August 28, 2026
By Ryan Baker
Just after the New York and Oakland semifinal ended, the Minnesota Wind Chill took down the Austin Sol, 28-24, on the other side of the bracket in an absolute battle.
The wind was calm, conditions were still, and both teams waited to jump on any mistakes. Completion percentages were about 95 percent, D-line conversion rates above 70 percent, and it was a grind to get the disc back.
“These stale wind games are brutal,” said Minnesota Wind Chill Head Coach Ben Feldman. “It's a grinder. We were playing top to bottom. We knew Austin was going to go on a run. They came back, no surprises. It's tough. You couldn't get the disc back tonight.”
The biggest difference makers were Minnesota’s ability to throw Kyle Henke in different matchups all night, their superb pulls that the Sol struggled with, the end-of-quarter wins for the Wind Chill, and Austin’s relentlessness.
The game ran off course by the fourth point but didn’t last long. Minnesota’s Dylan DeClerck run-through block on the second throw resulted in the first break, ending with a Paul Krenik cross-field blade to Owen Suelflow.
For Austin, they were running the show through Kyle Henke, his brother Mark, and Matthew Armour, who remained on the offensive line after making that switch in Austin’s divisional championship game. That was shown on the ninth point when Kyle threw a cross-field huck that Mark contorted his body for a mid-layout to secure the score.
The Wind Chill inched to a three-point lead after Armour had a costly drop, which Minnesota’s Cameron Lacy capitalized on with a hammer throw to Suelflow. With 15 seconds left in the first quarter, Austin’s pull went out of bounds, allowing the Wind Chill to gain chunk yardage and set up a hammer by Bryan Vohnoutka that landed with Zach Morton.
Throughout the second quarter, the Sol closed the gap after Wind Chill execution errors. After Austin tied the game midway through the quarter, the rest of the half was back and forth. A Gordon Larson hammer to Will Brandt put Minnesota up by one with 15 seconds left. On the next point, Kyle Suelflow raced down the field for a layout block on Austin’s first throw.
With three seconds left in the half, Feldman called a timeout that allowed Brandt to punch in the break to Vohnoutka to go up by two heading into the break.
On the first point out of halftime, the Wind Chill took a major hit. On a gorgeous huck from Larson, Brandt caught the disc in the end zone, but his right leg gave out after an awkward landing. Trainers immediately ran onto the field, and the Minnesota sideline fell silent. Brandt was helped off and didn’t return. His status for the championship game is in question and a key piece to monitor tomorrow.
Despite the injury, the Wind Chill kept pressure on Austin. Their deep game clicked thanks to a monstrous performance by Morton. Morton made catch after catch on jump balls and finished with seven goals in his second career playoff game.
“Time it right and go get the ball,” Morton said on his strategy on jump balls. “That's really all it is. Just trying to line myself up with where it's coming and then not really even think about the defender sometimes.”
After Brandt’s injury, Feldman slotted Micah Davis into the handler spot on the O-line and shifted personnel. This kept the Austin defense honest and at bay. Another end-of-quarter score with 10 seconds left pushed the Wind Chill’s lead to 22-19.
“It feels incredible,” said Morton. “Just the work that we put in all season to get to this moment and then achieve what we wanted to, it's incredible. We know we're not done yet. We played them [Oakland] before, but that doesn't really matter. We need to keep trusting the work that we put in all season, execute tomorrow, and we know we can win.”
To open the fourth quarter, Austin made a string of execution errors, leading to two straight breaks for the Wind Chill that put the game out of reach. The Sol got within three midway through the fourth, but it was too little, too late.
Sol’s Armour and Henke brothers combined for over 20 scores and 1,500 total yards, but it wasn’t enough to push through the Wind Chill’s tenacious defense. For Minnesota, Larson had a game-high eight assists on 69 completions, in his best performance of the season.
Minnesota's veterans also stepped up when it mattered most. Vohnoutka scored four times, each one more impressive than the last; DeClerck got two blocks, both happening in crucial moments, and Josh Klane posted three assists and over 400 yards during a flawless game for him.
Now, the Wind Chill have a rematch with the Oakland Spiders in the championship game.
“We got to recover,” said Feldman. “When we played Oakland, they were missing a bunch of dudes. We were missing some of our guys. The crowd has to be ready tomorrow. We've got to figure out what strategies will disrupt them. We'll have to bring the energy. We're going to need our fans tomorrow, and we got to try to do something special.”
