August 12, 2025
By Evan Lepler
Tuesday Toss: Divisional Championships recap | Part 1
1. Finally, the Hustle are South Division champions
The final buzzer hadn’t even blared before Tuba was in tears.
“I was a full leaky faucet with three minutes left in the game,” said Atlanta Coach Tuba Benson-Jaja.
With multiple excruciating playoff heartbreakers serving as the ominous backdrop, the Hustle finally navigated their way through a South Division final, successfully smashing their past demons and advancing to Championship Weekend for the first time in franchise history.
Their 22-18 triumph over the San Diego Growlers, as glorious as it ultimately felt, was far from straightforward. The SoCal challengers had multiple chances to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but Atlanta converted three straight breaks to take a 20-15 lead, the Hustle’s largest advantage of the game, with just 2:25 left.
That’s right around when the tears started to flow, a subtle nod to all the history that Atlanta had confronted with this landmark result. They certainly felt some similar nerves that plagued them in postseasons past, but the Hustle also found a way to survive the adversity, suggesting that this year’s team might genuinely be different.
Or, it was just finally their time.
“The message pregame is that we may not be able to get rid of nerves, but that we were built and prepared to play with them,” said Benson-Jaja. “I told them it was never about killing our demons, but simply to bring them with us in this game and take them for a ride.”
Down 4-2 after surrendering back-to-back first-quarter breaks, the demons were probably smirking. But the Hustle stayed cool, with Brett Hulsmeyer hanging on for a bobbling buzzer-beater at the end of the first, bringing Atlanta back within one.
The Hustle defense, which failed to dispossess the efficient Growlers O-line through the first 12 minutes, regrouped and readied to pounce.
“When San Diego got the first break, it gave our defense the mindset of, ‘Okay, we have to go take it from them,’” said Atlanta Captain Michael Fairley.
Heeding his own words, Fairley delivered arguably the game’s biggest turning-point, hand-blocking Travis Dunn on the Growlers opening O-point in the second quarter. This was just one of the many huge plays for the Hustle in an 8-2 surge that changed the game.
“I’d studied a lot of film on Travis Dunn that week and knew I could force a wide throw and take away his quick flick huck if I stayed disciplined,” said Fairley. “As captain, my goal in the moment was to set the tone that we weren’t going to wait for a mistake; we were going to take the disc from them. The calm, efficient offense after the turn sealed the break and kept their O-line grinding. That pressure built point-by-point, until we triggered that huge run of breaks.”
For Fairley, it was the first of his three blocks to lead the Hustle D-line. For Dunn, it was a disappointing moment, one he recognized helped to turn the tide in Atlanta’s favor.
“I do feel like I kind of started the avalanche by getting blocked early in the second,” admitted Dunn. “I had [Daniel] Brunker wide open, and usually I can step out and get that throw around most defenders, but he’s a big dude with a solid mark. I should have moved him first and then come back to hit it, but obviously, hindsight is 20/20. [Fairley] did a great job of executing the game plan all night, as did the rest of their defense.”
The Hustle D-line converted nine breaks in 12 chances, as Atlanta managed just 11 turnovers, a hair better than their record-breaking per game average during the season. Austin Taylor and Adam Miller each finished with six scores, and veteran Christian Olsen, the only active player who’s been on every single Hustle team, went 56-for-56 passing to help his team steadily preserve possession.
Still, the Growlers had the disc with a chance to tie, trailing 16-15 with about eight minutes left. But San Diego failed to convert, and the Hustle coolly capitalized on their chances down the stretch.
“It came down to doing the little things,” said Growlers Coach Kevin Stuart. “We made little errors that allowed Atlanta to convert key break opportunities. When you do that against a good team, you aren’t winning those games. Atlanta did a good job of being physical downfield and discouraging our downfield cutters and disrupting our offensive timing. Our defense kept us in the game and did a great job generating scoring chances against one of the best offenses in the league. So the message at the end of the game was to hold our heads high. We battled and came up short, but that doesn’t mean we failed. Let this loss sting, and then use it as a learning experience to grow from and never let happen again.”
2. An emotional evening in Atlanta
For everyone who’s ever been associated with the Hustle—except perhaps San Diego’s Khalif El-Salaam—Friday night was a cathartic, glorious experience.
“It was super emotional for all the guys, regardless of how long they’d been on the Hustle,” said Christian Olsen, the team’s longest tenured player. “This is a special team that has put in the work physically and mentally long before the season started. When we lost last year again, I kept telling myself that this was just part of a longer journey that we had to explore together…For me personally, it was really special seeing people from various parts of my frisbee career, especially former Hustlers like my OG partner in crime, Matt Smith. I got a flood of texts from former Hustlers, and I think that made me the most emotional. It put in perspective how far I’ve come as a person, as a player, and how much the organization has grown over the years. I just feel really lucky to have been a part of it all.”
Shortly after the game, long-time Hustle GM John Boezi popped several bottles of champagne, some of which were purchased prior to the 2023 and 2024 South Division championship games and remained sealed for years, waiting for this particular night.
