CHM Tournament Recap

Another Chuck Hermann Memorial Tournament in the books and it did not disappoint. This year's tournament featured the underdog Floppy Discs make a dramatic run at the title game, three do or die universe point games, and a second straight year of A Capella facing off against Critical Point in the championship.

With a same day dropout, the 3rd Annual CHM had 7 total teams competing. Critical Point, Above All Roofing, and Discepticons made up Pool A. A Capella, Mighty Platypi, Floppy Discs and Victorious Secret made up Pool B.

Critical Point won the first two games of Pool B guaranteeing their spot as 1A in the semifinals. In the third and final game the Rochester youth team Discepticons took on Above All Roofing in the first of three universe point decided games. The Discepticons won a multiple possession point and rushed the field clinching their spot in the semifinals as 2A.

On the other side of things a short handed A Capella squad rolled past the Mighty Platypi as Maple Grove-sporting multiple new players-got by Victorious Secret. This set up the second meeting between MG and ACU. This game was much like their early scrimmage as the addition of Mitchell Rekstad wasn't enough to push them over the top. ACU notched their second win of the day guaranteeing their spot in the semifinals. In their third game ACU and VS were tied 3-3 at half before ACU turned up the intensity to pull away for good.

During the ACU-MG game the Mighty Platypi defeated Victorious secret to match the Floppy Discs with 1 win and 1 loss records. The Floppy Discs won another close one to clinch the fourth and final spot in the semifinals against Critical Point.

In the semifinals A Capella took off to an 8-0 halftime lead and 11-0 lead in the second half all before the Discepticons were able to score their first point. The A Capella-Discepticons game finished up at halftime of the Maple Grove-Critical Point Semifinal. Maple Grove began the half down 3 points but came storming back to tie it up late. This set up the second universe point game of the tournament. Once again there were multiple possessions on both sides, but two hucks from Dylan Garves one just out of the reach of Clark Wieneke in the endzone and another a jump ball that Mitchell failed to bring down were as close as they came. Critical Point punched it in threw the Wall to face ACU again in the finals.

In the rematch Finals A Capella took a 3-2 halftime lead. A massive huck from Cullen to DJ and layouts from Mike and Cullen on defense were a few of the key plays needed to take the lead. Critical Point quickly closed the gap in the second half to put the game back on serve, and a marathon point at 5-4 ACU lasted nearly the entire second half. Critical Point scored to tie it up and force the third and final universe point of the tournament. Unlike the other two, there were no turnovers this time around. One possession was all that was needed before DJ Rekstad threw the game winner to Dirk Meyer for the championship.

A Capella vs Floppy Discs Round One

On July 31st the first ever meeting between the A Capella Ultimate Club and the Floppy Discs of Maple Grove took place at Maple Grove Junior High. This scrimmage was a precursor to their matchup in the upcoming Chuck Hermann Memorial Ultimate Tournament in Rochester on August 2nd. After a half hour of game play the teams began an up to 10 game in which A Capella won 10-2. Maple Grove was clearly superior in speed and overall athleticism, but the experience of the A Capella players (average of 4.65 years of play) won out.

Sam Franta, Jayme Richardson and the Wieneke brothers all made their debuts for Maple Grove with impressive potential and athleticism. Milo Rice coming off of a season in the MNYU Summer League impressed early before being sidelined with injury. The Discs were disappointed with the scoreline, but were missing key players in Mitchell Rekstad, Shawn Hilst, Jake Willson, and Sam Holland.

On the other side of the field Cullen Garves and DJ Rekstad (former MG Captains) looked good in this warm-up for the CHM Tournament August 2nd. With rumors of low numbers the former captains may suit up for Maple Grove come Saturday. A Capella took second place in this tournament last season and have got their sights set on the team's first championship.

A Capella MUDI Recap

A Capella wrapped up a successful weekend at the Minnesota Ultimate Disc Invitational in Maple Plain Minnesota. The Open Division of the tournament saw 15 teams compete from Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Winnipeg. Out of the 15 teams A Capella was seeded thirteenth but finished 10th overall. They lost their first three games in pool play, but rebounded winning all three of their consolation games.

