WSAD Warriors and MinnePaul Red wins MAAD Title

Midwest Athletic Association of the Deaf (MAAD) /MinnePaul held 78th Annual Men’s and Women’s Regional Basketball Tournament in Oakdale, MN on March 13-15, 2025.

MAAD hosted 8 Open and 6 Women Teams over the weekend, First round of Women’s Tournament kicked off with newcomer 4th seeded WSAD Warriors facing off with 5th seeded Kansas City Queens, and 3rd seeded MinnePaul facing 6th seeded Des Moines Goldfinch, Warriors started off hot start over Queens and won the game 61-19, while MinnePaul handled Goldfinch winning easily with score 49-12. Second round saw action in 1st seeded last year MAAD Women Champion Pink Panther Vices faced a difficult Warriors team leading them into halftime, Warriors started heated up and came back from behind and dethroned Vices with score of 54-49, MinnePaul faced 2nd seeded Nebowa and gave them a hard time with their quick players, and defeated them by score of 40-33. In loser bracket of double Elimination bracket, KC Queens lost to Nebowa by score of 30-13 meanwhile Pink Panther Vices bounced back and defeated Des Moines Goldfinch 63-34 to keep hope alive, in next round of loser bracket Pink Panther Vices defeated Nebowa 44-34. Des Moines Goldfinch defeated KC Queens 34-24 to secure a 5th place finish. Semi-final game saw action between Warriors and MinnePaul and roamed into a 43-29 victory to clinch champion game. Pink Panther Vice faced MinnePaul and came out back to Champion round by defeating them 48-37. The rematch of recent round with Warriors and Vices saw action that proved Warriors were no match for the Vices and defeated them 65-33 giving WSAD Warriors first MAAD Title.

Open Teams started off with first round double elimination games on Friday, number 1 seeded LAD Star City faced off number 8 Mamba giving them hard reality check and upset them with score 64-62, number 5 Omaha Outlaws lost to 4th seeded Highpoint Colorado by score of 42-27, number 3 seeded Omaha Gladiators handled 6th seeded MinnePaul Blue 64-46, 2nd seeded MinnePaul Red smothered 7th seeded Des Moines Stags 99-29, Second round action saw Mamba edged Highpoint Colorado in a close thriller game 66-65 and continue to surprise crowd with their emerge, MinnePaul Red handled Omaha Gladiators 92-52. In the loser bracket side, LAD Star City avenged their win over Omaha Outlaws 71-33, MinnePaul Blue defeated Des Moines Stags 47-27 to send both teams to 7th place game, Des Moines Stags roamed over Omaha Outlaws 61-13 to secure 7th place finish. LAD Star City defeated Omaha Gladiators 66-52, Highpoint Colorado defeated MinnePaul Blue 46-36. LAD Star City exhausted escaped the win over Highpoint Colorado 58-54. Semi-final game saw action between MinnePaul Red handling short staffed Mamba 88-62 to clinch their champion berth, Mamba avenged their loss to defeat exhausted LAD Star City by score of 43-26 to return back to Champion Berth rematch against MinnePaul Red. Champion game showed MinnePaul Red was ready to run over Mamba and winning the Champion game by score of 84-39 to capture MAAD Title.

Source: Kirk Anderson, MAAD Tournament Director