Leading into Nationals, we look to spotlight as many teams as we can in hopes of shining a bright light on standouts from participating teams. These glow-ups include up to 2 of each team’s standout rookies as well as a handful of core contributing players that have gotten their respective team to where they are going into the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s annual finale. Lastly, we get a glance into each participating team’s mindset and expectations going into Nationals.
Falcons’ Rookie Spotlight
Evan is a player that came onto the scene and has made a major impact to the game for Bowling Green. He has a cannon for an arm and he just keeps going with it. He never backs down from anyone, fearless, and his awareness on the court is absolutely amazing. If you hear “fuh” it’s too late. Evan has been a major part of the success of BG, being the key reason we won our OT game against Ohio with 3 catches and 4 kills. Look for him to be a force for years to come.
Another rookie who has become sort of a late bloomer is Josh Boyers. Josh started off the year really slow, but he emerged very quickly during our last tournament of fall semester at Cleveland State. His game is catching and he puts on a clinic day in and day out. With an arm beginning to develop in him, he’s gonna be a force for this BG team. He has great potential, against CSU catching a huge heater against Joe Walsh that really turned our game around. Can’t wait to see where he ends up in the next few years.
Key Contributors for the Falcons
Gabe is a graduating senior that has been instrumental to the success of the Falcons. He has been apart of this team throughout college and has had plenty of practice and in game experience to be able to hone his skills. Gabe is extremely exceptional at all major facets of the game but has improved to be a more major part of the team this season with his leadership and coaching style. Gabe is one of our high tier players on the team as well as being the president of BGSU dodgeball. His big catches and well placed throws are what sets him apart from normal players; his drive to become better at the sport and improve everyone around him is what sets him apart from normal captains.
Cole easily has the hardest throw on the squad, pair that with his catching ability and his athletic ability in general and you have one of the most deadly players in the nation. Cole is a 5th year senior who came back this year with one thing in mind and that was to wreck this league. Cole is a big reason why BG is so successful today, always working with the team to make them better players, always staying after practice to work on catching. Cole is a hard out for BG, when the flower shorts come out, most other teams ain’t about it.
Josh White IS that guy, pal. Josh has played a huge role with being the player to turn the tides in big game situations. Josh is an absolute monster of a catcher and is the most capable player to have out on the court as the last player. It never ceases to put the asses in the seats when Josh is the last player in and he makes multiple team catches. Nobody should ever try to single throw Josh, but yet that never stops him from making every catch that ventures into his premises. On top of these catches, Josh is also a big motivator on the team for our success. Always keeping his head up and making sure everyone on the team always knows to do the same.
Brandon is one of the biggest surprises to have at BG this year. Brandon is a 5th year graduating senior, and one hell of a thrower. This man’s elastic lefty arm and sidearm throw is the type of thing nobody will ever see coming regardless of how much they think they are paying attention. He has been a prominent player at BGSU for the past few years and has been noticed around the league as he one of the major weapons on BG’s team. This paired with his work ethic and desire to be a leader on the team will be extremely beneficial to the falcons come nationals.
Joey is one of the secret weapons that BG has in store for nationals. While only competing in CSU and ODC, this player has a high potential to make a lot of noise at nationals. As a player, he has always been able to make big time throws but now as his career furthers he is becoming a better catcher for the team and has taken a major leadership role this past season. As Joey is only reaching his junior year, it will be likely that this player will become a major problem to other teams in the near future.
Mindset for Nationals – Several Players
Evan Brown: “Our mindset going into nationals is that we want to bring a championship to BGSU. We believe we can dominate this tournament and I’m fully confident we can impose our will during nationals.”
Josh Boyers: “Going into nationals, our team is confident and we know we’re capable of beating any other team there. As long as we can stick to our game and keep our heads in there, we can win a lot of games and place well. Just because we’re a young team doesn’t mean we can’t show up and perform.”
Gabriel Carrington: “Going into nationals this year, this team has had a lot of highs and a lot of lows. We’re coming off a low tournament but now we know what it’s like to lose bad and a lot of us took that hard. We are going there and playing like our whole career is on the line. This is my last tournament, I’m leaving it out on that court and I know all my brothers are too.”