A Capella was placed as the fourth seed in Pool A. The pool included Climax, Blocka Cheddar and Wisconsin Hops. They finished 3rd, 2nd, and 6th respectfully but were seeded 1st, 8th and 13th. This was the group of death in which 3 of the four teams broke seed and the only team that didn't finished with two losses to the first and second place team.

In game one A Capella lost 15-1 against Blocka Cheddar. BC was made up of Masters division National contender Surly and Grey Ducks.

In game two A Capella lost 15-2 against Climax the perennially second best Open team in Minnesota.

In game three A Capella lost 15-4 against Wisconsin Hops. They also lost 13-4 against Hops in the MS Open.

That wrapped up pool play and for their first game of consolation they faced off against YCC Open B and won 15-8.

In their first game on Sunday, A Capella played against Male Men. Male Men was an open team created by Brandon Matis a Winona State Ultimate player that was part of the leadership of the Banana Slugs (The former team name of the A Capella Ultimate Club). In that game A Capella won in upset fashion.

In their final game, the boys of MOFO put up their closest fight yet. A Capella escaped with a 14-11 hard cap victory. MOFO put up a late run with four straight scores but failed to convert a downwind point to keep the game alive.

Breaking seed by 3 is a success and due to the poor seeding of 0-5 Imperial (9 seed), A Capella did not get a shot at facing off against the 8th or 9th place finishers YCC Open A and Mad Men. Their next competition will be August 2nd in Rochester Minnesota. ACU will be competing in the 3rd Annual Chuck Hermann Memorial Ultimate Tournament. ACU also competed in the 2nd Annual where they finished second losing 12-11 on universe point to a local area Rochester League Team.

It'll be championship or bust for ACU next weekend as this young team looks to continue its development.

Chuck Hermann Tournament Pools Announced

The pools have been announced for the Third Annual Chuck Hermann Memorial Ultimate Tournament. Last year's tournament saw A Capella Ultimate make a strong run at the championship only to see a second half comeback thwarted on universe point. They now return as the number two overall seed and top seed in Pool B.

The pool includes:
1. A Capella Ultimate
2. Mighty Platypi
3. Maple Grove Disc Club
4. Victorious Secret

Pool A includes:
1. Critical Point
2. Discepticons
3. Above All Roofing
4. Average Hucks

Maple Grove will be making their first appearance in the tournament as the number three seed in Pool B. The format for the CHM Tournament is unlike any other tournament.

Pool play will consist of two 15 minute running time halves with a 5 minute halftime.
Each team is allowed one timeout per half and no timeouts in overtime.
In the case of a tie, a sudden death overtime (universe) point will be played for the victory
A disc toss will determine possession in overtime

It remains to be seen if this type of game format will help or hinder the Floppy Discs, but what is certain is that they won't have much leeway. The tournament allows for only the top two seeds from each pool to move on to the semifinals. A Capella was undefeated in pool play last year and have only improved this season. Assuming they sweep the pool that leaves only two games for the Discs, both must wins in order to secure the two seed.

Next Thursday's scrimmage against A Capella will not only be an early viewing of their second opponent, but also a great warm-up for the type of competition they will face in the tournament.

Scrimmage Anounced

Maple Grove Ultimate has been fairly dormant during the summer season, but is about to kick off a wave of competition here in late July and early August. On Thursday July 31st, Maple Grove will face off with second year club team A Capella Ultimate. You'll remember A Capella because coach Mark Waananen and former players DJ Rekstad, Nate Haines, and Cullen Garves are all on that team. This will be a fun matchup and good gauge of the team's level of play. Depending on who is able to attend, A Capella could be sporting multiple division one college players or a bunch of mid twenties scrubs.

