2012 Roster/Record

West Plains Conference Championships 2012:

The weather looked bad heading into the weekend, but IHUC was fortunate enough to avoid most of the rain and experience warm sunshine to defend their championship title in the West Plains.

Saturday morning was breezy and IHUC had their biggest two games of the day to open up the tournament. Iowa State started hot up early in the morning and would pull out to a 3-0 lead on Iowa. ISUC brought the intensity right off and played clean offense, while Iowa seemed quiet, sloppy, and slow. As the game went on, IHUC made a few adjustments that would be critical for the games all weekend, making it extremely hard for State to move upwind, and the offense would clean up dramatically as the intensity and speed rose. IHUC would come back and win it 13-10.

Luther College would be on deck for the second game. LUFDA had posted a fine season and were eager for the matchup. This time, IHUC was able to come out hot and take a lead; Luther’s stars were matched up against the deep roster of Iowa as offensively the team opened up the deep game and defensively the squad played around with some junk zones to force early turns. Iowa took advantage of the mistakes of their opponents to take a lead and then, as things tightened down the stretch, was able to switch to man defense and force the long points to keep Luther down. A big finish on a huck to Metzger (huge sky) would put the emphasis on the game. All weekend long IHUC players- every single player present on the deep roster- made huge plays, stepping up at one point or another, showing how deadly a deep team could be. Iowa wins 13-9.

UNI and Nebraska-Omaha would be the final games of the day. IHUC opened up big leads early and were able to get lots of experience to the younger players. The deeper side of IHUC’s roster showed and everyone on the team was able to show their skills; Iowa won 13- 6 and 13-1 respectively, finished up early, able to eat brownies and play reindeer games.

Due to Nebraska-Lincoln not attending and a bye round for quarterfinals, Iowa did not play until 1PM the next day. Saturday night the team was able to relax, order pizza, and do some review in a team meeting. Enjoying the extra sleep, Iowa arrived to the fields once all the crazy rain was over on Sunday morning, but encountered increasingly crazy winds (gusts reaching up to 50mph).

Semi-finals against UNI was a true upwind-downwind game, but IHUC’s upwind line was able to show its stuff and earn a few key breaks to take the lead. The downwind line played tough defense and kept the UNI squad from advancing. Iowa won 15-9.

Championship game against Luther was set to be an exciting rematch, and the tension was only doubled by the wind, which had grown to an incredible pitch. Luther won the flip and had the game in their hands, each team planning to desperately defend their upwind endzone. Iowa’s upwind line, around the 3^rd point of the game, however, would strike deep and take the critical break, which would prove to be decisive. The downwind line furiously prevented any kind of comeback, while the upwind line came very close in numerous other attempts, but just failed to convert. Iowa would win a capped game 12-9.

Overall, the weekend was a good one, as the team reclaimed the Championship title for the 3^rd straight year, and did their best to secure a good seed for the Regional Championships in two weeks. There is still a critical amount of work to be done in that time, and Iowa is ready to push forward and prepare for the main goal: winning that Regional Championship.

Chicago Invite 2012: Writeup

IHUC ended the regular season with a bang, taking the championship of the Chicago Invite in dominating fashion.

The weekend was a great chance for most of the team to go back home to the suburbs; Iowa was able to stay at generous family houses. Lots of great food- some home made, some created in the finest eateries of the Chicagoland area- comfortable sleeping arrangements, and good weather (mostly) made the weekend even better.

Saturday morning the first two games were against Tennessee and Western Michigan. Both opponents were tough early on- testing Iowa and taking advantage of mistakes and miscues. However, Iowa was able to turn the intensity up and make big runs that were largely unstoppable. The team opened up big scoring drives and never looked back with two 1 3-7 wins.

