Ryan Baker

The Madison Radicals consistently assemble talented squads, strong coaching, and experience, but haven’t managed to return to the UFA Championship Weekend since their title run in 2018. The last two seasons have seen the team lose in the playoffs to the Minnesota Wind Chill. Could this be the year the team finally capitalizes on their strengths and drive to return to Championship Weekend right here in Madison?

They have the perfect mix of a young, developing core with savvy veterans who still have some left in the tank. Not to mention, they have two of the league's longest-tenured coaches: Head Coach Jacob Spiro and Assistant Coach Tim DeByl.

This is the second year of the exchange of roles between Spiro and DeByl, but there is another twist heading into 2026. DeByl will be taking over the offensive coaching responsibilities, while Ben Gagne-Maynard will switch to defense. That switch should allow a better balance on both sides of the disc.

Building off two playoff seasons following a four-year drought, the Radicals appear poised for continued growth. With a solid core, renewed experience, and impactful additions entering their second season, the team’s narrative is one of rising momentum.

“People are feeling good,” Spiro said. “We're getting excited to play somebody who isn't us. I would expect to build on what we did last year.”

Excitement and confidence surround this squad, marking a shift from previous years. The team's chemistry and energy will be tested right away on May 9 in Indianapolis, where the Radicals face the AlleyCats. The matchup is a litmus test for whether their sustained team development can surpass opponents looking to win through new acquisitions.

“There have been times in the past, especially when I joined the team, where it was very intense, and I liked that very much, but it was also overwhelming, and I think the team has found a great balance,” said Luke Marks, who was third in the league in blocks in 2025. “With Spiro’s intensity and Gumby’s [Anthony Gutowksy] antics, I think our team has found a great balance, and it's been a lot of fun this year.”

With the Central Division's reconstruction, the Radicals will face competitive matchups each week. Their second game is against the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds, considered an easier opponent, but the trip to the East Coast remains physically demanding for the team.

“That's going to end up to our advantage,” Spiro stated. “I think it was hard to get into a real rhythm last year, because we had a couple of really challenging games, and then some games against teams that were in kind of a developing situation.”

Games with the Minnesota Wind Chill and Chicago Union have always been dogfights for the Radicals, and the Radicals will have five combined games against those two teams (2 vs. Minnesota, 3 vs. Chicago). Madison has the chance to end a tough streak of nine straight losses against the Wind Chill, and the bouts against the Union are always back and forth.

“It's all about us,” said Sjostrom, who came onto the scene halfway through the season in 2025, proving to be the focal point in this offense. “There are big names out there. They're really good teams. We're a really good team, and as long as we focus on ourselves and our process of getting better every day with every throw, and not worry about these big names, I think we'll be all right.”

The Radicals will have to wait until May 31st and their third game of the season to play in their own home stadium, the highly touted Breese Stevens Field. The first home game of the year is circled on many of the players’ calendars, as they will attempt to break that rough streak against Minnesota.

“The competition will just make us better. We're ready for that competition,” Marks stated.

A milestone arrives on June 18 as Salt Lake visits Madison for their inaugural matchup—a significant event amplified by the league’s first Thursday night frisbee game.

The way Madison’s schedule is structured may play to their advantage as they will get three of their four final games at home, then finish the season with a trip to Minnesota.

The Radicals are recognized as one of the top defensive programs in the league, and their effectiveness continues to grow. Last year, they ranked fourth in blocks, allowed the fourth-fewest scores, and achieved the fourth-best break percentage. However, some results were affected by their games against Detroit.

The level of opponents will be a big change for the Madison team, but the defense should still put up similar numbers. However, the offense will need to improve, as they were in the middle or bottom third of the league in nearly every offensive team stat.

With the high strength of schedule, I expect the defensive numbers to decrease just slightly, but the offensive production could take a good leap in a positive direction. That will be driven by having a full year of Eric Sjostrom and Kainoa Chun-Moy in the backfield. These two guys were responsible for 78 of the 262 total points for the Radicals, and that was with Sjostrom playing in only 7 of the 13 games.

“Something I've been missing for years is having that team camaraderie and the chemistry that we can build,” remarked Sjostrom. “Last year, while I was able to be pretty successful, there's a level we didn't reach because I didn't know enough about what teammates wanted on and off the field. We were able to develop a lot of chemistry as friends as well as teammates, and you'll see the results on the field.”

On the receiving end for those two is one of the best cutters in the entire league, Anthony Gutowsky, who led the league in goals in 2025 with 55 and has only gotten better every year. He enters his fourth year with 143 goals, averaging 3.7 goals per game and 34 away from the Radicals’ franchise record.

