The men’s frisbee southwest division regionals tournament took place 4/23-4/24 on UCLA’s intramural fields. UCSD’s Squid Lite (B-team) earned fourth place in bracket play after a day and a half of pool play. Squid Lite also earned three wins and two losses in round robin. The teams present at the tournament were UCSB (B), UCLA (B), UCSD (B), Cal Poly-SLO (B), Southern California (B), and Cal Berkeley (B). The tournament started off in a somewhat disorganized fashion, because one of the teams failed to show without notice, which changed the tournament from what was supposed to be simply pool play to both pool play and bracket play. This resulted in games being switched around and the schedule being determined on the fly. 

Squid Lite started off the first day of pool play with an impressive performance for being the first game of the tournament, playing a close game with University of Southern California (B). Ultimately and unfortunately, the game was lost for the Air Squids, 11-9. The next game would see the team getting more invigorated, playing a long time UCSD rival, UCLA (B). Previously at tournaments, UCLA (B) and UCSD (B) have gone back and forth winning and losing games. This game was intense, with the Air Squids only winning by a one point difference, ending the game 9-8. A standout performance in this game was Matthew Cunanan (a.k.a. Play-Do) receiving his first Callahan point in a tournament. This victory was what Squid Lite needed, and they carried this momentum expertly into their next game against UCSB (B). This team is always a blast for the Air Squids to play (due to their skill levels more or less matching those of our very own AIr Squids). The Squids performed incredibly well in this game, having high energy and playing passionately, which resulted in the Squids stomping UCSB (B), ending the game 8-4. The final game on the first day had the Squids playing against one of the most infamously skilled teams, Cal Poly-SLO (B). Both teams displayed passion on the field; however, UCSD (B) ended up losing this game by a single point (the score being 7-6).

On the second day of the tournament, the Squids played one of the other top-seeded teams, Cal Berkeley (B). This team benched its star players for this game, due to it being the last round robin game for Cal Berkeley, and thus it was of little importance. A combination of them not playing their best players and the Air Squids playing hard resulted in a crushing victory for the Squids (13-5). For bracket play the Squids played their first game against UCSB (B) again. The squids awakened lots of energy for this game and cemented their position as higher in the bracket by defeating them again (10-5). The next game the Squids were playing for second place (semifinals) and were hoping to place high in the tournament. Unfortunately, this game resulted in a loss for the Squids against Cal Berkeley (B) (who had all of their star players in the game). This loss was frustrating for the squids, but they played hard and should be proud (the score was 10-5). The final game was for third place and was against UCLA (B). Although on the previous day the Squids had gotten the better of UCLA (B) in round robin play, in this game the Squids lost their lead and thus placed fourth overall in the tournament. This game was hard fought on both sides, and progressed with each team scoring a point, only to be bested by the other team the next point. This was how the game progressed until the very end when UCLA (B) pulled ahead (12-10). This tournament was something to be proud of for the Air Squids and represents a move towards getting even better as a team for the next regionals.