The last game would be for the pool against Michigan State; Iowa knew what was at stake- it would be a big game for a variety of reasons: it would help the region strength, it would mean a bye into quarter-finals without playing a cross-over, and it would be a symbolic game, to show the nation what Iowa could do. IHUC came out fighting, and after a few close points, showed how ready they were. Stifling defense, with great strategy from the team’s leaders, and clean offense would mean easy points as Iowa took advantages of Michigan State’s mistakes. Big win 13-5. Done on the day, IHUC cheered on the HBV squad who had also had a great deal of success, going 4-0. The men’s program, undefeated on the day, retired with deep dish pizza and lots of lovely pasta for a team dinner.

Sunday morning would be delayed due to rain and thunderstorms. Iowa would come to find a muddy field waiting for them and an eager Eastern Michigan squad. The game would be close early, both teams struggling to adjust to the mud. But Iowa would once again make the key adjustments, settle the offense, and work harder than their opponents. Win 15-8.

Semi-finals against Notre Dame was a similar story. ND came out hot with momentum, took an early lead, and showed that they had good playmakers on the squad. But Iowa was able to put on more and more defensive pressure, running hard against the tired Notre Dame squad, and pushing the pace of the game to earn breaks. Iowa would prevail 15-8 again.

On the other side of the bracket, Michigan State had to face Michigan (the 2 seed) in semi’s. Michigan State would win in big in what appeared to be a rather sloppy game.

Iowa knew that their opponents for the championship would be feeling the energy after crushing their regional foes, but it did not matter. Great offense, smart use of timeouts and endzone plays, and flexible defense would allow Iowa to push hard and eventually earn a dominating victory 15-5.

Free swag, flags, spikeball, and ABC news coverage of Evan vs Fence would add sweetness to the victory. Overall, it was a great weekend, one of the most fun of the year certainly, a great tournament in nearly every aspect and a great finish to the regular season rankings.

Iowa goes into the post-season with momentum, the region showing it is strong. There is a lot to work on, but IHUC is eager to fight hard to win the next two tournaments.

Centex Invitational 2012:

Centex Writeup

By Peter Thomsen

After a week of spring break shenanigans down south, IHUC assembled in Austin for its’ greatest test of the regular season: College Centex. With a pool almost identical to their pool at the 2011 National Championships (with Whitman replacing Pitt), this weekend would determine whether or not IHUC’s winter training and practices prepared them for national-caliber talent.

After enjoying the added rest of a first round bye, Iowa began the tournament with a tough game against no. 1 ranked Tufts. Iowa came out hot with an immediate break and would trade the first few points, but Tufts would fight back towards the end to take half 5-7. From there, Tufts really never looked back, and though IHUC fought to keep the game tight, and made a comeback with breaks to force universe, Tufts’ offense would eventually punch in the downwind score to win 11-12. The mental effects of the close loss showed as IHUC started against Illinois immediately after, and the Illini broke three times for a quick 0-3 lead. Despite this frustration, IHUC dug deep and fought back aggressively (Trout literally knocked a player’s tooth out) to regain control and take half 7-4. Having beaten Illinois handily twice already this season, the squad came out dominating in the second half to finish the game, 12-

Confidence regained, IHUC came out swinging in the third game of the day against Whitman, dominating their way to a 9-4 lead. However, letting opponents back into the game seemed to be a theme of the weekend, and Whitman took advantage of Iowa’s lull to come as close as 11-10. After an awkward situation with hard cap not being announced, Iowa hung on to win 12-11 after a Whitman score. Despite the victory, the entire squad was dissatisfied with the performance at the end of the game and wanted to end the day on a high note. Colorado College would provide exactly that opportunity. Both teams traded points, but after an aggressive Callahan by Sergei in the zone to tie the game at 3’s, IHUC rolled their way to an 11-4 lead. Younger players showcased their talent, playing strong defense and smooth offense, and then again trade points until the end, 13-7, and finished pool play 2^nd in the pool.

