Westfield High School Ultimate Frisbee Team Earns First State Championship

Press release: 

The Westfield High School Ultimate Frisbee Team concluded their season in glorious style with an impressive 15-5 victory over West-Windsor Plainsboro North High School, sealing the first State Championship for the club. Westfield proved to be the class of the tournament, going 6-0 and never allowing more than six points to any opponent throughout the two-day event that was held at the Mercer County Fields in Lawrence Township. The victory for Westfield ended a 13-year championship run for Columbia High School of Maplewood, the town known as the birthplace of the sport. 

With a team led by a core group of seniors and a promising group of freshmen, Westfield’s stifling defense kept the pressure on opponents. Seniors Eric Weber, Dan Sanders, Nick Larue and Drew Stierhoff continually forced turnovers and quickly converted them for scores. On offense, the seniors again led the way, with Andrew Lehmberg, Chris McGlynn, Sadie Jerzierski, Jagger Linsky and Jack Venezia moving the disc down the field and finding open teammates in the end zone.

Westfield displayed the hallmarks of all great sporting champions, building on contributions from players up and down the roster.  Freshmen Kevin Tsui and Christopher Ng were mainstays on the defensive line while handler Jack Liebling and cutter Matt Stravach kept the offense ticking. 

Day One of the tournament saw Westfield, the number one seed, make quick work of opening opponent West-Windsor Plainsboro South 15-6. They dispatched Manalapan in Game Two by the same score before wrapping up Saturday’s action with a 15-5 victory over eventual title game foe West-Windsor Plainsboro North.  Strong contributions from Juniors Adam Federbusch, Evan Steinfield and Kevin Stelmach, along with Sophomore Connor Russell, allowed the offense to run smoothly under perfect weather conditions in Southern New Jersey.

Day Two of the tournament introduced single elimination play as all eight teams vied for the trophy. While other teams started to show fatigue, Westfield’s depth came to the fore. Freshmen Aidan Paul, Christian Kelly, Cole Feltman and 8th grader Eli Weaver wore down the opponents with their high energy playing. 

The most anticipated match of the day occurred in the semifinals as Number One seed Westfield matched up with bitter rival and defending champion Columbia High School. After a historic run of success however, it was clear that the power in the state, at least for this year, had shifted to Westfield. The match was highly spirited and started quite even, with the score knotted at 3-3 after the first six points.  Westfield then went on an impressive run, outscoring Columbia 12-2 the rest of the way. The 15-5 final score gave a clear indication that Westfield had the best team in the state.

The final matched proved somewhat anti-climatic as Westfield asserted their dominance early. Seniors Chalie Lu, Brandon Egert and Eric Cantor chipped in with strong contributions, making important catches and throws.  After the final point, the team and Head Coach Ryan Belline, a math teacher at Edison Intermediate School, celebrated along with parents, alumni and members of the growing Westfield Ultimate youth program. It was a fitting and well-earned final match for the senior class.