The Eastern Michigan University Flying Squirrels Quidditch team traveled down to Mason, Ohio Nov. 9-10 for their fourth tournament of the season.
The weather conditions were ideal for the event as temperatures reached the mid-60s, with wind blowing from the east.
The Flying Squirrels lost their first match against Loyola University Chicago by a score of 50-40 on a controversial snitch catch.
Once the referees gathered to discuss the call, they decided it was indeed a catch and the weekend started on a sour note for EMU.
The Flying Squirrels bounced back in the second match against Indiana University-South Bend and made quick work of them by a score of 160-30.
Chaser Brandon Gillespie had two breakaway goals in the contest.
In the third matchup, EMU took on top-ranked Marquette University, who are considered one of the elite teams in Quidditch.
The Flying Squirrels were impressive for most of the game, but still came up short in the matchup, which they lost 120-30 to Marquette.
In the fourth and final matchup, the Flying Squirrels faced off against Purdue University. They played a challenging game and tried to slow the pace by grinding it out with Purdue. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Flying Squirrels fell to Purdue 130-30.
In the match against Purdue, Victor Randazzo stepped up as EMU’s seeker, trying to hold off the other team’s seeker. Randazzo’s natural position is a chaser.
“I don’t score much at all,” he said. “I tend to stay back for defensive purposes and take on the bigger players. I have more strength, so I can stop them from scoring.”
Nathaniel Gibson stepped up in his role as EMU’s chaser.
“Nathaniel impressed me a lot and I thought he played very well,” EMU Quidditch head coach Trevor Moore said. “Overall, I thought it was a very great team effort and everyone played really good as a unit. It is hard to single out individuals because of the unit being so good.”
Currently, the Flying Squirrels are ranked 71st out of 138 teams in the International Quidditch Association Rankings.
EMU will take the next couple of months to practice at different locations across campus to work on improving their game.
The Flying Squirrels’ next event is not until February when they will travel to Toledo, Ohio to take on an undetermined number of teams that have yet to be announced.
“We plan on setting up the teams for the event at the beginning of next year,” Moore said.
The Flying Squirrels are also working on getting all of the Mid-American Conference teams together at some point next year to have a tournament at a yet-to-be determined location.
