Last weekend, the Williams Ultimate Frisbee Organization (WUFO) — the College’s ultimate frisbee club team for male and nonbinary athletes — successfully advanced to the USA Ultimate Div. III College Championship. The team took on a strong New England regional field, posting five convincing wins in a row to make it to the regional final, before succumbing to the Middlebury Pranksters, ranked first in the nation. Given the strength of the New England region, which was allocated three teams to send to Nationals by USA Ultimate, this result was enough to propel WUFO to the College Championships in Milwaukee, Wis. on May 18.
This season has been a banner year for the frisbee program. The team’s official record is 28-2, with their second loss coming from the regional final. “This season has been incredible, probably the most successful on paper of any season I’ve been a part of,” Kjellen MacBain ’25.5 said. “Right after we constructed [this year’s] team, I remember looking over at [captain] Danny [Klein ’24], like: ‘We’ve kind of got something special.’”
MacBain’s early optimism has proven prescient, according to Leo Gentile ’26. “If I’m not mistaken, this was probably the most successful year in WUFO history,” he said. “Throughout the course of the season, I don’t think we ever dropped out of the top 10.” The team finished its regular season ranked second in the USA Ultimate rankings, behind only the Middlebury Pranksters.
WUFO’s ability was on full display in March, at the No Sleep till Brooklyn tournament, where WUFO defeated the Pranksters in the tournament’s quarterfinal round, Syracuse Doom in the semifinals, and University of Connecticut in the finals to become the tournament champions.
The victory over perennial Div. III powerhouse, Middlebury, proved especially exciting, noted Klein, who was named a second-team All-American by Ultiworld. “Definitely the high of the regular season was beating Middlebury in March,” he said. “It was the first time Williams had beaten Middlebury since 2012, so that was a pretty big deal for us.”
The athletes attributed this season’s success to a multitude of factors, one of these being a dedicated mentality. “I think a lot of [our success] comes down to culture,” MacBain said. “Last year, we unlocked a new level of intensity, really locking in and playing for each other, and that’s where you see the results on the field.”
This intensity is reflected in the team’s weekly schedule, which includes four practices a week, each two hours long, which consist of rigorous drills and scrimmages to get the athletes prepared for high intensity games. According to Gentile, despite WUFO being a club sport, there is buy-in to consistent practice and improvement from the members on the team. “I would say, generally, we have 18 to 20 kids at practice every single day, and that’s because we just want to play for each other,” he said.
Another important factor is the team’s leadership. “There are so many people that do so much to lead the team, whether it is our captains or our coach, Will Savage,” said Kiva Zimmerman ’27. MacBain echoed Zimmerman in lauding the contributions of Coach Savage, an ex-Bowdoin frisbee player.
WUFO’s evolution into a championship contender has also coincided with an improvement in the skill of its new players, according to Klein, a four-year veteran of the team. “The team’s been growing and improving for the last few years,” he said. “When I got to the team, there weren’t a ton of people with [frisbee] experience. The past couple years of underclassmen have seen some really talented freshmen coming into our ranks, so our younger classes are really skilled.”
The team put these positive traits to work at regionals, taking commanding victories on Saturday over Stonehill College, Middlebury B Team, Bowdoin, and Colby. The Bowdoin match was particularly intense, both because WUFO had defeated Bowdoin Clown the year before to advance to Nationals and because the game featured electric plays. “I think that [the Bowdoin] game might’ve had some of the most ridiculous highlights I’ve ever watched since my time on WUFO,” Gentile said.
On Sunday, WUFO defeated Bates Orange Whip 10-6 in the regional semifinal to cement the team’s bid to Nationals. This year, given the New England region’s strength, USA Ultimate predetermined that three teams from the region would make Nationals, which meant that, by advancing to the final, WUFO had assured itself of a spot at the finals. “That was just so exciting, qualifying for Nationals is such a big deal,” Klein said.
In the final, the team came up short, losing 9-15 to top-ranked Middlebury. “We played our hearts out, but [Middlebury is] a really, really good frisbee team with a lot of experience and a lot of athleticism,” MacBain said.
Entering Nationals, on May 18, the team is confident. “I think the sky is the limit,” Gentile said. “When WUFO plays our best game, I really do not think that there is a team that can beat us.”
“I think, honestly, we do have a reasonable chance to win it all, or at least make the final game,” MacBain said. “We are legitimately really good this year.”
For the seniors and the team leaders, even more important than achieving the glory of national victory is savoring the moment. “For me, the goal is to really enjoy ourselves and have a great time,” Klein said. “Reece Overholt [’24], who’s a senior on the team, put it really well: That the greatest prize is getting to be with each other and play with each other.”
For every member of WUFO, the best part of the team, beyond the success on the field, remains the bonds formed off of it. “I love these kids more than any group I’ve ever met in my life,” Gentile said. “These are literally my brothers, and that feeling is just as strong today as it was when I first joined the team. I don’t know where I’d be without them.”
