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Day 3: The Open FinalHodags Huck Their Way to Victory in FinalsThe Wisconsin Hodags are a crowd-pleasing team known for their hucks. On Sunday, they pleased not only the crowd but themselves with a runaway victory over Oregon to earn the college national championship. The Hodags consistently threw over Oregon for long gains and scores, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and cruising to a 15-8 win.Wisconsin captain Bryan Paradise said before the game that he was concerned about scoring against EGO, and afterward he admitted that he didn't expect the team to be so successful with its hucks. "I expected to have to grind it out, but our throws were just on today." Paradise rated his team's overall performance as "right up there" with their best games of the year. Oregon captain Ben Wiggins, who last night accepted the Callahan Award as the nation's top collegiate player, did not have his best game. Coming off a stellar performance in the semifinals, Wiggins overthrew his teammates several times in the early part of the game. Wisconsin took advantage of seemingly every Oregon mistake in the first half to lead 8-3 at the break. The Hodags hauled in half a dozen hucks in the first half, each one drawing raucous cheers from the crowd. The second half started with two long, foul-plagued points that were both eventually won by Wisconsin. Oregon's Doug McKenzie limped off during the first point and his teammate Seth Wiggins followed on the next. (Both players quickly returned to the game.) After a Ben Wiggins-to-McKenzie score (which featured McKenzie dunking the disc over the goalposts) brought the count back to 10-4, Wisconsin again went to the huck for perhaps the game's best play. Following an Oregon turnover, Bob Kolstad whipped a forehand from his own end zone down the far sideline as Bryan Paradise made a heroic run, chasing down the disc as it dropped softly into his hands for a score. Afterward, the Oregon players could be seen bent over, tugging on their shorts and looking dejected. Oregon was not finished, however. EGO dug in and won four of the next five points, bringing the count to 12-8. Yet after Wiggins stopped a huck attempt into his own end zone, the Callahan-winner immediately threw an interception and Wisconsin converted a short field into another score. At that point, the Oregon captain had to know it wasn't going to be his day. Wisconsin finished the game in style with two hucks from midfield, the game-winner drifting over Wiggins' head and into the hands of Dean Bolton. The Hodags, who lost in the finals last year, mobbed the field in celebration. --Casey Kittrell |
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