Vicious Circles to Defend National Title in Illinois at College Championships

The Argus started its 2025–26 sports coverage with Vicious Circles Ultimate Frisbee winning the Division III (D-III) National Championship last May. Now, they are headed back to Nationals for the fourth year in a row, this time as defending champs. 

After graduating 11 seniors last May and bringing seven first-years onto the travel roster, this team certainly looked different from the one that won it all last year. However, expectations remained the same heading into the season.

“As I’ve said before to you and to anyone who will listen, we have been pretty intent on going for gold again,” captain Maggie Brown ’26 said. “The pressure of being reigning champions has a pretty big psychological impact on individuals and the team as a whole, just in terms of the standard we’re holding ourselves and our teammates to on a daily basis. We obviously are striving for that, and have been all season, but we’ve also been trying to really lock in on what we’re doing day-to-day at practice to work towards that goal, and how we’re holding ourselves and each other accountable in small ways until then, and that has made it feel more real.”

The season started in Amherst, Mass., on Sunday, March 1, at March UMadness hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Surrounded by the snow of the cold New England winter, Vish went 4–0 on the weekend, including strong wins against UMass Amherst, University of Vermont, and Amherst. Their last match, against familiar foe Middlebury, gave the Red and Black their closest battle of the tournament, as neither team could separate itself from its NESCAC rival. It came down to universe point—next point wins—where Vish pulled ahead and completed their perfect day.

“I loved that tournament for starting out, because there were very intense conditions,” Scout Noble ’27 said. “We learned a lot of things, like needing to work on systems, but the grit was really there. People were willing to just run super hard and play defense. Even if we were confused on what we wanted our offensive systems to look like that early in the season, people were still bringing so much intensity. The Middlebury game was a real demonstration of that: Every point was really hard fought.”

Next on the schedule for Vish was their annual Spring Break trip to North Myrtle Beach, S.C., for High Tide Ultimate Tournament. A staple of the Wesleyan frisbee scene, all three teams make the trip to South Carolina for the competition, and it is often a crucial week for team camaraderie as well as an early indicator of what teams should work on as the competitive season progresses.

Captain Nola “Bus” Busansky ’27 spoke to the value of the Myrtle trip for bringing the team closer together as they head into the rest of the season. 

“What is amazing about Myrtle is that it allows players who don’t normally get to shine to shine,” Busansky said. “Because people are just having fun, it’s low stress, and so everyone’s balling out on the field, and it allows people to really play to their best. It really brought team cohesion and I think it built trust within our team, which, as captains, we value as one of the most [important things] for our team.”

Not only was it a big trip for off-the-field bonding, but it also directly led to success on the field. On Thursday, March 12, Vish pushed past the University of Richmond and Yale University on their way to the High Tide Women’s Division title. In a tournament that saw all 35 players touch the field, it was an impressive showing and a large confidence boost as they looked towards the spring playoffs.

Prior to the playoffs, the Circles competed in the East Coast Invite down in Frederica, Del. The tournament featured both D-I and D-III talent, so Vish was going to be tested with its hardest competition prior to playoff competition. The tournament started off well for Wes, as they opened with a 7–4 win against Williams and a 6–5 win against Ohio University.

The next two matches that Saturday would prove to be harder challenges. Their third match of the afternoon was a rematch of last year’s D-III championship against Haverford College/Bryn Mawr College. Having defeated them in Nationals last year, Vish knew their opponents would come in with revenge on their mind. Ultimately, the Sneetches got the upper hand early and never relinquished their lead, dealing Vish a 10–5 loss. Their final match of the day saw a similar outcome, as D-I opponent Penn State University took universe point from the Red and Black and defeated them 9–8. 

Milo Brown ’28 talked about the buildup to the Haverford/Bryn Mawr loss and what Vish learned from it.

“We really got mentally challenged the first time,” Milo Brown said. “That came from the expectations that were put on us, having been the reigning national champions. As much as it sucks to lose, that game was really important, for me personally and for a lot of people on the team, to help us realize that, yes, we’ve played this team before, but we’re a completely new group of people. They’re a completely new group of people. It really helped us, at least from my perspective, figure out what it is we need to work on to meet this team again at Nationals and win.”

The next day, they grabbed one more win against Mount Holyoke College, 11–3, before facing off once again with Middlebury. After taking them down on universe at the beginning of the month, Vish experienced the opposite at ECI, as the Pranksters took the game-deciding point and defeated the Red and Black, 7–6. 

Two weekends later, Vish competed at Conferences in Cromwell, Conn., essentially getting a home crowd considering the proximity to campus. Wes dominated the weekend, winning all four games in convincing fashion. This included two 13–0 sweeps against Conn. College and Vassar, plus a 9–1 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Their closest game was their last against Skidmore College, who put scores on the board early and flustered Vish a bit before Wes came back and won 10–5. 

