Ryan Baker

The Madison Radicals kryptonite was the third quarter. It was a continual theme throughout the year that the Radicals would implode in the third quarter against high-level teams and to end up on the losing side of those games.

While that issue will be addressed later in this piece, the focus right now is that this is a team that is still growing. They have an incredibly young and talented core headlined by Anthony Gutowsky, Pieran Robert, and Gabe Vordick, and those are just a few of the names. This was the second or third year that most of these younger guys have played together, so head coach Jacob Spiro believes that they still have some time before a ceiling gets hit for the team.

“It's been really gratifying seeing this group of athletes grow from secondary players and up-and-comers to people who are now taking a lead role. I think that that's been one of the things that's been most rewarding to see over the last couple of years,” said Spiro.

Spiro taking over head coaching duties is another thing that we will see development from over the next couple of seasons. Roles were switched for the 2025 season between Tim DeByl and Spiro, giving Spiro the reins, while DeByl turned his focus to the defense.

“With any change, you can expect to have a learning curve. There were definitely things in the beginning where we needed to find our way a bit. The amount of time that the job takes. There are a lot of little things that you don't think about that end up taking up a lot more time than you would expect. The time and energy management was the challenge, for sure,” said Spiro.

In his first year as head coach, Spiro led the Radicals to a 7-5 record, good for third in the Central Division and a playoff berth, where they ultimately fell to the Minnesota Wind Chill. Technically, it is a step down from 2024, given that Madison finished second in the division and beat the Chicago Union in the first round of the playoffs. Those results don’t take into consideration that the Union bolstered their squad to an all-star type of team, adding talent from all over the world.

Let’s take a deeper look at how Madison ended up with its 7-5 record. The year started out with a first-time trip to Texas, where the Radicals took on the Houston Havoc and Austin Sol on back-to-back days.

The season opened with an odd win against the Havoc, where the game ended in the third quarter due to inclement weather. The game against the Sol was a bit of a different story as Austin took it to the Radicals from the start, handing them a 22-17 loss and sending them home to Madison at 1-1. .

Following the Texas trip, the Radicals hosted their first two games at Breese Stevens Field, taking both against the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds and Indianapolis AlleyCats, respectively.

After getting their first two notches in the win column, this is where those third-quarter woes started to become incredibly evident. Matchups versus the Union and Wind Chill resulted in two losses, but they were tied with the Union at half and down by two at half against Minnesota. They lost by a combined 11.

“We’re going to look at what we're doing over halftime, and try to change some things up there in terms of what we're doing, both with adjustments, and then what we're doing physically or mentally preparing ourselves to get back out in the third quarter. We need to hold our conditioning to a more consistent level,” said Spiro.

At mid-season, the Radicals were sitting at 3-3, and were able to beat up on the lower-level teams in the division by rattling off four straight wins. Two wins against the Detroit Mechanix, then two wins against Indy, gave them a ton of momentum heading into the last few games of the season. Throughout those four games, Madison had a 42-point differential.

A huge difference in the team came from new additions Kainoa Chun-Moy, hitting his stride, and Eric Sjostrom joining the squad. Chun-Moy had an unbelievable year in his first year with Madison by leading the team in assists with 36, scoring 17 goals, and accruing 13 blocks.

“It felt good meshing with the guys on and off the field. The retreat we went on was a really awesome addition and was phenomenal for team bonding. It was really fun playing with new folks and playing in front of the crowd at Breese,” said Chun-Moy. “I definitely didn’t expect to have the impact that I did. I’m grateful to my teammates and coaching staff for putting me in positions to succeed.”

“The first season was a blast! I’m sad I didn’t get to enjoy the whole thing, but I really enjoyed the half I got. It was just a great group of guys, and I was fitting in well, which made the on-field transition so much easier. Once I actually made the move and was able to practice weekly with everyone, the on-field chemistry just started flooding in,” said Sjostrom.

Sjostrom didn’t join the team until that seventh game, but still put up 19 assists (4th on the team) and over 2,000 throwing yards. Both of these guys were inserted into heavy roles in the handler space on the offensive side, and it paid dividends.

