The Tyler Webb Memorial Tournament brought a lot of action in both the co-ed pinch and women’s divisions. Here is a recap of the event from Rylan Close (Kent), Nate Keller (Kent), and Wes Peters (UC, NKU).
Pinch Recap
MSU
MSU 5-1 BGSU
MSU 5-1 NKU
MSU 3-2 UC (OT)
MSU 3-2 Kent
Michigan State handled their business at the Tyler Webb Memorial, achieving a perfect 4-0 record on the day. The Spartans defeated BGSU, NKU each 5-1 and played two tight matches against Kent State, UC, both finishing 3-2 with the UC match won in overtime. There are many young, but talented teams around the league this year and perhaps none more talented than this Michigan State squad, sporting yet another potentially loaded rookie class. Eric Rapp had a standout performance for Michigan State, looking right at home alongside former All-Rookie teammates Nick Fedewa and Matt Barriball. Michigan State takes a strong 7-1 record into their last tournament this weekend, but know they still need to improve if they hope to repeat as Michigan Dodgeball Cup and National Champions.
UC
UC 4-1 NKU
UC 3-1 Kent
UC 2-3 MSU (OT)
By attending the Tyler Webb Memorial, the Bearcats played their fifth tournament of the semester, and the fourth in a seven-week span. The goal this semester had been simple for Cincinnati: Quickly regain the experience they lost from such a large graduating class. Despite an 0-2 record against Ohio State so far, the mission has been a success. Coming in with a 10-2 record, Cincinnati faced Northern Kentucky, Kent State, and Michigan State. Undeterred by a slow start against the Norse, UC took care of business against NKU and Kent State. Michigan State proved to be a different level of competition, however, as the defending National Champions weren’t looking to lose their second match of the season so easily. The game went to overtime tied 2-2 with Michigan State ultimately prevailing. Standout performers for Cincinnati were Matthew Rosinski (as usual), but also a few lesser-known players in Sterling Gauche and Gavin Moseley, stepping up particularly against Michigan State.
Kent
Kent 0-3 BGSU
Kent 1-3 UC
Kent 2-3 MSU
Kent showed up on the day shorthanded, bringing only 12 players and missing 5 of their starters. They finished the day with one of the more intriguing 0-3 performances we’ve seen around the league. The Flashes got off to a slow start, falling to BGSU by a score of 3-0. However, the players that stepped up into starting roles started to settle in and the team seemed to get better with every game. Finishing with a loss 3-1 loss to UC and a 3-2 loss to the defending champions MSU, while only being 14 seconds away from clinching overtime. Tyler LaChapelle, Andrew Glowny, and Rayshawn Shepherd all stepped up big in their starting roles, and this team started to really click the longer they played. Expect this team to come back strong with a fuller roster at DPBC.
BGSU
BGSU 1-5 MSU
BGSU 3-0 Kent
BGSU 4-0 NKU
Bowling Green State finished the day 2-1 to bring their 2023-2024 season record to 5-9. BGSU once again found themselves in search of that signature win to cement themselves as an above-average team, but for now, they will need to keep searching. While they did not win their matchup with MSU, the Falcons did shutout a short-handed Kent State and a young NKU. This is a good tournament to build off of for BG and we will see if they can carry some momentum into the spring semester.
NKU
NKU 1-4 UC
NKU 1-5 MSU
NKU 0-4 BGSU
The Norse turned quite a few heads at the Tyler Webb Memorial for a number of different reasons. First, they brought 13 players to the tournament, their first time bringing a full starting twelve, and a sub to boot! Second, they managed to take both Cincinnati and Michigan State into halftime of their matches tied 1-1. While there is certainly something to be said for both Norse opponents attempting to save arms for later in the day, that’s frankly not NKU’s problem. While they ended up losing both matches as well as a third to Bowling Green State, Northern Kentucky certainly looks to be a program on the rise… and potentially, dare we say, already the best team in the South region? It’s too early to tell for sure, but this club features a talented core in Captain Will Strong (So.), Assistant Captains Jacob Fleck (Gra.) and TJ Gilkey (So.), and standout freshman Kishun Yokota. Hopefully, as the group gets more experienced throughout the year, more players will step up and become key contributors as well as the Norse enjoying the taste of victory more consistently.
Women’s Recap
Akron
Akron A 11-1 MSU B
Akron A 8-3 MSU A
Akron A 3-5 Alumni
Akron A 7-0 CSU
Akron B 1-9 Alumni
Akron B 3-10 MSU B
Akron took back their number 1 spot in the standings this past weekend and did so convincingly. They defeated the other two A-programs by a combined score of 15-3. Any struggles they showed at the past tournament were not visible here, as they wiped the floor with almost every team (the only exception being the unranked alumni team). Players like Zoey Deland and Emily Nicholson stepped up big for the Dodgettes, making key plays all day. When at full strength, this is still the program to beat in the women’s division and they’ve got nothing but depth all the way down.
MSU
MSU A 3-8 Akron A
MSU A 7-4 CSU
MSU A 6-3 Mixed
MSU B 1-11 Akron A
MSU B 5-3 Mixed
MSU B 10- 3 Akron B
MSU still remains just a step behind Akron, losing the rematch of their last OT affair 8-3. That being said, the depth on this squad keeps improving significantly. With MSU-B defeating Akron-B 10-3. Players such as Ashlynn Leeper, Paige Misner, and Ava Boley stepped up big on the A squad this time around and MSU A’s only loss on the day was against Akron A. This team will keep getting better, and it shows in the games they play.
CSU
CSU 2-7 Mixed
CSU 4-7 MSU A
CSU 5-8 Alumni
CSU 0-7 Akron A
CSU came into the day heavily shorthanded, missing 2 key players in Kathryn Mays and Stephanie Figueroa. As a result, they played with just 4 players all day. Women’s MVP candidate Sky Thornsberry still made absolute highlight plays all day, and River Ostrander-Brown has also made significant progress and is starting to look like a serious threat for this team. In both tournaments, this squad has had fewer than 6 people, but if they can finally make it to a tournament with a full roster, they can compete with anyone in the league.
Mixed
Mixed 7-2 CSU
Mixed 3-5 MSU B
Mixed 3-6 MSU A
The mixed team was comprised of Jasmine Hill (GVSU), Dani Swett (GVSU), Kaliegh Demeter (Miami), Katie Mei Williams (Miami, captain), Grace Tonelli (Kent), Reni Kaiser (BGSU, captain) Josie Quick (BGSU), and Emma Willoby (BGSU). They went 1-2 on the day with a win over Cleveland State. With more tournaments, these teams will be hopeful to field a full roster in the near future.
Can you elaborate on the significance of the Tyler Webb Memorial Recap and its impact on the community? Greeting : Telkom University