Here is a brief team-by-team preview: Continue reading “King of the Mountain Dodgeball Tournament Preview”

BOTM: 2015 September

12086881_1041133752604531_1076260122_nSeptember Baller of the Month: Matt Bautch (UWP)

This month’s BOTM goes to Wisconsin Platteville’s star player: Matt Bautch.  As an individual, Matt had a spectacular first month to the season, leading his team to victory over DePaul in the Pioneer Classic, and then performing very well in the Grand Valley Gauntlet a week later.

Matt has proved to be one of the top arms in the league, but his improved catching is what has transformed him into a likely All-American choice.  Playing for am inexperienced team this year, Matt has had to carry much of the load for UWP, and he did just that in games against SVSU and GVSU, where he proved to be the most valuable player on the court.

Here is my conversation with UWP’s star player.  He explains his teams efforts to compete against a variety of teams this year, their successful trip to Nationals in 2015, and a ver bold prediction on how far he believes Platteville will make it at Nationals 2016. Continue reading “BOTM: 2015 September”

Opening Match 2015: Pioneer Classic

PLATTEVILLE – Bo Ryan Court: UWP def DePaul 3-0 in the Pioneer Classic, the Opening Match of the 2016 Season. -zm

The team arrived in Platteville at about two in the afternoon. After warming up, we took our sides. In the first game DePaul lost players quickly, with only a few members holding on until losing. The second game was more evenly matched. Eventually, Bryan Hymel was the last man remaining on the DePaul side, holding them off until half-time. In the second half, DePaul fought hard. Tyler Hamilton was the last man remaining, then making some great catches to bring some teammates back in. After losing that game, DePaul came surging back in the final Point, getting Platteville down to only one player in the last 10 seconds left in play. Despite dropping two games to Platteville, DePaul played well and had fun in the first match of the year. – Jake Binder [DePaul 1st Year]

Previewing the Pioneer Classic

2015 UWP All Star Matt Bautch previews this weekends opening match! -zm

This weekend at the University of Wisconsin Platteville, the Pioneer Classic is taking place to test the abilities of the new 2015-2016 Platteville and DePaul dodgeball teams. Platteville has been thinking about hosting games and/or tournaments for some time now, and this year we made it happen. It’s tough to get teams to come and play when it’s quite an adventure to get here. We’re ecstatic that DePaul is making the trip to come compete with us. It’s going to be an all-out battle between the two Illinois region teams to see who comes out victorious. It will be very interesting to see how both teams are going to strategize this year. All new members of the clubs will now get a taste of how the NCDA tournaments work, and also how an opposing team may play and strategize differently than ourselves. Whenever Platteville and DePaul meet, no matter which team wins or loses, there is so much respect and enthusiasm for each team when playing.

After throwing wrenches at our new freshman recruits to teach them how to dodge, we feel that we are ready for anything, except maybe dodging traffic. When we do start dodging traffic, we will start here in Platteville, hopefully working up to Chicago-level traffic so we will be just as good as DePaul. We will get there eventually. After workouts, we drink our own urine because it is sterile and we like the taste. The nutritional value is still being researched. In addition to the physical game, we have been trying to instill the five D’s of dodgeball into every players mind. We even have them on the backs of our shirts as reminders. After all this hard work and nutritional supplements, we feel that this will be the match of the century.

Season Preview: UWP

Location: Platteville, Wisconsin                      uwp-logo

NCDA Region: Wisconsin/Midwest

2014-2015 Record: 5-2 (only losses came to GVSU at Nationals)

2014-2015 Nationals Finish: Lost to GVSU in Quarterfinals

2015-2016 Captains: C – Erik Zander, C – Matt Bautch, A – Brian Hargrove

Returning Varsity Players: 7

Players to Watch: Erik Zander, Matt Bautch, Jeremy Oney, Nick Harding

Overview: Not unlike 1990 Eurodance sensation Snap!, UWP’s certainly got the power. It’s just a matter of them getting enough opportunities to exhibit it.

Continue reading “Season Preview: UWP”

St Ambrose Analysis

This past weekend, three teams joined the league. One team hosted their own event: St. Ambrose hosted DePaul Dodgeball and Wisconsin Platteville in a Round Robin. Troy Dixon and I traveled to help Officiate the event. In this article, we perform an in depth analysis based on our on site observations.

The Court and St. Ambrose University

Zigmas Maloni: Let’s start with the Court, location and any intricacies related to dodgeball played on this surface. Any thoughts?  Continue reading “St Ambrose Analysis”