In a close 13-12 game, the Missouri State Bears pulled off a come from behind win against Mississippi State Dark Horse. Missouri State trailed the entire second half but was able to capitalize on a few Dark Horse errors and a layout d to win the game on ultimate point.

“I am mentally exhausted and physically exhausted but it is great that we proved we were stronger than [Mississippi State],” Missouri State captain Andrew Seaman said.

Missouri State was down in the beginning of the game but reeled the game back within reach as Mississippi State took half 7-6. The Bears received after half and tied the game at seven all. The two teams traded points until Mississippi State got a break off an errant Missouri State throw at 11-9. Two more points were traded and the score was 12-10.

After a bad pass, Missouri State got the disc back on a sliding d by Dave Woods near the goal line, which led to a score. The next point, Missouri State got a layout d near the goal line and easily threw it in to tie the game.

Ultimate point was on. Dark Horse patiently worked the disc down the field only to turn it with fifteen yards of the end zone on a receiver miscue. The Bears worked the disc back down the field on a fast break as Dave Woods threw the winning score.

“We got in trouble early but adjusted our lines at the end,” Seaman said. “It came down to the mental toughness we have been working on in practice and we were able to pull out a close one.”

Minnesota Grey Duck played a relatively error free game in route to rolling over Oklahoma’s Apes of Wrath, 13-4. Oklahoma got behind early and had many miscues and throwaways. Minnesota used those miscues to grab a 7-2 half time lead. The Apes scored two of the first three points of the second half, but Grey Duck scored the last five to end the game.

Oklahoma Apes of Wrath held on to win in the cap against Louisiana State Purple Haze, 12-10. Oklahoma’s Mike Rice shined this game with three scores and a handful of assists.

The strong wind from the first round died down and the sun came out as both teams exchanged points for most of the first half. With the score tied at four apiece, Oklahoma was able to get a break and go on a 3-1 run to half to take it, 7-5.

LSU received after half and scored to bring it within one. Oklahoma scored the next three on tight defense, 10-6. LSU finally found their defensive footing and got four d’s in five points to close the gap to one at 11-10. With the cap on, Oklahoma worked down field and passed the disc to Rice for the win.

“When we get up we tend to lose focus and that is something we will be working on in the next few weeks leading up to Centex,” said Oklahoma captain Matt Carney.

“It was nice to take care of business and get the win,” Mike Rice said.

There were two lead changes and four ties, all in the first half.

The University of Chicago Junk punched the disc across the goal line to shock Arkansas Ludicrous Speed in swampy field conditions 9-8.

“Arkansas is a pretty solid team with good hucks,” said Chicago captain Jake Newman. “They kept breaking us across the field but we stopped their big throws. Fortunately, on offense, our handlers played smart O.”

Both teams traded points throughout the first half, with neither team getting an upper hand. At half, the score was 7-6 at half in Chicago’s favor. Chicago got the first point of the second half, but Arkansas scored the next two and tied it at 8-8. With cap on Chicago took their time and with short precise throws worked the disc down the field for the win.

“It was really rewarding to score that last point and get the win,” Newman said.

The game was played on a very soggy field full of puddles. That led to a wet disc that handlers had issues with, including several fake throws leaving the hands and resulting in change of possession.

“The field was not that bad; both teams had to deal with the same conditions, but it did increase the number of turns due to tripping and sliding,” Newman said.

Luther College beat Missouri State 13-5 in route to the quarterfinals. Both teams had problems keeping possession of the disc early on, but Luther was able to take advantage of that en-route to the victory.

“Luther is a very solid team. We had our doubts going into the game but we hung with them at the beginning. The scoreboard says it was a big loss but in our books it was a moral victory,” said Missouri State captain Dave Wood. “We played some of our best ultimate. [Luther] just capitalized on our mistakes.

A scary situation happened early in the second half when Luther’s Mikey Redig laid out head first into one of his teammate’s knees. The knee was fine, but Redig was woozy and slow to get up.

Oklahoma’s Apes of Wrath pulled off a mostly downwind scoring game against South Florida’s Scallywags, 11-10.

The game focused on trading with each team earning just one break. “The winner of this game kind of came down to the disc flip,” said Oklahoma captain Matt Carney.

At half, the game was 7-6 in Oklahoma’s favor. Oklahoma scored the first point of the second half, but South Florida scored the next two to tie it at eight all. The two teams traded points from there to the cap.

“Defensively, we got the turnovers from South Florida that we were looking for,  However, we were having a lot of troubles getting the disc up the field when we did get the turnovers,” Carney said.

Arkansas Ludicrous Speed came out slow against Iowa IHUC and lost 13-7 in a game full of easy drops.

“We were not mentally prepared,” said Arkansas captain Matt Jackson. “We just could not get it together — just kept dropping the disc and making bad passes.”

The game was a sloppy affair, with both teams dropping multiple uncontested passes. Iowa took better care of the disc to take half 7-4. Arkansas made a bid to come back in the second half by completing back-to-back upwind scores but reverted to dropping passes again.

The strange crosswind made for some interesting hucks, odd flight paths and hospital passes.

Arkansas freshmen Joe Bell rolled his ankle in the second half and sat out the rest of the game.

The Missouri State Bears beat University of Chicago Junk, 13-10 Sunday in the first round of  Mardi Gras. The beginning of the game started off with Chicago getting an early break and scoring the first point. The two teams traded down wind points until Missouri State got two breaks, with the help of several layout d’s, to take the lead 4-2. Chicago tried to answer but was not careful with the disc and went into the half trailing 7-4.

The Bears came out of the half and got another break to open the lead to four. After some more trading of points the game was 11-7 in Missouri State’s favor. At that point Chicago started taking better of the disc, forced a couple of d’s, and closed the gap to one.

“We capitalized really well in the first half but then let up, got a little complacent, and let [Chicago] back in the game and had to fight for the victory,” said Missouri state captain Dave Woods.

With a game that seemed to be in the books moments before, Missouri State called a timeout. The Bears changed up their lines and scored the next two with a game winning layout by Adam Deis to finish the game.

“We took that timeout to regroup, got some fresh legs on the field, and we were able to pull out the win,” Woods said.