The biggest tournament of the NDA season brought 16 teams to Columbus, Ohio. Four pools of four with the top two teams advancing ensured every match mattered, as each team looked to secure their place in the Championship Bracket. While pool play largely followed the script of higher seeds advancing, the Championship Bracket was filled with upsets as traditional powers fell at the hands of younger teams making a splash. In the end, East Lansing Final Justice as champions may not have been the most surprising result, but the bracket as a whole was anything but expected.
While the teams advancing to the Championship Bracket were much of what one might have expected before the tournament, pool play was still filled with close games and a couple surprising results along the way.
In Pool A, Omerta and Kraken proved too much for both Spiders and Odyssey. Omerta also continued their winning streak against Kraken with a 3-1 victory to take the top spot in the pool.
Pool B offered rematches from a thrilling tournament in Morgantown earlier this year. Royals got revenge with a win over Venom to oust them from advancing, but Resistance continued their winning ways from Morgantown and took the top spot in the pool proving they are a contender this season.
Final Justice unsurprisingly earned the top spot in Pool C, which set up another showdown between Leviathans and Gamecocks to secure second place. Just like in Chicago, Leviathans were able to dispatch Gamecocks, this time with a more comfortable score line of 4-2.
Finally in Pool D, Dynasty lost their first point of the day against Mutiny, but were able to rebound to take the top seed. Mutiny then lost a close match against Frostbite 2-0 to miss out on advancing to the Championship Bracket.
And with that, the stage was set for the Top 8 in what shaped up to be a thrilling knockout affair where it was anyone's game to win.
Final Justice jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Frostbite. While the team from Bowling Green battled back in the second half, the defending national champions held on to advance with a 5-2 victory.
Omerta and Royals faced off in a tight quarterfinal matchup. In the last point with Royals leading 3-2, 2024 Player of the Year Leon Rockamore Jr. was the last remaining Omerta player against two members from Royals. No one would have been surprised to see Leo secure the point, but a careless mistake of stepping over the throw line eliminated Omerta and sent Royals through to the next round.
Another rematch from pool play in Chicago. Leviathans made sure this would not be like the 5-0 thumping they received at the hands of Dynasty a month ago. The first half was tightly contested with Leviathans taking a 2-1 lead into the break. Dynasty rallied to open the second half with a point, but two straight points from Leviathans led to their first ever bracket win for the young team from Lansing.
Resistance and Kraken ended up being one of the most exciting matches in NDA history. This game was played at a breakneck pace, with points constantly being scored in less than four minutes. In a back and forth affair, Kraken was able to take a 5-3 lead. Resistance battled back to make it 5-5 with five minutes still remaining. Rubber City then took its third consecutive point as Kraken stepped out with time running down to give themselves a chance to tie up the match with one final point. However, Resistance took the last point and earned what might be considered their most high profile win in their NDA history, dispatching the former national champions in the quarterfinals.
With three historical NDA powers eliminated in the quarterfinals, the final four in Columbus offered what might be a look into the future of the NDA.
Royals and Final Justice are two of the most talented teams in the league. The first half was filled with tremendous catches and pinpoint accuracy, as teams traded points to go into the half tied at 2. The depth of the East Lansing team carried the day in the second half, however, with Final Justice rattling off 4 straight points to advance to their second championship match of the season.
In a perhaps unexpected semifinal, Leviathans came out strong and took a 2-1 lead over Resistance into the half. However, Resistance would not go down so easily, tying the game at 2 to start the second half. Leviathans twice took the lead again in the second half, and each time Resistance rallied to tie the match once again, including the last point of regulation to force overtime. In OT, it was all Leviathans. Despite losing standout performer Alex Edson on the opening rush, a series of clinical throws from the remaining three Leviathans took out all four Resistance players in less than a minute, advancing to their first ever championship match against a familiar foe.
The stage was set for an All-Michigan State final. Of the two teams, only Kevin Nguyen, current Michigan State head coach in the NCDA, was not a current or former MSU dodgeball player. The experience of the defending national champions was on full display in the final, with Final Justice winning the first three points with relative ease. Leviathans were able to rebound and take the final point before half to give themselves a chance at a comeback. Final Justice opened the second half with a point before quickly falling behind in players in the next point. Eric Rapp and Jack Girling then put on an expert display of patience and dodgeball IQ as they drained nearly the final nine minutes of regulation before Leviathans were finally able to take the point. With only 47 seconds remaining, Final Justice secured the 4-2 victory and their second NDA tournament win of the season.
New this year, the NDA will be awarding an All-Tournament Team, featuring 8 standout players to highlight their performance at each event. The Executive Board along with feedback from all the attending teams’ captains will craft the list of the 8 players consistent with the caliber of excellence exhibited throughout the tournament. With 16 teams to choose from, this shaped up to be the most competitive All-Tournament Team of the season. The following 8 players are the All-Tournament Team for NDA Columbus 2025.
