On December 4th, Western Michigan University held the inaugural Dr. Peter Broe Classic. This tournament was named after Dr. Peter Broe, the founder of the club, to say thank you for all the hard work he put in to get the club up and running. Broe provided several students with a great way to make friends and take a little stress out of college life, and instilled his love of dodgeball in them. This tournament was great for getting the Wisconsin teams involved with the Ohio and Michigan teams, below are the results.
Court 1
Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Score |
WMU | 7 | CMU | 0 |
OSU | 3 | WMU | 1 |
GVSU | 5 | SVSU | 2 |
WMU | 6 | Kent | 0 |
WMU | 6 | CUW | 1 |
Court 2
Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Score |
MSU | 6 | GVSU | 0 |
Kent | 5 | CUW | 2 |
CMU | 4 | Kent | 3 |
MSU | 9 | SVSU | 0 |
GVSU | 4 | OSU | 2 |
Court 3
Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | Score |
*UWP | 4 | SVSU | 3 |
MSU | 5 | UWP | 2 |
OSU | 5 | UWP | 2 |
CMU | 6 | CUW | 0 |
WMU (3-1)– This was most likely Western’s best tournament performance in program history, with blowout wins over Central Michigan, Kent State, and Concordia University Wisconsin. Their only loss came from a close 3-1 Ohio State game that the teams did not play after halftime (due to an injury), it’s not crazy to think Western could’ve pulled it back to a closer score by game’s end.
GVSU (2-1)– The Lakers suffered a huge loss (largest in program history) this weekend to the powerhouse that is Michigan State. This doesn’t mean the Lakers are pushovers, as they had convincing victories over Ohio State University and Saginaw Valley State University. The Lakers also managed to get their rookies plenty of playing time to keep developing their skills.
SVSU (0-3)– The Cardinal’s somehow went winless this weekend, but when you look at their schedule, it’s easy to see how that happened. They fell short to UWP in a close overtime match, got blown out by MSU, and suffered the same defeat they did earlier in the season to GVSU. SVSU will need to work on how they can beat better teams and close out the close games.
CMU (2-1)– The Chips in their first tournament back in years managed to go positive. They had a close win over a 9-player Kent State team, and showed more poise over an up-and-coming Concordia team. The big difference between them and other new teams is that a few players on their roster had a few semesters of previous experience under their belts. When put against a more experienced team like WMU, the Chips got blown out. It will be vital to see how they can improve their coordination as a team.
MSU (3-0)– The Spartans may have had the most dominant showcase in NCDA history this weekend. They took it to the reigning national champions without even letting them score a single point. The only team that managed to score a point –and two at that- against the Spartans, was UWP. The Spartans had an impressive +18 point differential this weekend, and remain the clear #1 team in the nation.
UWP (1-2)- The Pioneers took a young squad to this tournament and really put it together. Their rookies really stepped up and filled the roles that were needed. They caught well and took on the challenge and put up a fight against all their opponents. This team is putting the work in and it is showing on the court. A 1-2 record on the day might not seem impressive, but winning their first game in overtime against SVSU and then putting up a fight against a strong MSU team says a lot about the direction this team is going in and they are ready to take it to the next level.
CUW (0-3)- This tournament didn’t go as expected for the Falcons, but they still made big strides from their first tournament. They are athletic individuals who are competitors and it will take a little time before they are really competing against teams. If they keep putting in the work, they are going to be fun to watch over the second half of the season.
Kent (1-2)– Kent State played extremely well for only having 9 players. They have talent and are a team that is eager to compete. It will be great to see them play in a tournament with a full roster. This is a team that will be really talented in the future and is going to make some noise at the Ohio Dodgeball Cup.
OSU (2-1)– Ohio State came to the Dr. Peter Broe Classic and took care of business against their first two opponents and played well against GVSU. This is a squad that plays to their strategy and once it is in place it is tough to counter and compete against. They are a team that you will want to watch out for in the spring.
Erik Zander- What did you think of WMU hosting this tournament?
Avery Marzynski (GVSU)-I thought WMU did a fantastic job hosting the Inaugural Dr. Peter Broe Classic, much like they did an awesome job hosting Nationals.
Ethan Roahrig (MSU)– I think WMU always does a great job at hosting and this tournament was no different. Always a blast to come here and play.
UWP Captains- It was nice to see so many teams, especially on a Sunday. So, props to getting everyone to come out. They created a great schedule and made it a fun day for everyone.
Ryan Ginsberg (OSU)-I thought WMU did a great job hosting the tournament. The barriers in between courts were great to have to minimize balls crossing over as much as possible. I also believe they handed the stoppage during the unfortunate injury correctly. Tournament was on schedule too, which was great especially since we had a long drive home.
Vanessa Hudson (Kent)– We had a blast at WMU, it was nice to go somewhere new and experience playing new teams.
Bryce Stevens (SVSU)– WMU did a great job, the new leadership on the team did an excellent job as it was one of their first tournaments they have hosted without Peter.
Connor Knott (CUW)-They did a great job. Super well ran tournament and handled the injury situation very well. Good matchups.
EZ- What do you think your team could have done better?
Matt Barnett (WMU)-I think we need to work on our captains being able to talk within themselves better. I personally could have led our team a bit better, and we will work on it. We also need to work on having our best throwers not get overconfident and get caught.
AM-GVSU needs to work on making more catches and dropping less. Also we need to work on keeping our throws lower to avoid catches. As Josh Hill says, “Catches Win Games”.
ER– Communication for sure. Even though we did play some damn good dodgeball, there were times where we needed a bit of shouting to get the message across if we were doing a solo vs a team throw, or when we needed to counter and end up throwing too many balls by mistake.