“It’s one of those funny things,” said Hulsmeyer, “where all the years of losing in these close games just make it feel so much better when you get there.”
After composing himself following the surge of tears, Benson-Jaja addressed the hometown crowd, hugged all of his players, and helped lead the postgame celebration in the locker room.
“This team means so much to so many people, and to be a part of its success and journey is very humbling,” he said. “It was fun to celebrate and dance together as a team. We have been learning to celebrate and grow from wins and losses, so you better believe we celebrated the hell out of this one!”
Benson-Jaja added that even the team’s newest additions cherished the moment like they’d been in Atlanta for years. But everyone also understood that the decade of history leading to this title had set the foundation for the eventual success.
“As the 2025 Hustle, we stand on the shoulders of giants,” said Fairley. “We’re not here without the work of people like Matt Smith, Trenton Spinks, JP Burns, Kelvin Williams, Miranda Knowles, Parker Bray, and Bobby Ley over the past decade. This division championship is theirs too.”
3. A Boston beatdown
It was just six or seven minutes into Saturday’s highly-anticipated East Division title game, yet it felt like the outcome might already be determined.
Quite simply, the Breeze cutters just could not consistently get open. Playing with their best roster of the season, the Glory defenders looked faster, fiercer, and more energized than their accomplished opponents.
“Our defense out of the gate felt really, really good,” said Boston’s Tyler Chan. “I think we had a really strong defensive game plan that the coaches cooked up that we all bought into. We essentially just tried to do our best to lock down on their closest players and force them to throw longer throws versus letting them play their usual style of run and gun fast ball.”
While it was still 2-2 midway through the first quarter, the Breeze were then outscored 6-0 over the next 12 minutes, with so many different Glory players impacting the game in positive ways.
“We have two D-lines that are split,” said Boston Captain Brendan McCann. “Both are spoiled with athletes and disc skills. Where this pays off is when you get that first break, we have a whole line of studs coming out for that second break, and the train starts rolling. From the very beginning, our defensive intensity was there. And that lasted the entire game.”
Five different Glory D-liners—Peter Boerth, Gus Haflin, Tannor Johnson-Go, McCann, and Calvin Stoughton—each finished with at least one goal and at least one assist.
“They did a great job overloading the spaces we were trying to attack downfield,” said DC cutter Christian Boxley. “And they recovered well as the disc swung. Props to them for executing their game plan well.”
DC’s O-line did stabilize a bit in the second half, but it was basically too little, too late, especially as Boston’s offense refused to concede possession. Repeatedly, the Glory O-line patiently chewed up the clock by taking the high-percentage reset option, often in the direction of Jeff Babbitt.
“Having an O-line that prizes possession even when we’re up a handful of breaks is a beautiful sight to see as a defensive player,” said Chan. “Having Jeff yell at us about taking silly risks has definitely been helpful, but I’d attribute our O-line's performance more to their acknowledgement that this is the postseason, and it’s do or die from now on. It’s really awesome to know that our guys can dominate the deep game but also play really conservatively when we need to.”
The Glory finished the game with just seven turnovers, the fewest of any team in the league that took the field this past weekend. The Breeze closed the game with just nine goals, the fewest scores ever in the team’s 174-game history, as Boston rolled 17-9.
“It was hard to feel like we didn’t compete at our highest level,” said Breeze Coach Lauren Boyle. “And that’s sports.”
While the outcome wasn’t in doubt in the waning moments, Boston still thoroughly enjoyed the satisfying Saturday.
“It was anticlimactic, but I was so fine with that,” said McCann. “DC had ended our UFA seasons each of the last two seasons. It felt good to get that on them. At the same time, I have nothing but respect for DC [...] My postgame speech was pretty passionate. That’s my role on the team. I spoke about brothers walking lockstep into battle. How I’ve never felt more confident with a group of players around me than in that game. And having the confidence that if everyone executes just their role right, that we are impossible to beat. We talked about how we should feel good about this win—it’s a big one for the Glory franchise—but we didn’t set out to win the division. We set out to win a championship. There’s work to do.”
4. First semifinal matchup: Boston versus Salt Lake
It’ll be the first ever meeting between Salt Lake and Boston in the first semifinal at Championship Weekend, slated for 6:00 PM/ET on Friday, August 22. Even though the Shred are technically the top seed and carrying a league-high 12-game winning streak into the matchup, most will consider the Glory as the favorite after their performance this past weekend.
Despite the fact that the Shred and Glory have never faced each other before in the UFA, there are plenty of connections between the two teams. Salt Lake has three former Boston players on their roster: Reed Browning, Braden Eberhard, and Eugene L’Heureux. And the Glory have Oscar Graff, who spent one season with the Shred before coming to Boston.
