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Previewing the 2022 Clifton Heights Classic

The last tournament before Nationals west of Maryland (who are hosting the next day) will be on March 26th in Cincinnati, Ohio. Yes, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will be playing host to a trio of teams as we get one last look at a handful of teams this weekend prior to everyone meeting in Kalamazoo, Michigan for our league’s first National Championship Tournament in three long years.

The Bearcats will welcome the Pioneers of Wisconsin-Platteville, the Wildcats of Kentucky, and the Bobcats of Ohio to town for the Clifton Heights Classic, a tournament they plan to make annual as a perhaps last stop event before April’s winner-take-all affair. There are a handful of good storylines to pay attention to this weekend for each team, so let’s take a look.

Clifton Heights Classic

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The War V Recap

We expected a weekend full of quality dodgeball as Akron hosted their 5th annual iteration of The War. What we witnessed, however, was frankly a lot of lopsided matches. Certain teams we anticipated to have great performances came in as advertised. Others left a lot to be desired, and will hope to bounce back strong if they play again before Nationals, or else they will be chewing on those hard truths about the way their team played for the next 5 weeks.

With that being said, there is a lot to unwrap, and a lot to be said about what we saw from each team, whether they performed well, poorly, or somewhere in between. Let’s go team by team and evaluate what we saw.

Ohio Dodgeball Cup

2nd Annual John Betters’ Bobcat Bonanza Tournament Review

The second annual John Betters’ Bobcat Bonanza showed us where a lot of teams stand at this point in the season. With most teams having played a match throughout the league as of the conclusion of this weekend, I think we are finally starting to get a good picture for how each team compares to one another. While there are still a lot of lingering questions (IE – how does the majority of the East Coast stand up to the rest of the league? What does Michigan State look like? Is Towson still truly a top team in the NCDA? Are Grand Valley and Cincinnati actually that good?), we did get some real answers this weekend. Yes, Grand Valley is still a force to be reckoned with. Yes, Cincinnati is a legitimate title contender despite the loss to the aforementioned Lakers. Yes, the league is in overall good health with impressively large rookie classes for a lot of teams who hadn’t played prior to this weekend such as Ohio and Saginaw Valley.

What hasn’t been answered, however, is what each team thought about their own individual performances on the weekend. The participating Captains and Presidents minced no words when it comes to how they felt about their teams’ performances this past weekend. Here’s what they had to say:

2nd Annual John Betters’ Bobcat Bonanza Preview

With the return of dodgeball comes the return of what I can only assume will become a time honored tradition for Ohio University, and that is hosting the annual John Betters’ Bobcat Bonanza in the fall semester. Not only will this year’s iteration feature eight talented dodgeball teams, but we will also witness the retirement of the great John Betters’ jersey as well as the ceremonial first throw – a welcomed new addition to the tournament.

Silliness aside, Ohio University will be host to some of the hardest hitting, most impactful matchups the NCDA has to offer since before the pandemic started in March of 2020. The teams in attendance will be Bowling Green State University, the University of Cincinnati, Grand Valley State University, James Madison University, Miami University, hosts Ohio University, [the] Ohio State University, and Saginaw Valley State University.

There are a lot of intriguing storylines to consider and questions that need answers as we head into Saturday’s tournament. To shine some light on some of those, we’ve asked the leaders of each team to provide some insight into who some players to look out for are, what they think about their respective matchups, and what they need to do to have a successful day Saturday. Without further adieu, here is what each team had to say:

2020 All-Ohio Team

Listed below is the 2020 All-Region Team for Ohio. This list was voted on by captains within the Ohio Region.

1. Owen Sill – Bowling Green State

This year’s All-Ohio MVP is none other than the man behind the infamous gym hype video, Owen Sill, of the Bowling Green State Falcons. Owen is a tour de force on the dodgeball court and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t been on the wrong end of his terrorizing throw. Owen is a larger than life presence on the court and he knows it. He’s in the middle of every big play for the Falcons and when he’s on the court, the mission of the opposing team is to get this man to the outline so they have a chance of victory. As soon as Owen is ever caught back into a game, you can feel the tides changing in favor of Bowling Green. His team and BGSU fans alike cheer out loud when this man enters a game. There hasn’t been many talents like that. Congratulations to Owen on what has been a monumental career. Hopefully we get to see his talents on the court in grad school. Truly a once in a lifetime player.

Ohio Region – Fall 2019 Semester Recap

It has been one heck of a fall semester for the NCDA, thanks in no small part to the Ohio Region. The region has continued to grow and yield better results year after year, and we don’t see that trend dropping off any time soon. Most of the teams who’ve competed have winning records, and also own impressive out of region wins! Honestly, this should come as no surprise. As the region continues to grow, they continue to host the most tournaments, with, on average, the most teams in attendance. In fact, while Ohio as a region has hosted 5 tournaments averaging 14.4 matches, the East Coast Region has only hosted 3 tournaments averaging 5.67 matches, and the Michigan Region has also only hosted 3 tournaments averaging a mere 4.67 matches (doubleheaders, forfeits, and B-team matches were excluded from the tally). So while teams from separate regions are of course attending some of each others’ tournaments, it’s pretty easy to see how the Ohio Region is quickly growing in skill & relevancy.