UWP Captains– Our team could have done better at calling out crosses and providing pressure when we are on our backline.
RG– I think our team could have come out stronger in each game. During all 3 games we played below our expectations to start but then turned it on later in each match. We were able to get wins vs WMU and UWP with the slow starts, but our slow start vs GVSU proved to be too much to come back from. Overall, I think our team showed that we can compete with anyone, we just have to do it from start to finish.
VH- For our team only traveling to this tournament with 9 players, I think we did pretty well for our skill level. I would have liked to take the CMU game, but we truly played our absolute best with 9 members. I was very surprised with our ability to stay in points and not giving them up so easily. We played every point hard and it showed.
BS– Our team as a whole needed to settle and relax. We just got overwhelmed with the speed of UWP, the feet shots by GVSU and the pure depth of MSU.
CK-Our team had a lot of expectations this tournament and I think we fell very short of them. We were not playing together as a team. This is definitely due to the leadership on my part. We were horrendous with catching and threw too many balls.
EZ- What team impressed you the most that you didn’t think was going to originally?
MB– The obvious answer is MSU as I just assumed GVSU was going to be able to take them again and beating SVSU 9-0 is insane. They’re no pushovers. My not-so-obvious answer is Kent State. With only 9 players, they were able to get a win and have very close points with CMU and against us. This is not a team you want to get complacent with.
AM– OSU impressed me a lot. We were in a dogfight with them a month ago in Akron and that was no different last Sunday. Even after we went up 3-0 they made it hard for us to close that game out and stayed in. They are a fun team to matchup against.
ER– Personally, I’d like to say that UWP and CUW impressed me the most. Since we don’t get to play UWP often it was great to see this team come out firing and show some impressive catches and throws. As a new team, CUW has the ability to really take off from this season and improve so much into the next one. I can’t wait to see what they bring next year.
UWP Captains– Ohio State lost some key leaders and throwers last year and we weren’t sure how different they would be. They play with the same style, but with different throwers and have not lost a step.
RG– CMU impressed me a lot for a team that hasn’t played in about three years. Only a few players on their team had any NCDA experience but they played well. Getting two wins in your first tournament back in three years is an impressive feat. Shows that they have great leadership and new athletes that will listen and work together.
VH- CMU really impressed me, they gave us a run for our money. The did way better than we expected for a team that hasn’t played since 2019.
BS– UWP for sure. They have always been a close talent for us, but they seemed to have a much improved game plan then in a past.
CK– CMU was impressive as no one had them winning at all.
EZ- What two people stood out on your team?
MB– I would give mine to Alex “Boy Wonder” Marczuk and Thomas “Moose” Mosebach. Boy Wonder is a rookie and he will be in the top 3 in the All-Rookie list this year, but he won’t be 3 or 2. He is a phenomenal left-wing player with a great ball and looks for catches too. He just needs some fine tuning to accuracy, and he’ll be more of a killer than he already his. Moose on the other hand is our most intimidating looking player, he is built like a moose, hence his nickname. He does more for team morale and holding everything together than most people in the league do. He is a great blocker, thrower, and friend to all.
AM– Mason Smith and Aaron Pope were two people I was very impressed with. Mason is a rookie, but you wouldn’t think that watching him play. He loves to make plays and seems to get better every practice. Aaron Pope is a guy who is known dodgeball for a while and it shows in his play. He has a high dodgeball IQ and works super hard. This weekend he made a big impact for us.
ER– I got to give it to Matt Barriball and Josh Brott. Two rookies this year and I couldn’t be happier with how both of them have improved throughout this season. Matt is working his way to be a regular starter with his great speed and power on counters. For Josh, this was his first tournament and we chose him to be on the roster because we knew he could catch, and he did not disappoint! He looks for every catch he can, and I know he will become one of the best catchers while here.
UWP Captains– Jordyn Vanevenhoven and Adam Ebert are two people on our team that stood out. These two have been working hard on developing their throws, and it’s finally paying off. They also did an incredible job blocking for their teammates allowing us to make the calls we needed to provide pressure and get outs.
RG– Rookies Nick Kemer and Alden Prohaska really stood out for us on our right side. Against UWP they were right across from UWP’s captain, and they did a great job handling him and making sure they were there for counters and blocks when he threw. Nick showed that he can get anyone out with his powerful throw. Alden showed great versatility with kills and a few catches to bring back in valuable players. They also did a great job in the second half of our GVSU match, helping lead the fight back in our comeback attempt that ultimately fell short.
VH- I believe that Andrew Radigan and Nathan Keller really had great games. Andrew was playing lights out with tags, catches, and all around court awareness. Our assistant captain Nathan played really well too. He had timely catches and had some great ankle tags.
BS– The two guys that stood out to me. One is Owen Folson, a freshman, he is continuing to get better on every level especially his knowledge of the game. The second stand out player was Cole Machiela because he continues to prove why he is the best player on our team.
CK– Tré Lucas stood out big time. He’s great at everything. Chris Jennings was also someone who stood out. He had only had 1 practice and performed amazing. He almost brought us back from a 1 v 4 against CMU but just barely couldn’t hang on for the 1v1. He was subbed in for the 1 v 4 and did great.
Final thoughts– This was a great tournament to end the semester. It had a lot of great matchups with some of the best teams in the league as well as some of the new and younger teams. We are starting to get a since of where all the teams are at in the league and it is going to make for a great second half of the season. Finally, we wanted to let you you know that we are working to get 1,000 subscribers on our NCDA YouTube channel so if you could hit the subscribe button at the following link, it would be greatly appreciated (NCDA Dodgeball)! Hope everyone has a great holiday season!