Prep ultimate Frisbee: Local Utah Teams Captured A Trio Of State Titles

Upstaging last year’s success for ultimate Frisbee players throughout Cache Valley was a very tall order, but that’s exactly what has happened in the spring of 2023.

Case in point: Local high school programs captured all three major titles at the state championships, which took place from May 12-13 at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City. A year ago, two of the three state titles were won by teams from the valley, plus the Cache Valley Scorch A team dominated in the middle school division.

The Green Canyon girls successfully defended their title, while the Green Canyon boys were triumphant at the Division I level, as were the Mountain Crest boys at the Division II level. Additionally, the Utah State University men’s club team competed at the USA Ultimate Division I College Championships for the third straight season two weeks after the high school campaign concluded.

“It’s pretty great to see just the support from the college players, the other coaches around the valley that have pulled together to just help support it,” GC head coach Dave Hoffman said. “It’s a big sacrifice for everyone because we’re all just volunteers and to help make this happen is pretty neat, and we’re seeing it not just at the youth level, but up above with college nationals and some of the (Salt Lake) Shred players who are from the valley.”

This is the first time the Green Canyon boys and girls reigned supreme at the state tournament. The Lady Wolves became the first in-state team to ever beat Lone Peak a year ago and went 2-1 against the Knights this spring. Both Green Canyon teams have accepted bids to the High School National Invite, which will be contested from June 16-17 in Salt Lake City.

“It is a community, right? And lots of other programs have great communities as well,” GC boys head coach Paul De Morgan said. “We’re just fortunate to have the largest, it seems — at least in the valley, for sure. Other teams obviously love the sport. I’m not taking anything away from any other program, but it was very rewarding to see all the work we’ve put in, starting really in December, if not in September for some of these kids, come to fruition like that. And the boys and the girls obviously enjoy each other’s successes and like to support each other, which is always fun.”

Here is what transpired for Cache Valley’s three champions at their respective state tournaments:

GREEN CANYON BOYS

It was another epic championship showdown between Green Canyon and Lone Peak and, just like 2018, the Wolves prevailed in thrilling fashion. Green Canyon battled back from a 13-11 deficit to outlast the reigning national champions by a 14-13 scoreline. The Knights dispatched of the Wolves in convincing fashion in each of the previous two state tournaments, so this was a monumental win for the boys in green and white.

“It was a close game the whole way,” De Morgan said. “Lone Peak played amazing, we played amazing. I mean, there were so many guys on the team that just stepped up. … It was a full team effort. It was the only way we were going to win that game and (our team) played so well. And, as a coach, it was just so gratifying to watch them play the best they’ve ever played in the biggest game they’ve ever played in, really.”

It was the fourth time the two teams squared off in ’23 as Green Canyon was victorious in the first game, 7-5, in what De Morgan called terrible conditions, while Lone Peak won the next two convincingly. It’s fair to say the Wolves were motivated to prove they belonged on the same field as the Knights in their mid-May showdown.

“I just wanted to justify that (invite to high school nationals), you know what I mean, and make it a close game,” De Morgan said. “And we had done that by halftime. We knew we could play with them and then the boys just stepped up and did what they needed to do. It was really incredible. And Lone Peak played great. I mean, it wasn’t like Lone Peak threw it away or gave it to us, or anything. It was a very good, hard-fought game. I’ve heard from multiple people who have watched a lot of ultimate just say that was really quite an amazing game.”

The Knights had at least two opportunities to close the championship game out, but the Wolves refused to fold. Green Canyon completed at least a dozen passes, De Morgan said, with the score knotted up at 13-13 on its way to the championship-clinching point. Isaac Wilcox found Sam Nichols in the end zone from about 10 yards out and the celebration was on.

“Our offense, when it’s clicking, we’re really hard to stop,” De Morgan said. “And we were just moving across the field and Sam cut, Isaac hit him and it was over. … There were a ton of spectacular plays in this game. Dillon Geddes went up and caught one over three guys in the end zone and a bunch of other amazing plays, and this one was pedestrian in some ways, as you can imagine, but it was also emblematic of the team at some level. It was just like, ‘get it done, just work it in,’ and it was great.”

As for the celebration, De Morgan said he struggled to hold back tears “because I could not believe how proud I was of the boys and how well they had played.”

“It was wild seeing the emotion that just emerged from everybody, from the whole (Green Canyon) community that was there,” De Morgan said. “… There were players from the boys B team, the boys C team, the girls B team, the girls C team, the scorch middle school team … and then the parents. It was just really cool and just a real celebration of the whole collective programs.”

The Wolves will take a 29-2 record into the national tournament, where they will likely be seeded fourth. Green Canyon is currently fifth in the most recent ultiworld.com high school rankings, but the second-ranked team will not make the trip to Salt Lake City. Nationals were held in Virginia last year, so De Morgan is “totally totally psyched that it’s that close … because if it wasn’t, I don’t think we could pull it off because it’s expensive.”