“I’m pumped to play Boston and I couldn’t be more proud of the boys who were there in the beginning with me reaching Champ Weekend,” said L’Heureux. “I got lucky moving to Salt Lake and making it year one, but a lot of those boys had to bail in the East and never thought of leaving, and I love them for what they have done with that team. I had a few congratulatory messages in my inbox from former teammates and owners with Boston. I’m sure I’m going to give a billion hugs and get twice as many chirps on that Friday, but the only thing better than winning with your friends is beating your friends.”
5. Second semifinal matchup: Minnesota versus Atlanta
Minnesota and Atlanta had never met in the UFA prior to this season, but they played a thrilling interdivisional matchup back in Week 6 on Friday Night Frisbee. The Wind Chill prevailed 17-15 in a close, competitive battle inside TCO Stadium, handing the Hustle their first loss of the season. It was an important game for the psyche of both teams, but obviously the rematch under the lights in Madison will carry way more meaning.
“I’m excited for a rematch with Minnesota,” said Fairley. “They’re a well-coached team with plenty of Championship Weekend experience and a roster full of players who show up in the clutch. We’ll start scouting and building our strategy this week to make sure we’re ready for a fight on August 22nd.”
Meanwhile, Justin Burnett is the lone player on these two teams that used to play for the other one. When the semifinal pairings were set, Burnett was delighted.
“I’m always ready to play Atlanta,” he said. “I was super pumped they made Champ Weekend for the first time. It’s been a long time coming, and I celebrated Friday, knowing that was some extra motivation to win on Saturday so that I could make it for the first time as well. Some more motivation was watching Brett at the end of the game interview not even hesitate to pick Chicago against us. Given all that, who better than me to send them home? It’s a shame we couldn’t meet in the championship. They have a great team this year, and I’m excited for an even better game than our first matchup this season.”
6. Another year, another road team stunning a top seed
With Minnesota’s dramatic victory over Chicago, we have now witnessed at least one road team win a game during Division Championship Weekend in seven of the past eight years.
Here’s the list of top seeds who’ve gone down at home with a spot at Championship Weekend on the line:
- 2025: Minnesota over Chicago
- 2024: Seattle over Salt Lake
- 2024: Carolina over Atlanta
- 2023: Austin over Atlanta
- 2021: Carolina over DC
- 2019: Dallas over Carolina
- 2018: New York over Toronto
- 2017: Dallas over Carolina
Interestingly, this was the first time in the last decade that we’ve seen the top seed in the Central fail to make it to Championship Weekend.
7. What was Max Gibson doing after his scores on Friday night?
Yes, I’m here to report on all the important stories from the weekend.
And Gibson’s lying down on his side while still aggressively walking in circles celebration demanded its own section.
On the broadcast, Ian Toner speculated that Gibson was break dancing like the viral Australian sensation, Raygun.
Via text, my father—who might be the world’s biggest fan of The Three Stooges—declared “That is a Curly circle.”
I didn’t imagine that the 22-year-old Gibson would be impersonating the biggest goofball from legendary comedy trio that first performed together in 1922, but as it turns out, he kinda was.
“Your dad’s basically right,” he told me. “It was a Homer Simpson bit that I believe is an homage to Curly from The Three Stooges. It was meant as a light, goofy way to keep the energy up. It turned out to be pretty tiring, so I probably should’ve practiced first.”
Gibson finished Friday’s battle with three goals, one assist, two blocks, and no turns, but wished he could’ve done more.
“I wish I’d been more assertive about keeping us settled on the field,” he said. “We could’ve taken an extra beat to regroup, get our feet under us, and stop the slipping. I’ve played with many of our guys for years, and a few of us lost our cool. I think I could’ve done more to help us reset and find our flow [...] Facing the Hustle in that environment was special. Atlanta’s fans were terrific. Their energy really stood out to me and the guys. As painful as the loss is, it’s hard to be too bitter when you see how much it meant to them.”
The Hammer
The countdown to Championship Weekend is on.
As of today—Tuesday—we’re just 10 days away from a pair of scintillating semifinals.
One thing I’m particularly excited about is what the crowd’s gonna feel like at Breese Stevens Field on Friday, August 22. It feels like the perfect storm for maybe the largest, most energized UFA crowd ever.
For starters, we’ve got the hometown Radicals fans in the Capital City of Ultimate. While Madison is not playing, it’s clearly established how much these local fans love their frisbee, and every Championship Weekend in Wisconsin has featured very lively atmospheres.
Beyond the locals, we’ve got two teams—Minnesota and Salt Lake—who’ve consistently set attendance records at their home venues. And then there’s Atlanta and Boston, a pair of franchises with growing fan bases who are both making their first ever voyage into the semifinals. For fans of these teams, there’s no better Championship Weekend destination than Madison for an amazing and unforgettable frisbee experience.
Between a pair of youth clinics on Saturday morning, the WUL-PUL All-Star Game on Saturday afternoon, and the UFA’s 2025 finale on Saturday night, Breese Stevens Field is poised to host perhaps the most action-packed Championship Weekend the league has ever seen.
Hope to see you there.
