Recap: HURT hosts Hopkins Hustle Tournament and takes 1st place

The Hopkins Boys Ultimate Frisbee Team just held the largest frisbee tournament in Minnesota located at the Blaine Sports Complex.

The Royals took charge in their own tournament playing a total of seven games and winning all of them. The first three games were pool play and the last four were the elimination bracket games.

The boys team has been very successful in the past seasons going on to win state twice in the last five seasons. This season has been successful winning four tournaments, but the royals have also lost a couple tournaments this season too. The team was trying bounce back from some of those losses.

“All of the best teams in the Midwest were at the Hopkins Hustle tournament so we went in knowing that we needed to prove that we could perform at a higher level than the other teams. We knew we had struggled a bit in the past but we were ready to put everything out on the table in order to win this tournament back to back years,” said Dante Reminick, junior captain.

The team started off on saturday for their pool play games against Eastview High school. The team took them down quickly with a 13-2 win.

After their dominating game, about an hour went by and the royals had to get on the field for game two. The royals went up against Southwest High School and ultimately won 9-7. The game had to abruptly end at 9-7 because there is a “hard cap” of one hour and 30 minutes.

Finally for their final pool play game the royals took on Madison West High School 15 minutes after their second game ended. The royals were not ready to be tired yet winning 13 to eight to finish the day.

“My team and I were feeling confident in our abilities to perform at a high level for day two. I felt that we could rely on our seniors to get the job done because they are able to set the tone for the rest of the team to work hard enough to win the championship,” said Mats Hansen, junior.

Going into their elimination rounds it started off on sunday with a quick win against their arch rivals Edina, but it was their junior varsity team. The royals took a quick win winning 13 to one.

As the royals moved onto the quarterfinals game they took on Madison East High school again. The royals took them down for a second time in two days with a score of 13 to 10.

They then moved to the semi final game against South High School. South High School was a solid team going undefeated throughout the tournament up to this point. The royals powered through another game winning 13 to eight.

“We were very confident in ourselves going into the championship game to run all over Fox Valley Fusion. We had just beaten one of the top teams in Minnesota (Minneapolis South) in the semifinal game. We also had been playing very well throughout the tournament leading up to the championship so we knew it would carry over to the final game,” said Asher Kahn, junior.

The royals stepped onto the field with one goal, winning. The game was very close ending the first half with the royals up seven to six. Both teams exchanged points but the royals squeaked by with a final score of 12 to nine.