“Honestly, I had no real expectations about which role I’d play and how big it would be. Given that I really didn’t know anyone on the team before tryouts and that the team was already coming off a playoff season, I was just happy to make the team,” said Sjostrom.

“I had no real expectations coming into the season. I expected to work hard, have fun, and make new friends. I wasn’t results-oriented. I just wanted to play the best ultimate possible. I’m proud to say that my experience far surpassed my expectations,” said Chun-Moy.

The final 2 games of the season were big ones. The Radicals had to travel to Minnesota to take on the Wind Chill, where they, once again, fell apart in the third quarter. They were up by one at half, then were outscored 3-6 coming out of half, ultimately losing by three.

Their final game of the regular season brought the Union to town. The game was close until the 3rd with the Radicals ultimately losing by 6. That loss set them up to travel back to Minnesota for the first round of the playoffs. After trading blows in their previous game, some people thought that Madison might tip the scales. That was not the case as Minnesota outscored the Radicals 6-1 in the third, leading to a 22-16 loss for Madison, effectively ending their season.

“From where we started to where we ended, I thought there was a lot of growth in the team, which ultimately was the main thing that we were looking for,” said Spiro.

While the season may not have panned out the way Madison would have wanted, they showed potential. You can point the direction of the third quarter's falters to a lack of conditioning.

“For me, it comes down to our conditioning. If you look at Chicago and Minnesota and all the teams that were in the divisional championship games, they are in way better shape than us. We need to have more intense practices and put in time at the gym. That’s where all of our third-quarter problems come from; everyone is tired,” said Gutowsky.

“I feel confident in the young core from this season. We had more practice and film sessions this year, and the young guys went to everything and wanted more,” said Joshua Wilson.

“During the offseason, we’ll definitely still be keeping in touch and doing workouts/playing in leagues together, but I think a big thing is that we’re still hanging out outside of frisbee too. Getting to know everyone more personally makes it much easier on the field when the time comes,” said Sjostrom.

“We are a great team with a high ceiling, and I’m excited to see just how high we climb. I really think overall mentality is the big key for this team to become a champion next year, focusing on us and tuning out the noise of others. We play rowdy teams all year, and we need to be able to rise above it every game,” said Jack Nelson.

I say potential because they have two of the top guys in the league on either side of the disc. Gutowsky continued to be a scoring machine as he led the league in goals with 56, and Luke Marks was third in the league with blocks with 22.

“I’ve solidified my game as a scorer. If I want to be among those other younger top guys, I have to touch the disc a lot more and throw more. It’s more touches in the small space. I can be lethal and can do it, I just haven’t done it yet,” said Gutowsky. “I think the next thing to get to the next level for me is to step up as more of a voice on the field. I’m not 20 years old anymore. I’m about to enter my fourth year, and I’m well-established on the team. I need to be more vocal on the field.”

“This year, I felt proactive and ready to jump on plays that were developing. In the past, I sometimes relied mostly on my reaction time and ability to close the space. This year, I felt a greater ability to see plays developing. However, I really want to be more of a threat on offense, which I will be focusing more on next year,” said Marks.

You combine those two with the likes of a full year from Sjostrom, Chun-Moy continuing his success, and the other younger guys stepping up, and this team can be a force. Jake Carrico had 23 assists as a D-line player, while also getting his all-time leading fourth Callahan. Kai Marcus had 21 assists in nine games and brought down his turnover rate from 2024. Meanwhile, Nico Ranabhat had a breakout year with 24 goals, good for second on the team.

“I think we are on a good path to make it deeper into the playoffs next year. With our young core getting another season of experience and more playoff reps, we should be better prepared to make the push for championship weekend next season,” said Wilson..

If you take out the third quarter, the Radicals were one of the best teams in the league, but that’s not how frisbee works. You need to play all four quarters, and you need to keep the pedal to the metal to beat teams like Chicago and Minnesota. The good news is they’ve developed a core, and the core is planning to stick around. Spiro and the Radicals could make some waves in his second year as head coach. See everyone in 2026!