Maple Grove's next competition will be August 2nd in Rochester for the 3rd Annual Chuck Hermann Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. Excitingly enough A Capella will also be in attendance, possibly with a split squad. Next Thursday's scrimmage could be a preview of a tournament matchup, or even an early showing of the club's future stars. Already having recruited both DJ and Cullen, it's no secret that Dylan and Mitchell will not be far behind in joining their older brothers on the club scene.

Maple Grove is also expected to possibly debut some of their new recruits in the upcoming scrimmage. Sam Franta, Clark Wieneke, and Cal McKinny are all players that are rumored to have interest in joining the 2015 campaign. More news to come.

MGDCs in Summer League

For the first time, Maple Grove has players participating in the Minnesota Youth Ultimate Summer league. The Summer League plays twice a week in both Minneapolis and Blaine, and features dozens and dozens of players from around the metro looking to continue their play and try out for the Youth Club Championship Teams. This year Dylan Garves, Noah Corwin and DJ Rekstad are playing for Team England. Harrison Culotta is playing on Team France, Mitchell Rekstad is playing on Team Spain, Milo Rice is playing on Team Italy, and Shawn Hilst is playing on Team Brazil. Several players have been approached about joining the YCC system that will get under way after summer league ends in early July. MGDC's summer session is getting under way slowly, but the Summer League has allowed players to get in quality games against high competition.

Also for the first time Maple Grove will open up competitive play in the Exit 69 Tournament this Fall; the weekend of September 27th and 28th.

Dylan and Mitchell win All Conference Honors

For the second consecutive season in Maple Grove's two year history, two players were named to the All-Conference Team. Last year's award winners saw DJ Rekstad and Atherton Wiseman win All-Conference honors and Mitchell Rekstad win Rookie of The Year.

This season Mitchell Rekstad and Dylan Garves made the all conference team and were awarded sweet looking shorts for their efforts. Mitchell and Dylan picked up right where their brothers left off and even led the team to a better record (9-4 vs. 7-6) than their brothers the previous season.

Side Note-Milo Rice was an honorable mention for North Suburban Rookie of the Year, and was recently invited to an extended tryout for the YCC team this summer.

Year One vs Year Two Comparison

2013 Maple Grove Sandlot Squad                            2014 Maple Grove Floppy Discs


Regular Season                                                           Regular Season
1. Benilde St Margaret(28)           W 15-6                   1. Apple Valley(5)      L 11-15
2. Bloomington Jefferson(40)       W 15-3                    2. Eastview(15)            W 16-15
3. Blake(33)                               W 15-11                   3. MN Southwest (19)   L 11-12
4. Hopkins B(30)                        W 15-4                     4. Rosemount (33)        W 15-6

Conference Tournament                                                Conference Tournament
Quarters: Benilde B(50)               W 15-3                    Quarters:              Armstrong B(38)    W 7-0
Semis:      Cooper(20):                W 15-13                   Semis:                   St Louis Park(17)   W 14-13
Finals:      Armstrong(17):            W 14-10                   Finals:                   Cooper(18)            W12-10

State Tournament                                                          State Tournament
Play in/Seeding   Cretin Derham(8)        L 14-16             Play In/Seeding Open World(25)  W 15-6
Pool                   St Paul Central(10)      L                        Pool                  Eagan(8)            L 16-15
Pool                   St Paul Charter(7)       L                        Pool                  Hopkins(2)          L  6-15
Pool                   Hopkins          (1)        L 4-15               Pool                  Eastview(15)       W 14-9
Bracket              White Bear     (13)        L                      Bracket             Cretin(10)           L   10-12
Bracket              Minneapolis South(15)   L 13-14           Brakcket           Central(14)           W
Bracket              N.A.                                                      Bracket           Mounds View(12)   W

Overall Finish          7-6                                                 Overall Finish           9-5
2013- 16th place, lose 13 seniors, return 5 players         2014- 11th place, lose 3 seniors, return 13 players

State Tournament Recap

Maple Grove Ultimate defeated Open World Learning Community to clinch its second consecutive birth into the division one state tournament in its two year history. Last season Maple Grove lost a play in game to Cretin Derham Hall and ended up as the eighth overall seed. They then lost their three pool play games to Central, Charter, and Hopkins. Then lost their two Sunday games to White Bear and Southwest giving them a 16th place finish.

