Last weekend had plenty of firsts for the National Dodgeball Association. It was the first ever event played in the state of West Virginia. It was the first ever appearance for the newest member of the NDA, Bull Run Bullets. And ultimately, it was the first ever event championship for Rubber City Resistance, an inaugural member of the NDA.
Seven teams made the trip to Morgantown, WV. Along with the aforementioned teams, Akron Assassins, Toledo Lake Monsters, Lake Erie Mutiny, Queen City Royals, and Virginia Venom were in attendance. Coming into the weekend it felt like there were no clear favorites. At the previous tournament held in Kalamazoo, MI earlier last month, Royals had a solid showing, making it to the semi-finals before falling to Detroit Omerta. Lake Erie Mutiny had seen previous success when travelling out east, winning in Washington D.C. in 2023, and were able to bring a solid roster which included picking up Adam Butz as a notable Free Agent. Virginia Venom were also no strangers to winning early in the year, also winning in Washington D.C. themselves just last season.
However, as any financial professional will tell you, past performance is not indicative of future results. It’s a new season with new faces and all that matters is what happens the moment teams step between those lines and hear “Dodgeball” as the game begins.
What made this tournament have a little bit of an extra edge to it was a true full Round Robin to determine seeding for the bracket portion. In many NDA events, teams are split into pools where they then complete a Round Robin against teams in their pool. However, this time with seven teams in attendance the decision was made to effectively eliminate the concept of pools and everyone would play everyone. This meant no complaints about the difficulty of a pool or schedule, and every team truly was given the same opportunity to earn a top four seed and enter the championship bracket.
Midway through the day there seemed to be a clear top three expected to make the bracket, Royals, Mutiny, and Resistance. Royals had picked up wins over Assassins, Lake Monsters, and Venom to start their day, setting them up well to qualify. At the same time, Resistance also started the day 3-0 with wins over Venom, Bullets, and Lake Monsters.
The final spot for the bracket was ultimately down to either Bullets or Venom. Bullets needed a draw or win to qualify thanks to their draw earlier against Mutiny, whereas Venom needed an outright win due to a loss to the same opponent. Venom was able to come through in strong fashion with a contentious first point that ultimately fell their way, and subsequently two strong finishes after that to win 3-0.
The championship bracket was now set, with Royals, Resistance, Mutiny, and Venom seeded in that respective order, and in the consolation was Bullets, Lake Monsters, and Assassins.
The first match of the championship bracket was between Resistance and Mutiny, the two and three seeds, respectively. It was an extremely contentious first point, ending up with the point won by Resistance thanks to the final catch from Alexis Schultz. The second point was also hotly contested, and again falling in Resistance’s favor following Adam Pfeifer eliminating Mutiny captain Kathryn Mays. With a 2-0 lead, Resistance was in a favorable spot, but it was clear Mutiny was not going to go down without a fight. Mutiny was able to pick up the pace and secure a quick point to bring it within one, and were then able to win the fourth point to tie the match and make it 2-2 going into halftime.
For Mutiny it seemed the gameplan was coming together. They were looking to play with some pace and force Resistance into long throws to make catches. Meanwhile, Resistance wanted to try and get quick kills on counter throws, and otherwise slow down the pace to get ball control in order to make team throws. 16 minutes were all that remained to see which style would win out.
To start the second half, a tight back and forth battle ensued for the tiebreaker point. After roughly four minutes there were three players remaining for either side, and it felt like it could go either way. Mutiny was able to make a breakthrough and got a kill on a team throw in the middle. Following that they picked off the remaining two Resistance players less than a minute later. Now with a 3-2 lead for Mutiny after being previously down 2-0, all the momentum seemed to be in their favor.
That momentum, however, did not last. In the following point Resistance rebounded quickly, in no small part thanks to the efforts of Brady and Zach Eck. Again in the ensuing point after that Resistance dug their heels in and made some timely catches to once again take back the lead, now 4-3 in their favor. It was now do-or-die time for Mutiny, who needed to find a way to tie the game in order to force overtime to have any shot at winning. Unfortunately for them, it was not meant to be. Resistance once again displayed a good mixture of catching and team kills to whittle Mutiny’s side, resulting in a 5-3 victory and advancing to championship.
While that semi-finals set the bar high, the follow up match between Royals and Venom proved to be the match of the day. Royals came out steady and strong, winning the first point in a little under six minutes and proving why they earned the one seed in the process. Will Hyatt and Cory Heitmann pieced together a solid performance to start the match, getting multiple kills each to help win that point.
Venom came out much stronger in the second point though, taking advantage of some missed throws on the rush from Royals, and subsequently getting some quick kills in return. It was clear we were in for a dogfight.
Despite the fast paced start to the second point, it became a bit of a grind for the remainder of said point. Finally, on a team throw from Wayne Shortt and Justin Tokes, Venom was able to get the final kill and tie it up at 1-1. Royals took back the lead before halftime after an equally grinding third point.