The Green Canyon boys and girls both went undefeated at a tournament in California earlier this spring and quickly learned they belonged on the national stage. As a result, the Green Canyon boys have lofty objectives heading into their first-ever high school nationals. Lone Peak, currently sixth in the ultiworld rankings, will also be at nationals. The Knights were ranked third heading into the state tourney.

“In terms of expectations — and this is what I say to my team — we know that we can compete against any team in the country if we’re playing as well as we know we can,” De Morgan said. “And, as such, our goal is to win the tournament. With that being said, I just want our boys to play the best they know how to play. And if the other team comes and they’re better and they play a better game and they beat us, but we’ve played our best, hey, hats off to them. But I just want us to go out and compete, and if we do that as well as I know we can, I think we have a chance to win. But, it’s high school ultimate, these are high school players and, at the end of the day, there’s probably going to be six teams there that could say the exact same thing. … I’d like to hold seed, for sure. That would be pretty impressive because I think we’ll be seeded four, which is kind of crazy.”

The Wolves are led by Wilcox, a senior, and junior Nathan De Morgan, who were both first-team all-state selections this season. In addition to Wilcox, there are six other seniors on the roster in Bracken Nielson, Adam Oksness, Mark Hatch, Paul Koch, Seth Wilson and Thomas Bingham. Other athletes on Green Canyon’s A roster are Carson Holt, Geddes, Gavin Buirley, Jace Rowley, Jacob Hoffman, Landon Brough, Miles Phillips and Nichols. The Wolves have two co-head coaches in De Morgan and Evan Poulsen.

The Wolves went 5-0 at the state tourney as they beat a team from Idaho and Sky View in pool play, and then defeated Logan in the quarterfinals and West in the semifinals.

These division I boys ultimate Frisbee games are seven-on-seven affairs, while the girls division, boys D-II division and middle school division feature five-on-five action.

Most ultimate games are played to 13 or 15 points, win by two. However, there are typically time limits, meaning there are soft and hard caps. If the score is tied and time has expired, the next team that scores wins. Games are divided into two halves.

GREEN CANYON GIRLS

It’s been another special season for the Lady Wolves, whose A team will take a 37-1 record into the High School National Invite. Green Canyon’s only setback this season was by one point to Lone Peak at pool play in the state tournament. Lone Peak was then upset by Green Canyon’s C team during the second day of the tourney.

The Wolves, however, dominated the rest of the competition at state, which culminated with a win over the Chick Flicks — a team comprised of athletes from Logan, Mountain Crest and Ridgeline — in the finals. This is the first time two local squads met in a state championship contest. The Wolves also dispatched of Sky View, Provo (twice) and Bingham at the two-state tournament.

“I think it was pretty cool that they were able to do that,” Hoffman said of his team’s opponent in the finals. “They’ve got a couple of great players there that are seniors — Mikinley Mower and Isabelle Ogden — that have just worked their tails off the last couple of years. It was cool to see that paid off and for them to be recognized.”

The Wolves brought back all of their players from last year’s state championship team and added two more. As a result, their success was expected, which Hoffman didn’t necessarily enjoy. The former USU All-American high jumper relished the underdog role from a year ago.

“We got a little bit of a taste of the sense of what (Lone Peak) must feel by coming in and having that pressure,” Hoffman said. “… A little different journey this year than last year, but it was a fun ending and we’re hoping to make it enjoyable at nationals, also.”

Green Canyon gained some valuable experience early in the season by going undefeated at tournaments in Seattle and California. The Seattle tourney was the first time this spring the Wolves competed in seven-on-seven games. That is exactly what Green Canyon will encounter at nationals in mid-June.

“We were a little nervous about seven-vs.-seven because we had tried some scrimmages with some of the Utah State girls and it was a little rough, just the flow of the game and there was some hesitation with who was supposed to cut. It just wasn’t smooth or natural. So, our first tournament in Seattle we were a little nervous. We scrimmaged another team the day before for 40 minutes and it was rough, but that game really prepared us. The next day we went and won all of our games. There was a little bit of wind and we were able to push through it. I think it was really beneficial for them and me, just to kind of have a measuring stick of where we were at, whether we deserved the (national) ranking that we had or if it was inflated. It was just really helpful, I think, for everyone to kind of gauge where we compare with other teams outside (of Utah).”

The Green Canyon girls are 10th in the latest national rankings, which is seven spots ahead of Lone Peak. What do the Wolves hope to accomplish at nationals?