This season Maple Grove came in as the fifteen seed in a pool with Eagan(7), Hopkins(2), and Eastview(10). In their first game, Maple Grove played a back and forth barn burner with Eagan losing 16-15 on universe point. In the second game, Maple Grove played Hopkins in a rematch from last year's state tournament. This time around MG not only took a 1-0 lead, but a 2-1, and 3-2 lead ultimately falling 15-6 improving upon 15-4 last year. In their final game Saturday Maple Grove played Eastview and was rained out after a few points. When they resumed in Maple Grove during the middle of the week, Maple Grove took it to them winning 14-9 to supplement their 16-15 victory over Eastview earlier in the season.

Due to the rain delay from Saturday, the bracket play was slightly disturbed. Maple Grove took third in the pool lining them up for the ninth place bracket, but had to play a meaningless game versus Cretin before hand. Maple Grove lost a close 10-12 affair under cap before playing and defeating St Paul Central in the ninth place bracket. But then instead of playing Prior Lake for ninth place, they found themselves playing Mounds View and won again for an eleventh place finish. A great showing in their second year in the state tournament.

Now a fantastic season concludes improving upon year one's sixteenth place finish even after losing 13 seniors and returning only six players. Next season? They lose 3 seniors to graduation, and return 13 players.
Watch Out.

North Suburban Conference Playoffs

Maple Grove finished second place in the 2014 North Suburban Conference Playoffs. In the first round Maple Grove won a 7-0 rain shortened game against Armstrong B.

In the second round, Maple Grove finished off another universe win with an emphatic come from behind victory over St. Louis Park 14-13 under hard cap. This set up a conference finals rematch with an improved Marty Adams led Armstrong squad.

Unfortunately, the league rescheduled the game from Thursday to Friday night the Wednesday of the same week. Upon hearing that Maple Grove wanted to switch the date back because of players being out of town for Memorial day, they told Maple Grove to play against Robbinsdale Cooper and allowed St. Louis Park to play in the finals.

In a rematch of last year's conference semifinals, Maple Grove dispatched of Robbinsdale Cooper 12-10 hard cap to remain undefeated in conference play over their first two seasons.

Maple Grove then played Open World Learning Community in the game to go to State Division 1. Maple Grove won 15-6 and secured the 15 seed heading into state.

Northwoods D1 Conference Recap

Four teams advanced to the regional tournament due to a cancellation by another region team.
1. Minnesota
2. Carleton
3. Duluth
4. Winona State

Carleton took the second bid in the regional tournament by beating Minnesota in the game to go to the national tournament.

Cullen Garves and the Minnesota State Blue Skunks failed to advance with a 5th place finish. One place ahead of North Dakota State whose 6th place finish was last in the conference.

2014 Northwoods Developmental Conference Recap

Nine teams descended upon Mankato Minnesota Easter weekend with four bids to Appleton awaiting them. Three teams participated in the Developmental Conference Tournament (which had procured a bid to D1 regionals), and six teams participated in D1 Conferences for the other three. Minnesota, Carleton, Duluth, Winona State, Mankato State, and North Dakota State participated in D1 while Minnesota B, St. Olaf B, and Carleton C participated in Developmental.


The Developmental tournament was very straight forward. Three teams, two games each, one bid up for grabs. A late start had Minnesota B facing off with Carleton C in the first game of the tournament. Insane gusts were blowing straight upwind downwind all game long making it nearly impossible to move the disc towards the upwind goal. The Ugly Ducklings lost the toss and pulled upwind to start the game.