The first point out of halftime saw the most pivotal moment of the game. Royals’ Cory Heitmann found himself alone against two Venom veterans in RJ Morgan and Wayne Shortt at the end of the point. Heitmann was able to take out Morgan which invited a quick counter throw from Shortt. On the throw, there was a slight bobble followed by equal excitement from both sidelines thinking they had won the point. Royals players were signaling catch, Venom players were signaling out and pointing to the ground claiming no catch was made. The officials conferred, with the possibility of deciding the match in their hands, either a 3-1 lead for Royals or a 2-2 tie with eight minutes remaining.
After the discussion it was ruled Heitmann did not secure the catch, and thus the point to Venom. Now a 2-2 game with eight minutes remaining, there was a strong possibility the next point could decide the game. However, Royals, playing with a bit more fire after being on the losing end of a tough call, overpowered Venom to take a quick tiebreaker point and go up 3-2. Like Mutiny, Venom found themselves in a spot where they needed to force overtime to have any chance of winning. Unlike Mutiny though, Venom managed to do just that. Thanks to some clutch catches from newcomer Kenji McCartney, Venom tied the match and sent it to the one and only overtime of the weekend.
For Royals, Matt Rosinski, Isaiah Montgomery, Will Hyatt, and Cory Heitmann lined up, while Venom sent out RJ Morgan, Wayne Shortt, Matt Bosco, and Noah Grube. Venom was able to get ball control, however Matt Bosco found himself being the first player eliminated. Shortly after, Grube fell to the floor while trying to escape from Montgomery. It seemed like it could be a quick OT for Royals, but Grube made an improbable catch while laying on his back to bring Bosco back in and help Venom take a 4-3 player advantage.
Royals took the lead back quickly though by taking out Grube and Shortt. Once again however, another clutch catch from the Venom side by Matt Bosco to bring back Noah Grube and take out Will Hyatt from Royals. 3-2 Venom on player advantage now. Heitmann and Rosinski were the two remaining for Royals. Together, they were able to take out Grube and Morgan, and suddenly victory seemed within their grasp. Heitmann and Rosinski vs Bosco with a championship spot on the line. The two Royals players stepped up to execute a team throw, only needing one to land to send them onward. But Matt Bosco wasn’t done. He was able to make yet another crucial catch, taking out Heitmann and bringing back teammate Wayne Shortt. Immediately after Bosco and Shortt were able to do what their opponents couldn’t, and executed a perfect team throw to take out Rosinski and win.
Cheers on one side, heartbreak and frustration on the other. This is what makes sports so beautiful and agonizing all at the same time. The best part though? We still had one more game left on the docket.
The finals match was set, Resistance vs Venom. 32 minutes separated these teams from either glory or heartbreak just as the previous match did.
In a quick back and forth point, Resistance was able to take the early lead on a point clinching kill from Alexis Schultz. Venom was able to return the favor and then some, getting the next two points in quick succession and took a halftime lead at 2-1.
Now, only 16 minutes until a champion was crowned. Arms were tired, legs were tired, but it seemed neither team was ready to give in. Both sides were ready to lay it all on the line.
The second half started as another tight contest. However, Venom made the first major mistake and committed a shot clock violation resulting in a forfeit of all the balls to Resistance. Resistance was able to take advantage quickly and rattled off multiple team kills in quick succession to tie the game 2-2.
Thereafter, Resistance was able to build off of that momentum and made some spectacular catches which deflated Venom’s side. They continued to get good catches and kills resulting in a quick victory in under four minutes, giving them a 3-2 lead.
With a chance to tie the game, Venom found themselves in a favorable spot with Justin Tokes and Ian Robb against one player to beat. Fate had other plans for them, and a catch was made on a team throw with a subsequent dodge to now give Resistance a 2 v 1 man advantage. They used that momentum to then do what Venom couldn’t and close out a point on a team throw, taking a 4-2 lead now.
Desperation was setting in for Venom. They clawed back against Royals but it was clear the team was running on fumes now. It was going to take everything they could muster up to get back into the game. The desperate play caught up to them though. While trying to play catch up and speed up the game they quickly lost ball control, and one by one players started to fall. All that was left for Venom was Matt Bosco against a swarm of Resistance players. Even though Bosco had made clutch play after clutch play on the day, this situation proved too much for him and his team. Resistance would take the final point of the day, and ultimately a championship with a 5-2 victory.
It was an incredible weekend with twists and turns, ups and downs, and everything in between. One thing stayed consistent though, and that was exciting dodgeball. The NDA has boasted itself as a league of parity in its first two seasons, and year three seems much the same. On to Chicago.
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. The following 8 players are the All-Tournament Team for NDA Morgantown 2025.