“I know at least a couple of them that wouldn’t mind winning,” Hoffman said. “It would be neat, obviously, and I’m kind of hoping to see if we can keep within our ranking, maybe be in the top 10. For me as a coach, I’m just hoping that everyone’s doing their best, that they’re not getting too overwhelmed. Sometimes there are a couple of players that put too much pressure on themselves, I think, and then have some anxiety during the game. So, being able to just have fun, enjoy it, enjoy playing with their teammates at this stage, I think, would be my main goal for them.”

Veterans Madelyn Seedall and Tori Newswander garnered first-team all-state accolades for the Wolves this spring, while Mower of the Click Flicks was selected as one of the co-MVPs. Other A roster mainstays for the Wolves were all-state sprinter and long jumper Kylee Cox, Stella Anhder, Brooklyn Clegg, Carly Nash, Caroline Morris, Morgan Eppich, Britta Israelsen and Breesen Hoehne. Green Canyon will also be represented at nationals by Lucy Andersen, Eliza Seedall, Rachel Huntzinger, Janalynn Blotter, Brooklyn Bender and Olivia Koch.

The Wolves were invited to compete in nationals last year, but had to decline the bid, inasmuch as it was unexpected, expensive and members of the team had too many other conflicts. Green Canyon is a more well-rounded team this season.

“We definitely have more depth,” Hoffman said. “More players can do more things, whereas before there were more players that were specific to only being a cutter or a handler. And now there’s several players that can do both. But I also think as a coach when you’re around someone a lot you don’t necessarily recognize the growth until you go to a tournament and we’re all of a sudden doing really well, and I’m like, ‘oh yeah, we’re maybe better than I realized.’”

Having the opportunity to celebrate with the boys at state was an unforgettable moment for Hoffman and his squad.

“It was pretty incredible,” Hoffman said. “Paul, on the boys side, has put in a ton of work and to see them win that game (was incredible). That’s been his goal since he became the Green Canyon coach and he was on maybe a three- or four-year plan, maybe thinking next year would be the year. That’s when his son is a senior and to have it come the year before I think is nice. Just from a coaching perspective, it takes a little bit of stress off him to have that accomplished sooner. And then just to see the joy in all the parents’ and kids’ faces when they got that winning point, running on the field and celebrating was pretty emotional.”

MOUNTAIN CREST BOYS

The Mustangs came oh so close to achieving their primary goal a year ago as they bounced back from a narrow state semifinal loss to the Riverhawks, a team out of Twin Falls, Idaho, and won their third-place game. Mountain Crest would play that same Twin Falls program in the finals a year later and prevail by a 12-10 scoreline.

“It was really fun to be able to win a state championship, but as far as the revenge part, we love playing all of the teams that we end up playing,” MC head coach Matt Green said. “The team from Twin Falls, we’ve only played them a couple of times and they’re just a fun, athletic team to play. All of our rivalries, we do it for fun. We don’t look for revenge, we don’t look to go out and absolutely destroy our rivals. We just look for fun, exciting plays and I definitely would say it was exciting to be able to play them again and be able to compete the way we did against them.”

The Mustangs went 6-0 at the state tournament as they beat Copper Hills, West and Lone Peak B on Day 1, and then dispatched of Maesar Academy, Ridgeline and the Riverhawks on Day 2. Mountain Crest trailed Ridgeline 7-4 at the half before rallying for a 12-9 victory.

Winning close games was something Mountain Crest excelled at this spring. The Mustangs, who returned most of their top players from last season, went 4-1 at the other tournament they showcased their talents at.

Watching the growth of ultimate frisbee in Cache Valley is something that Green, a native of South Jordan, has thoroughly enjoyed.

“It’s exciting to watch the growth,” he said. “… I was so happy with the growth and I’m so happy with how well received ultimate is in the community and with the schools. … I am so happy and so excited to see where it goes from here. I’m excited to have more games on the football field and I’m excited to eventually have our team play against Green Canyon’s best team. I’m excited to have multiple teams of our own, not only in the boys division but the girls division.”

Mountain Crest’s returning players from last spring were Aaron Bird, Reece Coleman, Ian Drake, Max Hadfield, Steven Hadfield, Brecken Jessup, Jaren Jessup, Aden Smith and Koen White. The Mustangs were bolstered by newcomers Henry Hadfield, Luke Hadfield, Spencer Sadler, Porter Stott, Carter Treadway, Michael Hardy and Caleb Pratt. Green was assisted by Ken and Andrew Hadfield.

Green is excited about the future of his program and issued a challenge to everyone considering giving the sport a try.

“Get out and learn the sport,” he said. “It’s exciting being able to watch these kids learn it, live it and be excited about it. We’re got something special here in Cache Valley for the sport. I mean, we’ve got the professional team down in Salt Lake. Go support them. We’ve got several players from Cache Valley that play for the Shred and they are fun to watch, but they’re also really great guys. The community of ultimate is probably one of the best communities I’ve been a part of. … Go support the high school, go support the (USU team) and go support the professional team in Salt Lake.”