They strategically split their team into upwind and downwind lines. Franklin, Burke, Jones, Walker, Graham, Ranji, and Brad composed the upwind line while the Laven brothers, Breyen, Brian, Stebbins, Chris, JayTay, and DJ formed the downwind line. Both teams enacted a huck, play defense and stuff strategy. Downwind defense was made irrelevant due to the wind. Carleton C played zone when Ugly went upwind while Ugly played straight man to man defense. The ducklings controlled play from the start.


Swapping scores the Ducklings scored upwind on a beautiful up line cut by Burke to take a 6-5 lead, and that was all they needed. Carleton was within thirty yards of the endzone only once before Jack hammered a turnover all the way back down field. The Ugly Ducklings took half 7-5 and held the rest of the way through to win 10-8 by the cap. In their second game the wind was gone, but their momentum held through. The Ducklings kept their same lines and led 2-1 before break training their way to a dominant 13-1 victory.


Former Crimsanity Captain DJ Rekstad extended his dominance in conference tournaments with an undefeated run at the Northwood Development tournament. In two games, he played every single downwind point for the ducklings (nine vs. Carleton, seven vs. St Olaf). He was a plus 16 and led the team in assists and overall scores. It was clear after the final game that this was the best he played all year. He will not play in regionals for the Ducklings, and ended his Redshirt Freshman campaign with an excellent spring by improving every tournament. With an entire offseason to improve it will be exciting to see where his college career goes.

Acappella Makes Noise with New Signings

Acappella is a summer club team with strong Maple Grove ties. The newly renamed club ultimate frisbee team was established in 2012 from the remnants of Banana Slugs Ultimate. They made great strides in 2013 bringing together a young core group of players from Winona State and St. Mary's. This season they have returned more organized and motivated than ever before. This season they've added four former Crimsanity players and added several of the top players from Mankato's Blue Skunks.


Mark Waananen was the first player of Maple Grove origins and has been heavily involved with the organization. He recruited former Captain DJ Rekstad who played with Acappella twice last season. This year began with Mark already on the team. DJ signed in early March and Nate Haines and Zach Benton signed a week later. Cullen Garves was the fourth former Crimsanity player who signed in late March. Zach and Nate were both recruited by Mark, Cullen by his Mankato teammates that had signed on earlier, and DJ made a statement by signing his older cousin Dirk Meyer to the team. Dirk has been a participant in several MGDC events, played two years in the Madison Ultimate Frisbee Association (MUFA), and will bring elite athleticism and speed to the team.


Apart from the Maple Grove signings, Acappella extended its reach by securing top players from Mankato's Blue Skunks. Headlining the Blue Skunks signings include Rosey, Hobbs and Cole. This team has brought back a core group of Experience-Winona State's Ultimate Team-players that have improved and developed another year's worth of games and chemistry.  Besides the core Winona State Players, Acappella has brought in a second college pipeline in Mankato, a high school pipeline in Maple Grove, and possibly another in Minnesota's Ugly Duckling squad. Acappella rival Shinigami was the past team of choice for the Ugly Ducks, but they will not be returning for the 2014 season.
This team is very young and appears to have the talent needed to be a decent sectionals participant.

Quest to Perfection Foiled by Apple Valley

Maple Grove opened their 2014 campaign on the road against Apple Valley. There they did something they hadn't done yet. Lose in the regular season. Crimsanity finished blemish free with wins against Benilde St Margaret, Bloomington Kennedy, Hopkins B and Blake last season. However this year with a much tougher schedule Maple Grove will be playing: Eastview, Minneapolis Southwest, and Rosemount.


Maple Grove lost to Apple Valley 15-11. Standout performances came from Mitchell Rekstad and Dylan Garves (both juniors and younger brothers of former captains DJ Rekstad and Cullen Garves). Dylan's game most resembled DJ's as he had mostly assists and was vocally active with his teammates. Mitchell on the other hand resembled Cullen's game with his more laidback approach, and he also had an even blend of goals and assists.


Mitchell and Dylan both got major time in the rotation last year and unsurprisingly had big impacts. In future games look for Treyton Van Slyke to step up and build upon a nice showing in last season's state tournament. As far as rookies go keep on eye on Sophmore Milo Rice to not just make a positive impact on the team, but also make a rush for North Suburban Rookie of the Year.