If we’re being frank, from top to bottom, the Ohio Region might be the best in all of college dodgeball. Don’t believe us? Here are the inter-regional records for each region through the end of the fall semester (not including B-team matches & forfeits):

East Coast: 8-9

Michigan: 12-9

Midway: 1-9

Ohio: 29-13

South: 2-9

Backwoods Brawl Preview

The Backwoods Brawl will feature three East Coast teams and the University of Ohio. As of today, the current Gonzalez rankings are as follows:

All-Ohio 2019

The following was co-authored by Tom Morand, Adam Pfeifer, Reid Manger, Noah Ourant, and Colby Briceland.

The Ohio made big waves this season and had undoubtedly the best season overall by the ever growing state. Ohio was able to add another team to the mix in the University of Cincinnati, and have several teams in contention for the National title with many teams finishing top 10, not to mention a 5 team overtime tie breaker for the Ohio Dodgeball Cup. The sky is the limit for Ohio, and the following players are largely responsible for how prominent the State has become to College Dodgeball.

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Penn State Starts Year Strong

A little overdue, but Penn State came out the big winners in one of the two opening tournaments of the Spring 2017 season. To recap, PSU finished 3-0, followed by VCU who went 2-1, Ohio who went 1-2-1, and Akron who finished the weekend 0-3. It was a very competitive tournament, and each game could have gone either way. Below are some of the takeaways from each team’s performances.

Continue reading “Penn State Starts Year Strong”

PSU Tournament Preview

New year, new dodgeball. We hit the ground running quick for the Spring semester of the 2016-17 season, as Penn State University hosts their first ever home tournament. A total of four teams will be mixed in the fray including our hosts, Akron University, Ohio University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. This tournament has a similar feel to UNG’s Dahlonega Dodgefall Fest. There is no clear favorite, and most of the teams here are around the same rank and skill level with each other, which could prove to make for an exciting weekend. Let’s take a quick look at what to expect from the attending teams. Continue reading “PSU Tournament Preview”

Pitt slated to become 40th Member Team

This Saturday, the University of Pittsburgh Dodgeball Club hosts their first tournament and will become the 40th collegiate dodgeball organization to play in the NCDA. Pitt’s Induction Match is the first match of the day and their opponent is the honorable Akron, who joined as the 35th club who joined November 2014. Rounding out the competitors are Ohio and Kent, which will make for a great set of matches for any new team.

I am looking forward to the Pitt/Ohio match because new team matchups are always a highlight for me. I think this will be much more competitive than the current Gonzalez rating suggests, and I will actively compare this upcoming game to future meetings between the two teams.

I’m also looking at Kent/Akron as a good match. These two teams are basically coming from the same area, traveling a similar distance, and playing on a neutral but unfamiliar court. That sets up a great story in this author’s humble opinion.

Continue reading “Pitt slated to become 40th Member Team”

Executive of the Year: Caleb Arnold (Ohio)

The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s 2016 Executive of the Year is awarded to Caleb Arnold from Ohio University. The captain for first-year NCDA member team Ohio, Caleb demonstrated excellent leadership, scheduling his team 25 games. This honor is bestowed upon Caleb after the NCDA Executive Board vote (also nominated for this award was Erik Zander, the captain for Wisconsin Platteville).

I was able to ask a few questions of the league’s Executive of the Year, and I learned a lot about Caleb and his team. After reading through Caleb’s responses, I anticipate everyone else will have as much respect as I do for the President, Captain, and Founder of Ohio University Dodgeball:

Caleb Arnold - Executive of the Year — Caleb Arnold – Executive of the Year

Kevin Bailey – What were the reasons for you starting up a team at Ohio, and what were the main struggles that you encountered during this process?

Caleb Arnold – First of all, thank you and the rest of the league for giving me this opportunity to discuss a little about my team. Anyways, I have always had a passion for dodgeball. Continue reading “Executive of the Year: Caleb Arnold (Ohio)”

Gonzalez Preview for BW Invite

A very similar event to the Ohio Dodgeball Cup on the surface, but let’s scratch a bit deeper. There’s plenty of tests on the Gonzalez system here. First, we can take a look at how a #2 team performs against three teams that average a gap of 17 under CMU. Among 963 games there is a strong predictability that these matches won’t be upsets, all of those would fall in the top three largest exchanges.

Continue reading “Gonzalez Preview for BW Invite”