“I want to focus on my game and beat my defender every chance I can get,” Gutowksy stated. “It doesn't matter to me whether it’s Noah Coolman on me, or Lukas Ambrose, James Pollard, Nate Little.”

With such a big threat in the downfield space, it’s opened up a successful path for guys like Nico Ranabhat, Pieran Robert, and Gabe Vordick. Those three have been getting better every year and have proven to be focal points of Madison’s offensive attack. Ranahbat was second on the team in goals with 35, with the other two having more than 27 scores apiece.

“I want to be more adaptable to these new systems we're putting in place, trying new things, and not being afraid of that,” said Ranabhat. “This offense iteration this year is going to be a few notches up from last year.”

Then, they will hopefully get full seasons from Ian McCosky and Jack Nelson. McCosky played in only five games in 2025 but will play a much larger role on offense this year. Meanwhile, Nelson’s season was limited to seven games when a leg injury cut his season short. Nelson and Gutowsky were a scary combo for those first seven games as Nelson posted 10 assists and 5 goals, averaging over 200 yards per game over the last two seasons.

“You're going to see us being a lot more aggressive with our legs,” said Sjostrom. “I think last year we were pretty passive, trying to win with our throws, and that will be different this season.”

The savvy veterans mentioned earlier are Kelsen Alexander, Joshua Wilson, and the returns of Victor Luo (2025 in Chicago) and Sterling Knoche (2025 was hurt). Alexander and Wilson provide incredible comfort on both sides of the disc, while Luo and Knoche can change the flow of games with Luo’s dual-threat capability and Knoche’s knack for making giant blocks at critical points in the game.

“We had to replace around 2,100 points from the year before, and going into this season, it's more like 450, so I think that we're in a better place, experience-wise,” said Spiro. “Bringing back two guys who are going to be leaders on their lines is always to your advantage.”

That tenacious Radicals defense is led by the likes of Luke Marks, who was third in blocks with 22 last season, and showed that his instinct and anticipation for disc path and throws have taken a dramatic leap. Right behind him are Jake Carrico and Mitchell McCarthy. Carrico, the UFA all-time leader in callahans, and McCarthy, who has shown flashes of being a game-changing talent for Madison’s transition offense.

“I want to offensively be more of a threat on the turn,” Marks said. “Thinking back on prior years, I have been an option, but I want to be more of a threat. On the turn, I want offenses to be worried about me.”

The newest additions to the Radicals include Kyle Conniff, who comes over with two years of experience with the Los Angeles Aviators, and Jeff Maskalunas, who returns to the Radicals for the first time since 2019. Rookies this year are Tom Hobday, Pat Lavalee, and Ben Baird.

“One of our advantages as a team is that we have a lot of people who are capable of stepping in on either line, which I think will help our flexibility,” Spiro said.

The main uncertainty for this team is whether they can sustain strong performances throughout all four quarters. Notably, Madison has scored 58 more points in the first half than in the second half over the past two seasons, a gap they plan to address in this campaign.

“We need to value the disc and play keep away from the other team,” Chun-Moy said. “If we don’t turn it over, we won’t lose the game.”

If Madison even takes off half of a quarter against any of their matchups, they are going to be looking up from the massive hole they will have dug themselves. Developing maturity, getting back players for full seasons, and having a good mix of talented veterans should make that task not as daunting.

“Our expectations for the team this season are to make it into the playoffs again, hopefully with the home game for the first round,” said Gutowsky. “That's our goal, Championship Weekend.”

If the second-half problems don’t get fixed, Madison could find themselves missing the playoffs and having a record that won’t be good to look at come the end of July, but if they get that fixed, this team can punch it out with the best of them.

“This is a really good group of guys,” said Ranabhat. “We all have that trust in each other. We're all willing to put in the work, which I think is important. We're all buying in a little bit more this year.”

To close out, here is a lighter-hearted look into some of the things this Madison is looking forward to the most in 2026:

“I'm super excited to get back out at Breese,” Ranabhat said. “Obviously, our home field is a pretty sweet place to play.”

“Just playing ultimate again,” said Gutwosky. “This is my first year out of college. I'm trying to get out there and play some high competition against new people that aren't my teammates. I’ve been working hard, and I’m ready to ball.”

“I’m looking forward to getting back on the field with my friends and playing in front of the best fans in ultimate! Looking forward to seeing the new turf at Breese and playing against some revamped teams,” said Chun-Moy.

“I'm excited to see where this team can go,” Spiro said. “We're returning a lot of talent. The expectation is that people should be able to improve with another year under their belt. I can’t wait to see what this group of guys can do.”