The recap of today's game vs Minneapolis Southwest will be online shortly.

MG Falls to Edina in Preseason Scrimmage

Thursday afternoon the new look Maple Grove Ultimate Team made its way down highway 169 to face off with state runner up Edina. The weather and conditions were as frustrating as a typical Minnesota spring. Upon arrival, the field was still covered in ice causing incompletions and falls on both sides. The rain was heavy at the beginning of the game and turned into a thick snowfall by halftime.




Despite the weather, despite the new personnel (only 5 returners), despite the new coach, the Maple Grove Ultimate Team's culture hasn't changed a bit. The team walked onto the field with about half of the team in cleats the other half not even in tennis shoes. No one had matching uniforms, and the pregame cheer?... Sandlot Squad. This team still holds the same core value: Go out and have fun. 




The look of the team was the same, the values of the team were the same, the cheer for the team was the same, but what about their play? Nate was unable to attend leaving only four returning players on the field out of 14. Maple Grove received the opening pull, and the first throw was a full field huck from Dylan to Mitchell 1-0 Maple Grove. Mitchell ran uncontested up the sideline and made a beeline for the end zone as soon as Dylan picked up the disc.


Edina expected a stack or set play and were surprised by the early ambitious attempts. The game continued to steer Maple Grove's way as Edina had difficulty adapting to their style 3-1 Maple Grove. That's when the cold set in.


The handlers began to freeze up and started missing on deep connections and reset throws. This led to long turnover ridden points in the first half as the game started to shift in Edina's favor. Edina took half 7-4 and ended the game 13-5. Despite the lopsided point total there were nothing but positive takeaways for a young team going against a perennial state title contender.

Informational Meeting and Scrimmage

The opening pull of this 2014 season is still a month and a half away but the new look Maple Grove squad has begun early preparations.




For the first time Maple Grove Ultimate will be hosting an informational meeting Wednesday February 19th at the Senior High presumably at 6pm. The informational meeting will be a great opportunity for all of the potential players and their parents to come together in one place. This hopes to be an event for students to meet the leadership, and get involved with Maple Grove Ultimate during the spring and summer seasons.




The second source of excitement is a scheduled scrimmage between Maple Grove and Edina in mid-March. This will be a great opportunity for Maple Grove to gauge its skills against a perennial state championship contender. Edina was runner-up to Hopkins in the 2013 state tournament, and will look to take the next step in their 2014 campaign. Maple Grove has already played a scrimmage against Wayzata in the fall, and their hoping to build upon their improvements in this matchup with Edina.

Coming out of Hibernation

A long and cold winter is on its waning weeks and the whisperings of MNYU Ultimate has begun. The season kickoff meeting has just concluded a day ago and there is something different with Maple Grove Ultimate this year. Last year no one represented the team at the meeting, and the responsibilities of starting the team rested solely on Captain DJ's shoulders. This year Coach Mark and DJ along with Captains Trey, Dylan and sophomore standout Milo were all in attendance.


After a lengthy meeting that covered anything a team would need to know we have a few major takeaways: parents are going to be more involved, the team is looking for a new sense of legitimacy, and the program is going to be more involved then it ever has before. In the coming weeks we can look for the team to be registered online with USAUltimate, players to begin to be added to the roster, and hopefully a parent's informational meeting where they can come and see exactly how great this sport can be.


The biggest news coming out of the meeting is that former captain DJ will be taking over for Spencer as the new North Suburban Conference Coordinator. This is an absolute dream job for him as he will look to make the most of his responsibilities and no doubt go the extra mile in a few different ways. Rumor has it that he is also looking to join the MNYU competition committee, furthering Maple Grove's involvement in the sport.


The parent's informational meeting at the senior high still is to be determined, but look for that to big the next big announcement in the coming week as Maple Grove looks to take on a new identity following their 2013 North Suburban Conference Title.