March Mold Mania Elite Eight: Better late than never

By Steve Hill - Noodle Arm Disc Golf staff, March 27, 2016

Between Easter with the family and some guy throwing his Frisbee incredibly far, I got a little off schedule with March Mold Mania this weekend. Please accept my most humble apologies, and help me get it back on track with the Elite Eight.

 

Here’s the new schedule for the rest of the tournament:

Elite Eight: Monday 3/28-Wednesday 3/30

Final Four: Saturday 4/2-Sunday 4/3

Championships: Monday 4/4

 

With that out of the way, let’s check out what happened in the Sweet Sixteen!

 

Upset Specials

Only one upset this round? Bummer, especially given that it wasn’t a huge surprise that last year’s champion, the Dynamic Discs Truth, knocked off the Discraft Buzzz in the midrange region. At a 70%-30% margin, though, I will admit that the result was more one-sided than I imagined. So there’s that.

 

Biggest Blowouts

If it was Innova against non-Innova in the Sweet Sixteen, it was a blowout. The biggest of the bunch was the Teebird’s 63%-37% annihilation of the Dynamic Discs Escape, with the Destroyer’s 62%-38% dispatching of the Dynamic Discs Trespass ranking a close second.

Dynamic fans can take some solace, though: The Judge obliterated the Pure in the putter bracket and looks to be a strong contender going into its Elite Eight matchup with the Innova Discs Aviar.

 

Close Calls

The Innova Discs Firebird’s impressive run from the 6th seed finally came to an end when it ran into the buzzsaw that is the Innova Discs Leopard. As a noodle arm, I have to admit I was happy to see the understable fairway prevail. Power to the little guy, even if it was ranked number two in the bracket.

 

Bracket Leaderboard

Kevin Carlson extended his lead over the field and now holds a 16 point advantage over James Williams, who is in second place. Want to be impressed? Carlson hit 15 of 16 Sweet Sixteen teams and correctly picked all of the Elite Eight.

Hey Kevin, hit me up before the next Powerball jackpot!

Now, onto the Elite Eight matchups, which only finds up with two brands remaining: Dynamic and Innova.

 

Warp Speed Drivers

It’s a battle of two of Innova’s best for high speed supremacy. The Destroyer has been on a tear, and I don’t think that ends against the Wraith.

Control/Fairway Drivers

The classic one-two combo of Teebird/Leopard rules the fairways, both on the course and in this tournament. Which flavor is preferred, straight or turn?

Midranges

In the only bracket where the 1 seed did not survive, the Innova Discs Mako3, even as a the No. 3 seed, has had an incredible tournament. Does the magic continue with a trip to the Final Four, or is the Dynamic Discs Truth strong enough for a repeat?

Putters

This is the marquee matchup of the Elite Eight, in my opinion, with the most popular putter of the last three years going up against the most popular putter of the last two decades. Will modern or classic prevail?