2011 Indiana State Championship Recap..

Now that the adrenaline has fallen to a state of equilibrium it's time to give you the low down on this years Indiana State Bike Polo Championship. With much appreciation going to the Indy polo community, this years Championship took place at Arsenal park outside of Broad Ripple in Indianapolis. The day was off to a slow start, though the pace quickly picked up as the teams worked their way through 5 Swiss rounds. Between the 12 competing teams competition was fierce, and going into the tournament bracket it was really any one's tournament to win. The representing teams were from Indianapolis, Lafayette, Ft Wayne, and last but far from least Bloomington, which fielded nearly half the teams.

To: The Bloomington clinic for hardcourt bicycle polo, with much love. "You breed 'em, we beat 'em"- Lafayette

A-Polo III finals (or what I remember about it, more may come)..

With GREAT team balance, improved team kinetics, and a tenacious mentality. Lafayette's own A-Polo III (Kevin White, Tyler Hoehn, Thomas Richardson) went into the tournament undefeated at 5-0. After winning our next 2 rounds of the tournament we found ourselves matched up against the speed of Ft Wayne (Stasse, Drew, and Rob), a game I went into having no idea the speed and intensity we'd be up against. After trading goals the game officially timed out with a score of 2-2, sending us into a sudden death over time. We reset and rejousted. After winning the joust, a few close calls, and fuzzy moments, Tyler and I were able to split the the Ft Wayne defense and finished strong with a strong cross from myself to Tyler who finished with a goal from a difficult angle. This sent us to the finals and Ft Wayne to play Tree City whom they had defeated earlier in the bracket.

Just as it was the first time around, the match up between Tree City and Ft Wayne was fast, exhilarating, and flat out brutal. Hits were exchanged as were goals, ending with Tree City as the victor. The final was set between the two old rivals A-Polo III and Tree City. As the night grew dark the championship game was set for the joust. The competitiveness was the same as it always is when the two face-off. The game was tight and few mistakes were made. After a couple goal exchanges the score was 1-2 A-polo III. Though the lead was short lived, when Travis was able to drop a tight 4-hole shot, tying the game up with roughly 5 mins left to play. A few more minutes pasted and the night grew dark enough to put the game on pause and break out the illuma-ball. With the much needed aid A-polo III was able to secure the game quickly with another goal. The game tied and with not much time left on the clock Kevin, Tyler, and I shut the offense off and turn the defense on. Playing a bit of keep away A-polo III was able to shave off most of the remaining time, giving us a bit of security, but against Tree City it's never that easy. They were able to get a break away and a shot which went right and was blocked... As the seconds elapsed the tension was at a high. In the closing seconds Tree City was able to dig the ball out from behind A-Polo III's goal where Zach took a last second shot that fell, though it was ruled time had expired.. In the end A-Polo III went undefeated at 9-0 taking the Championship...

Indiana State:

Champions- A-polo III (Lafayette)

MVP- Caleb Turjillo (Lafayette)

Dark Horse- Ethan Harrell (Bloomington)

All and all I had an extremely great time and cannot wait until next year. You never know who will step it up and take home the trophy. But that's a year away and a year for us to enjoy it.

High II..

Photos by W. of Bloomington