After starting Thursday pool play 0-3 at the 2012 USAU Club National Championships, Madison rebounded to complete the tournament with four consecutive wins and a satisfying ninth place overall finish. This marks the third 9th place finish in Madison's history (1999, 2003).
The story of the tournament for all teams turned out to be the gusty winds emerging from Hurricane Sandy off the eastern coast of Florida, which blew steadily in the 20mph+ range for the tournaments entirety. Those teams with the ability to cope with the persistent breeze found success with strong throwers and disciplined play, with other teams finding only frustration from being forced out of their comfort zones. For Madison, Thursday proved to be exceedingly agonizing as the adjustments needed for such conditions never materialized, leading to a humbling but hard fought winless opening day against Chicago Machine (11-15), Bay Area Revolver (7-15), and North Carolina Ring of Fire (12-15).
With a winless start to the tournament, Club found itself with their backs up against the wall and in need of not only big wins on Friday, but also in need of a Chicago Machine loss for a shot at the pre-quarters play-in game. Madison took care of business in convincing fashion by crushing on New York's PoNY (15-10) and Washington DC's Truck Stop (15-10), however, unfortunately Chicago took care of their business as well by winning out, thus officially eliminating Club from championship contention. 
With nothing more to play for other than placement in the 9-12 bracket, Madison came to the fields on Saturday with a desire to end the season on a high note and to have as much fun as possible, as this was the last opportunity for Madison Club to play together as a team in 2012. Club opened the day with a dominating win against a demoralized shell of a team, Boulder's Johnny Bravo (14-7), a team Madison had not defeated since Colorado Cup 2010, and ended in the nineals championship with a spirited win against Portland Rhino (14-11). This was the fourth consecutive win for Madison leading to a 4-3 overall record for the 2012 Club Championships. 
This years Club Nationals once again showed that Madison Club is a team hungry for the opportunity to play on the big stage and compete with the top teams in the world. The young guns plugged into the system such as Danny Stuligross, Kelsen Alexander and Kevin Brown, continually impressed with their growth in the sport, first year Club additions Eric Alexander, Tyler Glenn, Pat Shirwise and Adrian Reif, brought renewed energy and enthusiasm to the program, and the veteran leadership led by Hector Valdivia, Jadon Scullion and Nate Thibedeau reminded all the doubters that they can still get it done. The 2012 campaign was amazingly rewarding for all of the 27 guys on the roster and thoughts of a promising 2013 season are already in motion. Madison Club Love 2012!!!Notes: Madison's opening pool ended up finishing number two (Revolver), three (Ring of Fire), five (Chicago Machine) and the ninth overall (Madison)... Madison notched first ever wins against DC's Truck Stop and Portland's Rhino... Nate Thibedeau won the team spirit award.
Many thanks to our fans who supported us this season! See you in 2013!
