Huck Finn Recap

UWA - St. Louis, MO
While most of the country was busy watching basketball and March Madness, another competition was going on in St. Louis. And while it may not have been the most anticipated tournament of the week it certainly had its fair share of knuckle-biting wins, heroic performances and upsets. That competition was The Tenth Annual Huck Finn Ultimate Classic.

In past installments of Huck Finn there has been a steady drop off of team talent past the top three or four teams. This year however, proved to be much different in that teams who had won just a couple of years ago were now relegated to the lower pools. The A Pool was lead by perennial power Illinois, the Washington Alumni, Washington, Wheaton-Illinois, and the unpredictable Harding. Pool B featured Luther, who had just given number two ranked Wisconsin a run for their money a week before at Terminus, Northwestern, Purdue, Missouri State, and Oberlin.

Day One

Morning

The tournament started off like most and featured the top seeds of the power pools winning their games with relative ease. But that quickly changed, for in the second round Missouri State made a statement by easily finishing off Northwestern 13-6. Meanwhile, in the A Pool, Harding fought a much more experienced Illinois team to a 15-13 loss.

The third set of games brought about an amazing game of disc between Washington and Illinois. Unfortunately for Illinois, Washington was much more athletic and soundly defeated them, 13-8. Harding lost another close game to Wheaton-Illinois 13-12 while Missouri State played a sloppy game against Oberlin but still won 13-8.

Afternoon

When the horn sounded to begin the fourth round most games had already started. Over in the B Pool, Purdue and Missouri State were locked in a two all tie. The Frizzbears then broke out a dynamic zone and quickly gained a large lead. Purdue then tried to force several long throws for scores, but Missouri State had switched to man by then, and the game ended 13-5 in the Frizzbears favor.

Washington came into the fifth round undefeated in pool play while Harding entered the round without a win. The two teams had played each other three times last year and Washington had won every encounter. So it was not a surprise when Contrabear star George Strange-Hughes sat the beginning of the game out.

What was a surprise was how well an undermanned Harding team played, even though they had just lost three long games by a combined score of six. Even more shocking was that Harding took half 7-4. It was no shock then that George entered the game to start the second half. Yet somehow, Harding continued to pile on the pressure and jumped out to a commanding 10-5 lead.

It was at that point Washington threw out a loose cup in desperation and George started to carry his team. Several minutes later Harding watched the lead slip right through their fingers as they struggled to figure out the zone defense. Suddenly, the game was tied at twelve a piece and Harding threw the disc away just before scoring. Washington worked the disc up slowly and confidently to finish off Harding 13-12.

Lower Pools

The lower pools featured more Ozark Section teams including several B teams showing just how much the section has grown in recent years. Kansas State easily won the C Pool and Truman State beat a tough Wisconsin-B team 16-15 on universe point to win the E Pool. However, both teams lost their crossover games. Truman State JuJiTSU lost 2-13 to club team Big River, and the Kansas State Huckstables were defeated 3-13 by Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Day Two

First Round

The second day of competition would start off with straight bracket play and there would be no byes. Kansas State would begin the day by losing a close game to the Washington Alumni and at the same time the Contrabears would win a sloppy game against Western Illinois. To the left of the Contrabears, Missouri State would quickly finish off Truman State 15-4. To the right of Washington, a battered Harding team came out very poorly against Oberlin, but would finish the game on a 7-2 run to win, 15-13.

Quarterfinals

The next round would feature a rematch of Washington and Harding. After the close call from Saturday, the Contrabears came out more focused and used George throughout the game. Even so, the game would be another nail-biter: Wash U took half at 8-7, never led by more than two in the second half, and finally took the victory on double game point, 14-13.

The MSU and Illinois game would also be a back and forth battle, with five lead changes and seven ties. Illinois eventually fought their way back to tie the game 12-12. At that point Missouri State decided they would no longer catch the disc in the end zone, and would drop two easy scores on consecutive points. Fist took advantage of the late game errors by the Frizzbears to score the last three points and win 15-12.

Semifinals

Illinois could be heard saying that it wanted revenge for the beating that they took from Washington the day before. The Contrabears took no notice of the group from Champaign and soundly trounced Fist once again 15-8.

Finals

The final game would pit hometown favorite Washington verses West Plains Sectional visitor Luther. On the line were bragging rights, Gaia bucks, and the Huck Finn X Title. Luther began the game with a serious intensity and quickly took the lead. A ridiculous grab by Contrabear Gareth Marshall (Picture) assisted in firing up Washington, but they were still down 8-5 at half.

The Contrabears started the second half with a loose junk defense and scored two quick points to make it 8-7. At this point the wind picked up and Luther jumped ahead, 12-9. Washington then switched to a three man cup and answered the challenge before them, bringing the score to 12-11. Unfortunately, the Contrabears had dug too deep of a hole to climb out of and the teams finished by trading points. In the end Washington lost a close match to Luther, 15-13.

Thoughts

Huck Finn was a well run tournament and had some excellent competition. Yet one thing became very clear: the Ozark Section has grown in strength and numbers. With a greater number of solid teams than ever before, things should be very interesting next weekend in Fayetteville.

*Editors Note* if anyone would like to add an anecdote from the tournament feel free to contact me at - will at paradoxis dot com