2020 Houston Texas Major
by Fredric Hinkle
A wild range of teams and dispersion of players that we
don’t often see. There are strong teams and very strong teams.
This will be another strange Major of mashups going into
the last two Majors of the season.
Gold
WySpike ButterFingers - Garrett Hornok and Colton Mowry - WySpike- AVG RPR 91.5
This is the strongest WySpike team ever put forward. This is the best combo of their highest ceiling players. These two play very well together. This team has many specters lurking all around them, they’ve beaten them in the past separately, never together. No pure WySpike team has ever won a tournament featuring a top-flight A&M team. Saturday ButterFingers will try again.
Red - Bradley Thompson and Caleb Cummings - Baylor- AVG RPR 84.25
5th in Wylie, 5th in Round Rock, 5th in Houston? This team hasn’t put it together. Caleb has to feel good about himself after beating the Tweener Twins with Matt Cole. I have so many questions regarding Brad. He’s had national success. He won in the Wylie KOTP, but we haven’t seen any other strong results from him in TASR events.
Zoinked - Luke Mowry and Josh Weinbach - WySpike & UT - AVG RPR 90.5
Maybe this works. One of the stronger serve receive combos that can be put forward in Texas. They play solid defense and it looks possible. The question will be the mental game. Luke coming off of a 3rd in Round Rock has some momentum to ride.
ProudFathers - David Louis and Brian Childs - WySpike & Houston - N/A
David is coming off of his 4th in Round Rock and Brian off of a very successful LoneStar day, where he made the finals in both hat tournaments. The looming question will be fitness. Can David and Brian finish an entire day of roundnet. I don’t know. They were both in rough shape at the end of a short LoneStar day.
The Imposters - Luke Marshall and Dax O’Hair - Texas A&M and Baylor - 76.5
S - Tier team name. Dax is well improved as a server and serve-receiver, but really struggles to put the ball away. I foresee a lot of hitting on two by Luke Marshall. Luke has been serving extremely well recently, and I hope to see him bring that in the tournament setting. Dax has a very strong mental game and should be able to help support Luke in that regard. I just don’t think this team has enough consistency to get the job done.
This is Not Butter - Fredric Hinkle and Ryan Canfield - Texas A&M - 83
Ryan has made so much progress as a player. When he plays with confidence he is a special server. He will have to find confidence to beat players he isn’t used to keeping up with. If we get Ryan the magic server then this team will crush souls all day.
Carrying to Finals - Ethan McWhirter and Dylan Keen - UT & Texas A&M - 83
These two have a complete hodgepodge of results on the season. When they play with people worse than themselves, they STRUGGLE. When they play with people better than they are, they excel. Ethan’s serving has finally developed into what he wanted, and with the consistency he lacked. Dylan’s serve is lower than ever and looks really comfortable. They both love to play defense and this team could do great, or they could completely collapse mentally.
DarkFather - Grant Laughlin and Rahul Murthy - Texas A&M - 96.5
This team turned heads in Chicago with monster serves. I don’t say it often, but this combo is NASTY. The poster boys of power serving and crazy highlights. These guys might set a single day ace record. Grant and Rahul have been grinding away at their Reverse and have both made significant strides. Rahul has developed into one of the strongest recovery setters around and Grant is still the undisputed craziest hitter in Texas. These two have garnered tons of respect for Texas and a loss here could only be disappointing.
LoneStar Implications
Brad Thompson also has a shot at qualifying for LoneStar as the only non-LoneStar premier player in the field
Author Predictions
DarkFather
WySpike ButterFingers
ProudFathers
Advanced
The top 2 teams in the Advanced Division will earn a Gold qualification for future majors!
This Advanced Division has a lot of parity. There are some hungry high school teams sprinkled in with the usual suspects from around Texas. There is again, a clear favorite.
Short Kings Requiem- Adrian Garza and Addison LaRue - Round Rock Hub
These kids are back and looking for gold again. They missed it in Dallas, came up short in Round Rock, and now maybe Houston is their day! It’s hard not to root for this team, especially with Adrian’s ridiculous celebrations and eagerness to compete. This team will probably have the most fun on the day.
HardStuck Adventure - Trevor Hoogendoorn and Brian Jennerich - Baylor and UT
This team makes a lot of sense. They can both put serves on and set. They can both play defense. They’re decent hitters and they’re both looking for gold. This team could very well win the tournament. A lot will come down to defensive chemistry and mental game.
Chicken Nuggies - Austin Tran and Nathan Wright - Friendswood High School
Serveball. Get ready for serveball. Austin Tran has some serious thump. This team will have to take tons of aces if they have any chance of winning. Lucky for them, they can do that. I’m not sure what state their serve receive is in, but they have some serious serves of their own. This is going to be at worst a great learning experience and at best a podium finish.
BANG!!! - Nick Rushing and Jack Granger- Texas A&M Corpus Christi & Baylor
Nick is, hands down, the best player in this division. He should wreck people all day with his blistering serve. Jack Granger will just have to keep up for them to qualify for Gold. I’m really not sure how well this team will do if they play teams that can handle serves and hit. There are a few of those teams in here, but this team should have a lot of aces to help their cause.
Dengatang - Daniel Wong and Owen Zhang - Bellaire High School
Daniel and Owen are not well known in the Spikeball community. Even though they have been playing for some time, this is their first official TASR event. Daniel has some solid serves. They will be tested on their serve receive. If they can stay consistent with their setting and hits they could surprise some teams in the advanced bracket.
Hard 90 - Ryan Messick and Blake Henke - Texas A&M
Easily the most athletic team in the field and likely the most confident team in the field. They can both serve, receive, set, and play defense; it’s that hitting part that they will have to be clean on. This team is so exciting to watch and so frustrating to play. I absolutely love the confidence these two carry with themselves.
“I set freaking dimes” -Ryan Messick
Duongers - Jamey Duong and Sam Yifrach - Bellaire High School
This team will have to figure out serve receive fast if they are going to have success. There are teams in this field running with strong serves and these guys might not be accustomed to this level of serving. However, they play solid defense and love to dive. I’m just not sure they are disciplined enough to win yet.
Ambidextrous - Colby Medina and Josiah Dombach - Texas A&M
Coming off of a disappointing result in Round Rock, Colby will look to bounce back with a new partner. Josiah has been grinding and it shows. Featuring a full serving arsenal with solid support, this team will only be a question of consistency.
Cuttage - Spencer Lee and Luke Moran - Texas A&M
This team is the clear favorite. Luke Moran is taking a victory lap in Houston’s Advanced field. I can see this team losing, but they shouldn’t. Spencer and Luke are both solid all-around players that haven’t pushed themselves against the strongest Gold talents yet. They have plenty of room to improve, but this should be a gimme.
Author Predictions
Cuttage
Hard 90
BANG!!!
HardStuck Adventure