On Saturday, April 25, Vish traveled to Batavia, N.Y., for the Metro East Women’s Regionals, where the winner of the tournament would qualify for Nationals. In years past, Wes has succeeded under immense pressure, often winning the final round on universe during high-intensity matchups. So the captains and the team knew they would need to play their best frisbee in order to make it back to the national stage and defend their title. 

Saturday brought wind, rain, and incredibly cold temperatures to pool play competition. Players covered themselves in trash bags while competing in order to stay dry throughout the day, but little did Vish know the weather would be the catalyst for dominant performances. They won their first match by forfeit against Colgate University, then proceeded to sweep both Vassar and Conn. College for the second straight tournament. Their fourth match versus Hamilton would have to wait, as the rain forced them to push their final pool play match to Sunday. Despite it being a closer match, Vish made easy work of the Hot Saucers, defeating them 10–4 and securing the top seed for the championship bracket. 

“There were so many nerves going into Regionals,” Busansky said. “We set the expectation that we were gonna win, but things could go awry, and that’s really stressful. Saturday was so awesome. As a team, sometimes we get really competitive, and we kind of forget about fun frisbee, and Saturday was just fun frisbee. We played to our level, we played our systems, but we also had so much fun. The weather conditions were the worst they could possibly be, and almost every single person on the team had the best day.”

After the win against Hamilton, Wes opened up bracket play with a commanding 10–1 win against Ithaca College. In the semis, it was a familiar opponent, Skidmore, who stood in their way of making the regional final. Vish learned from their mistakes two weekends prior, secured a lead early, and never looked back on their way to a 15–3 win over the Wombats. 

After three convincing wins, Vish was one victory away from making it to Nationals once again, and it would be a familiar face greeting them in the finals. The University of Rochester and Wesleyan have faced off in the last three straight Metro East Regional tournament finals, with Vish winning the last two battles on universe points. Vish knew they were going to have to play their best game of the season to make it back to Nationals and defend their title. Additionally, prior to their match against Wes, the EZs narrowly escaped with a win against Hamilton, who gave an exhausting battle to the heavily favored Rochester squad. After defeating the Hot Saucers earlier in the day and watching the two New York schools battle, Vish was confident heading into the crucial game.

Maggie Brown talked about the importance of their team conversation the night before as a driving factor heading into the Rochester match. 

“This year, we really centered on, ‘What is it going to feel like when things are going well tomorrow?’” Brown said. “On Saturday night, we had a nice conversation on vulnerability and goal setting, and what is it going to look like and feel like if we’re doing well tomorrow, and what is going to be underlying that? What are the things we’re going to remind ourselves of that motivate us to want more time together? It boiled down to this team—especially after Saturday, with all the positivity coming off that rainy, rainy, miserable day together—we love and care about each other so much and we’re not ready to stop playing.”

Wes was on the board early, as three straight breaks gave them the early advantage, but the EZs fought back and made it a close battle throughout the game. Wes maintained a lead heading into half, and as they continued to put scores on the board, Rochester continued to fight back. Eventually, Vish created enough separation between the two teams to give them match point. Noble found herself with the disc knocking on the door of the endzone, and she slotted a backhand to a cutting Kayla Harrison ’26 in the end zone. As she secured the disc, the team was filled with pure elation as they took down the EZs for the third year in a row and officially qualified for Nationals. 

Milo Brown talked about the first thing they thought of when Harrison caught the disc in the end zone.

“Holy shit, we’re going to Nationals, and holy shit, it’s not on universe,” Milo Brown said. “In the last couple of years, leading up to this year, we’ve made it to Nationals, but in the most stressful conditions, and it makes the win so much mentally harder. Those first three points that we had in the [Rochester] game that set us up to be a few points ahead and helped us eventually win, not on universe, made everyone relax a lot more and just get to play like themselves and not as on edge. It felt like a big release of, ‘Wow. We won, and we won definitively.’”

Vish is now gearing up for the D-III college championships on May 16–18 in Waukegan, Ill., just outside of Chicago. The seniors enter this year’s Nationals having qualified all four years of their college career, this time ready to defend the title for the first time in program history. Plus, for captains Busansky and Leza Rooks ’26, this will be their return to national play after both of them sustained leg injuries prior to last year’s national championship run. Despite the pressure this may put them under heading into the Windy City, they are still cognizant of the moment and ensuring they soak up the experience with a new team.

“This is a whole new year,” Noble said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure and expectations. But this is a new team with a level of grittiness and resolve that I haven’t really seen on Vish before. Regardless of how Nationals goes, that has just been a real joy to be playing with this whole season. So, yeah, I’m excited. Illinois, Windy City, it should be interesting, but I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun.”

Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.