Sunday morning came quickly, chilly and grey skied, with IHUC ready to take on Colorado in pre-quarterfinals. Colorado started off the game with more intensity and fire, and broke on the first point to take the lead and the momentum. Iowa responded shortly after with a break to take their first lead at 3-2. Having lost the little wind from Saturday, IHUC was largely going to play man defense, and dug in through numerous long defensive points, fighting their way back to take half on serve at 8-7. Both teams continued to trade points out of half, and though Iowa’s ferocious man defense yielded a number of opportunities to score, they were unable to capitalize, and with hard cap on at 11-12, Colorado would huck for the score and the win, 11-13.

IHUC moved on to the 9^th place consolation bracket, and continued the day with a game against Mizzou shortly after Colorado. Frustrated after the loss in pre-quarters, Iowa lacked focus and fire throughout the entire game, trading points for the most part and eventually falling on universe, 12-13. After dropping 2 straight games, Iowa finished off the day with a “fun” game against Georgia Tech, with young guns and rookies trading jerseys and playing for experience.

Overall, the weekend was a great success for IHUC, despite the losses. Out of the 6 scored games, Iowa lost by a total of only 4 points, finishing 3-3 in their so far greatest challenge of the season. The challenges faced and overcome by the team proved that the winter training has been paying off, and though there is still more training and practice to be done and another regular season tournament to be played, IHUC can go into the Series knowing that they have the talent and depth to take on any team in the country.

The challenges and the successes are now completely in Iowa’s hands; it is time for this young team to grow, to cement themselves as elite, and to play like champions for the rest of the season.

Midwest Throwdown: 2012

Another tournament in the books, another championship victory. It was a good weekend for IHUC; the team was able to compete at a high level and continue to work on different things, and to get better every game.

Saturday was windy and cold, though sunny. Pool play games early on turned out to be upwind-downwind affairs. Iowa would run man defense most of the time, throwing zone only occasionally, and getting people experience playing in different lines. Newer IHUC players especially were placed in situations that they hadn’t often been in before. Young guys were stepping up to fill big roles and the team went on a strong torrent of wins: defeating Luther B 13-2, Missouri S and T 13-5, Hendrix 13-2.

Final pool play game was against UNI, a bit of a revenge game, and both teams came out heated. Iowa almost got too emotional, and some head games were played that caused the squad to lose focus at times. Despite the challenges, Iowa prevailed 13-5 and won the pool.

Sunday morning began bracket play. Very little wind was evident today and it was sunny and warmish to start, with cold winds arriving later in the day. First game against Wisconsin-Whitewater started off slow as Iowa took a few points to adjust to playing total man defense and shutting down what they did well. Probably the best thing about Sunday was how well Iowa made adjustments. The intensity as ramped up, some defensive changes were put into place, and IHUC rolled, not allowing Whitewater to score a point in the second half. 15-6 win. A similar story took place against Saint Louis in the semi-finals. Iowa traded points early, made adjustments, picked up the intensity and the pace of the game and would win big 15-6.

Championship game began to follow a similar pattern. Early on it was close, IHUC O-line got broken once, the team was down, and struggling to stop their offense. However, after adjustments and a rise in the intensity, the team began to shut them down, get on a roll with momentum, and pull away. The game was at 14-7, Iowa leading when Iowa State began to get a little bit of a comeback going. Some lucky plays, and a bit of head games for Iowa players not focusing, allowed state to close back in before IHUC finally finished them off.

Overall there was a lot of great play and improvement, but there is still a large amount of work to be done. Centex is two weeks away and that is the biggest regular season tournament Iowa will attend, and it will be a serious challenge that the team has

Free State Classic: 2012

I’m pretty busy this week, so this will probably be a short writeup. If someone else wants to throw together something, I’ll happily toss it on the website; it was a pretty good weekend, and I’d like to have it covered well.

Friday night we arrived at our nice hotel rooms (3 rooms for the price of one mind you) and had our team meeting. The theme of the weekend was going to be confidence- having our somewhat young, inexperienced team come out and play with aggression and the knowledge that Iowa was the number one team at the tournament for a reason, a force to be reckoned with.

