The annual Zanderthon Throw-Down took place on March 1st at the University of Wisconsin Platteville. This event was between Platteville, Illinois, Stout, Eau Claire and UWP alumni. Let’s take a look at the results and here some thoughts from the day!
Here are the results on the day:
UIUC 5-0 UWP
UIUC 5-4 Stout/UWEC
Alumni 4-3 UWP
UIUC 3-1 UWP
Alumni 6-3 Stout/UWEC
The following are questions that were asked of a few players in attendance.
Erik Zander- How did you feel about your team’s performance?
Charles Cardenas (UIUC)– Our performance was terrific. Recently, we ran into scheduling trouble for practice and have not been able to run through some key drills that we normally do. Combined with our roster of only 12 players, I was a little surprised from how well we did. One of Platteville’s biggest strengths is being able to take advantage of a shaky team, and we showed that our young club has gained much experience over the past two years.
Dylan Fabry (UWP)-I feel our team’s performance wasn’t great at the beginning, we were playing slow but later on we picked up the pace and energy and performed much better.
EZ- What players on your team stood out to you?
CC-This time around, everyone played their part past expectations. If I had to choose a few of our guys, I’d think of Alejandro Alanis-Montez and William Tang for their solid plays and many catches, and especially Deven Rea, who showed off more than a couple of times in his expert dodges, survival skills, and durability in throws.
DF-One of the players that stood out to me was rookie David Laux, he got a lot of throws off throughout the tournament and didn’t tire out easily.
EZ- What do you want to see from your team before next tournament?
CC-Our next tournament is an exciting one, and I hope having more numbers does us good. We’re going to need to keep this team mindset going into the weekend and really have our sights set on making an impact against other teams. Competing against Ohio schools is a great opportunity for us to show off what we can do, while also learning from the best. I know I can speak for my team when I say that we’re eager to play some powerhouses and play for everything at home and at nationals.
DF-I want to see our team get faster, throw lower, and look for more catches.
Thoughts
On the day, UIUC came prepared and worked well together. They brought the energy and listened to the play calls that set them up for success. UIUC came into the tournament looking for wins and they got them. At no point were they in trouble of losing both games. This team as a lot of effective throwers and and some outstanding catchers that can catch anything no matter where you place it. As a team, they were only able to bring 12 players, but it didn’t impact them much as they had excellent chemistry and they knew when to make the right plays. It will be exciting to see how they will do next weekend at their home tournament as they will be at full strength and be facing higher level opponents. We will see this weekend just how good this UIUC team is. This team has come a long way in just three years and I know that they continue to surprise everyone and will make all of their games in the future a challenge.
For Platteville, this was a tough day as the hope was to come out with a few wins and avenge their previous overtime loss to UIUC. However, that did not happen. In the first game, UWP came out slow with very little energy. They were not hustling back after throws and were not communicating enough. The veterans did not come out strong and did not do what was needed to set the pace for the rest of their teammates. The second game was better and more competitive but they didn’t have it to get them over the edge to get a win. UWP had more communication and played with more intensity but like in the first game any time they had opportunities to take control, too many catches were thrown and put things back in favor for UIUC. One thing that they can be happy about is that after a poor start, the Pioneers were able to make adjustments to compete and that is important for any team. They found a way to forget about their bad performance and turn things around to give themselves a fighting chance!
Another Zanderthon Throw-Down is in the books and overall another good event. Everyone involved got to play some competitive and fun games and gained some valuable experience. If you missed any of the action click on the links below and make sure you subscribe to the UWP Dodgeball channel so you get the notification when they go live this weekend at the Illini Impact!
I a schedule made up yet for April 5 and 6 tournaments?
Do the teams play both days? Kent State University.