The loss of a number of seniors meant that some anticipated this year to be a rebuilding year for NUT. The addition of some experienced rookies, including Mark Pannaggio, Nir Yungster, Ben Richardson, Chirag “Cheese” Modi, Gabe Peal, Matt Doerfler,and Ian Preston assured that this would not be the case. NUT started the year out by sending a team of primarily rookies to the Western Classic. NUT went 7-0 and were crowned Champions! No Wisconsequences was next, and thanks to Cultimate’s brilliance, we played on fields comparable in size to the indoor turf. NUT went 2-1 in pool play, before playing perennial powerhouse Colorado in bracket play. After quickly going down 7-1, NUT was able to claw its way back to 10-7, before time cut the game short. A 3-0 windy Sunday gave rounded out the weekend. Next up for NUT was Glory Days, where the split squads would compete. Mixed results on Saturday left one squad in the championship bracket, while the other was left out. A few alumni joined in with one of the squads on Sunday, while the other squad fell to Purdue in the quarterfinals. The final tournament of the fall was a return to MLC. Thanks to decent fall results, NUT was placed in a power pool, where they proceeded to knock off Winona State, Truman State, and Ohio State on DGP. However, NUT had almost no energy left in the tanks for the final game, and was routed by MSU. The following day was rained out, and more laser tag was played.
In the winter, NUT returned to Michigan Indoor, where they fell to Notre Dame in a close game and Michigan in a not-so-close game, before coming out the victors against Purdue. In order to save money, it was decided that NUT would not attend Vegas this year (which ended up being rained out), but opted to travel to Vanderbilt instead. A limited roster, sloppy play, and multiple injuries left NUT with a bitter taste that not even Chick-Fil-A could get rid of.
Breaking the tradition of previous years, NUT was accepted into Centex, and drove down to Austin for SB2k10. A severe storm rolled through in the early hours of Saturday, causing them to close the primary fields. Back-up fields had been acquired, but those too were under a small lake. Doubting the ability to obtain the “super-secret-backup-to-the-backup” fields, NUT began planning their own Saturday tournament by challenging some of the other teams to games of laser tag. The fields were obtained, though, and NUT played three games that made Rantoul’s wind seem calm. With a straight upwind/downwind, losing the flip to UNC put NUT in a tough situation. The teams exchanged an upwind break, and while NUT was much closer to getting the necessary second upwinder, it could not be done and NUT was defeated on DGP. UC-SD had little problem with NUT in the following game. In the final match of the day, NUT broke upwind versus Texas, giving them the win, and Roid-Rage Ryland yet another loss to NUT. Returning to the original fields on Sunday, NUT went 2-2 with wins against Arkansas and UWashington and losses to Texas State and WashU. CSchro and BJ secured a beach house that was far too fancy for 20+ college spring breakers, and NUT spent the week on the shore of the Gulf in Corpus Christi. Laser tag was played before the team departed for Evanston the following Saturday.
NUT began the spring with a trip to Huck Finn. A forgettable Saturday set up NUT/Purdue in the first game on Sunday, which was won easily by the boys in purple. The winds picked up before the next round against Michigan, and after trading breaks, NUT found themselves receiving the disk going downwind on DGP. The incredibly efficient offense returned yet again, and gave them a 12-11 win over Magnum, only to fall to UW-Whitewater on DGP the following game, for a T-3rd finish. At Sectionals, NUT again rolled through the first few games, before falling to Ball State in what turned into a huckfest. The following day, a contested strip call prevented NU from getting a much needed upwind break against Indiana, to whom they ended up losing. A demoralizing of Loyola Chicago secured NUT a bid to regionals, before they fell to Notre Dame to cap off the weekend. As the #10 seed, NUT was to face Notre Dame yet again. Despite a severe storm and a hotel room fire on Friday night, games went ahead as scheduled. After trading throughout the first half, NUT got their revenge and downed Notre Dame 15-10. In the next round, though, Michigan got their revenge on NUT, downing them 15-10. Due to the rain the night before, the TD called off the remaining games, and Regionals was forced to continue the following weekend. NUT traveled to South Bend to face Ohio. Unable to get an upwind break or stop their lefty backhand upwind hucks, NUT again was knocked out of Regionals much earlier than expected.
Tournaments:
Western Illinois
No Wisconsequences (Milwaukee, WI)
Glory Days (Lowell, IN)
Missouri Loves Company (St. Louis, MO)
Michigan Indoor (Ann Arbor, MI)
Vanderbilt (Nashville, TN)
Centex (Austin, TX)
Huck Finn (St. Louis, MO)
UPA Sectionals (Naperville, IL)
UPA Regionals Week 1 (Bloomington, IN)
UPA Regionals Week 2 (South Bend, IN)
Tournament Recaps