Men's Club Frisbee Hosts Ocean State Invite
"Who do you think you are? I am!" professional bowler Pete Weber once screeched after winning his fifth US Open bowling title in 2012. This same quote is chanted by the Rhode Island Ultimate Team (RIUT) after each score, "Who do you think you are!?"--- "I Am!" The Men's Club Ultimate Frisbee team was able to quote Pete Weber quite often this weekend as the team hosted and won the Ocean State Invite.
The two-day tournament hosted by RIUT and club sports featured eight different teams competing for the Ocean State Invite title. The following teams competed in the tournament: Western New England University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Wentworth Institute of Technology, University of Maine, Bates College, Brown University B team, Tufts University B team.
The Ocean State Invite commenced on Saturday, March 28 with pool play in order to determine seeding for the tournament on Sunday. Rhode Island started off pool play with wins over WPI (11-5) and Wentworth (11–7), before losing their only game of the weekend to Maine (11–12) in a championship preview. The Rams finished off pool play with a narrow win over the Brown University B team (11–9).
Temperatures rose on championship Sunday but consequently the winds rose too. Sunday saw frequent gusts of wind up to 20 MPH which inherently played a large role in the single elimination championship tournament. Rhode Island looked comfortable in the wind however, using the downwind to take deep shots down the field while taking a slow and methodical approach when playing into the wind.
Rhode Island defeated WPI in the first round of tournament play, 12–8 Sunday morning. RIUT then defeated the Tufts B team in the second round 12–6 as the wind began to play more of a factor in the games. The team then avenged their loss to Maine, winning the championship game with a score of 10–9.
Looking ahead, Rhode Island Ultimate Team will travel to Amherst, Massachusetts for the sectional conference championship hosted by the University of Massachusetts. RIUT will compete against Brown, UMass, Maine, McGill, New Hampshire and Vermont in the conference championship that begins on April 11th. Hopefully, the Rams are able to quote Pete Weber early and often as they compete for the conference title.