Saturday morning was a bit chilly and sunny, with slight breezes to start off. First game was against Notre Dame. The key for this game was coming out hot (something previous IHUC teams have struggled with), and after trading a couple of points, Iowa did just that, smashing through a couple of breaks and keeping the pressure on throughout most of the second half. Probably the best thing to come out of this game was our chemistry. An O-line was created that ran extremely well throughout the weekend, with guys stepping up to fill big roles and to show they were beastly cutters (with some help from very crafty handlers). D-line players were doing the same, taking the opportunities given to them.

Next game up was against Boston College and it would prove to be the one sour spot on the otherwise great weekend. In truth, the team probably underestimated BC. IHUC was almost too sure of themselves. BC had a few things they did very well- and a few key players who excelled at doing them. They were especially strong at getting up the line throws and at getting open on the force side. Their low, lazer hucks were hard defend against (the lack of wind helping) and the new O-Line looked a bit shaky at times, making some mistakes that would give BC chances. The offense of the D-line wasn’t much better, and the team squandered opportunities. Late in the game, tensions were high, IHUC made some critical mistakes and BC was able to pull away with the win 15-13.

The mentality at this point was that an elite program responds by not losing another game all tournament. And we did just that. We were out to show we were confident, not cocky.

With the wind picking up quite a bit, we came out hard against Mizzou, running a lot of zone and beating them handily

Our crossover was set to be a good match-up: Iowa vs Illinois. Last year IHUC went undefeated against this team from the Great Lakes Region, including a great comeback win at FSC 2011. This time, with gusty winds, Iowa would come out hard and never look back. Upwind Iowa lines proved how extremely good they were at throwing through the wind, as it seemed like there was always the possibility (and the likelihood) that they would be able to score. This was a theme all weekend: We can score upwind at will. Downwind lines ran tight zones and for the most part were able to contain their better players. IHUC pulled away early and was able to get young guys experience in a big game. Illinois fought back a bit at the end but Iowa won 15-9.

Most of the team ended the night by tracking down some BBQ or Mexican food to satisfy their hunger, and they were ready to come at the next day.

Sunday upon waking up at 6AM the whole team could see the flags outside the hotel whipping about furiously, proving it was to be another windy day.

The first two games against Washington University and Notre Dame showed how extremely good Iowa is at playing in the wind. We were able to build big leads in the first half and then start working on new defensive sets in the second. Younger guys continued to step up and take on big roles, gaining valuable experience.

Semi-Finals: IHUC had a rematch with Boston College. The team was amped and ready at this point, eager to prove that Iowa was the squad that would be going to the championship. Revenge motivated IHUC and the team came out hard; though the winds started to lessen and become more of sporadic gusts, Iowa still kept the pressure on and won big, 15-3, somewhat redeeming the loss of the previous day.

Finals: Another rematch: Iowa vs Illinois, Iowa amped to defend their title and reclaim the Big Check they had been dreaming about for weeks. The winds had lessened and teams had a much easier time moving the disc toward both end-zones. The teams traded points for a bit before Iowa was able to strike upwind and build a lead 5-2. Illinois would make a comeback however, and have a much easier time moving it through Iowa’s zone without the wind; IHUC would get a few chances to score downwind but squandered them with mistakes, something the team needs to work on. Playing against upper level competition, Iowa will only get a few chances to score defensive breaks. Eventually Iowa and Illinois would start trading upwind points as Iowa’s upwind line continued to strike again and again. The score would be as close as 9-8 with Iowa barely leading, before IHUC started playing man defense going downwind, and taking better care of their chances when they got turnovers. Iowa would pull away at the end, keeping the intensity up, surviving the challenge from the surging Illinois team, winning 15-9.

There was a good deal of celebrating and shenanigans involving Big Checks afterward, and the team enjoyed its victory. However, everyone knows there is still a lot to work on. IHUC needs to improve every single day; that is the only way we can reach our final goals.