The varsity Ultimate Frisbee team finished its season with a third-place finish at the Connecticut state championships, hosted here at Hotchkiss on May 21.

Despite battling both injuries and illnesses, the Bearcats nearly made it into the championship game, losing its semifinal game on a “universe point” but rallying to win its final game and finish 2-2 on the day.

The tournament opened with a hard-fought 9-6 win over Avon High School that saw Hotchkiss trail for most of the first half, before rallying with six straight points to turn a 3-4 deficit into a 9-4 lead it would not relinquish. Alex Cheng ’23 led all Bearcats in the game with three goals and two assists.

The second pool play game was against longtime rival Middletown High School. Despite going into halftime with a 6-5 lead, the Bearcats surrendered the next four points and lost 10-8, with Middletown scoring the final point of the game. Jeffrey Shi ’24 led the game in this game with two goals and three assists.

In the semifinal game, Hotchkiss faced Wooster School in the closest game of the day. The two teams battled to a 3-3 tie before Wooster scored three unanswered points to take a 6-3 lead. Not to be outdone, the Bearcats rallied with three points of their own to force a final deciding point, but Wooster scored and advanced to the title game. Cheng again led the team with two assists, and Ian Marshall ’23 led the team with two goals.

Hotchkiss went on to beat Xavier High School in the third-place game. After Xavier rallied to tie the game at 3-3, the Bearcats scored the next eight points for a comfortable 11-3 win. Cheng led all Hotchkiss players with three goals and four assists.