Ashley Ferguson
Contributing Writer
Wooster’s RamJam ultimate frisbee team competed in its first tournament of the season last weekend at Wright State University in Versailles, Oh. The two teams placed 5th and 15th in the Air Strike men’s ultimate competition among a field of bigger schools.
RamJam’s Team X and Team Y were two of only six DIII teams in a field of 25 teams. Ranked 19th and 20th coming into the tournament, the men toppled expectations Saturday and advanced to Sunday’s championship bracket. Team X went 3-1 on day one, with key assists clinching the final score of 5-2 as they took down opponents from Kent State University, Miami University, Denison University, Ohio Northern University and Xavier University. Emilio Bartlett ’17 threw a team high in assists and bailed the team out in crucial moments. Michael Herman ’17 led the team in defensive blocks and scores in a series of highlight reel plays. Dominic Muccio ’19 also contributed, working the field from all sides. The team lost a close game against rival Akron University, which held strong against some of Team X’s injuries and went on to win the tournament.
The competition ended with a loss to the Case Western Reserve University Gobies, who were contenders in last year’s nationals and finished second in the tournament last weekend.
Team Y went 2-3, beating the University of Louisville and Airstrike. Facing some more difficult teams early on, the team faltered twice to Case Western and once to Cincinnati University’s Cinister. Meanwhile, solid plays came from Daniel Lynch ’17, who played on nearly every point and covered much of the field. Jack Mueller ’18 provided steady throws and Garo Matossian ’17 was an instrumental threat, making big plays downfield.
“Our best players did a good job of providing offense for the rest of us to follow and build off of,” said Peter Arts ’17. “In general, our defense functioned well, staying on the right side of our man and making the opposing teams take lower percentage throws.”
“I think that our biggest weakness right now is offensive consistency of our non-star players. There were a lot of points this weekend where we were turning the disc over at the end zone where we could have gotten easy scores,” said Arts. “I think that solving this issue comes down to instilling a mindset of staying calm and patient when we are close to scoring.”
Last year the team was at its best in program history as it qualified for the regional meet for the second time, where it placed sixth overall. This year, the team has its sights set on making it to nationals.
“Our A team has the goal of making nationals this season and building off our success from last year. The seniors are devoted to the team and it is very exciting,” said Herman. “We are also hoping to develop a strong B team that will make our program more sustainable and have more people playing at Wooster!”
“We are hoping to increase the level of play for each member across the board while maintaining an inclusive atmosphere,” said Lynch. “We pride ourselves on being highly competitive and having close relationships with all of our teams.”
The Wooster team was recently honored by USA Ultimate as one of the top organizations in the country in its Achieving Collegiate Excellence Program. The program promotes the growth and sustainability of college Ultimate organizations in alignment with team development and USA Ultimate’s mission: character, community and competition.
