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Did You Know...

... that only one competitor has experienced two jump-offs for USPA 4-way Open Class gold?

Golden Knights dirtdive for jump-off round in 2005
posted Oct 19th, 2020 - There have been only two jump-off rounds for gold medals in the last 20 years of 4-way Open Class competition at USPA Nationals, the first one in 2005, between Golden Knights and DeLand Fire, the second one last year, between Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP.

One competitor connects both events directly with each other, Airspeed XP8 member Matt Davidson. He is the only 4-way competitor in the United States with the experiences of these two jump-offs, which are separated by 14 years.

The NSL News discovered video footage in the archives that was recorded throughout the USPA Nationals 2005 and includes the dramatic conclusion of the event. It was a meaningful Round 11 in 2005, similar to the situation at Paraclete XP last year. The USPA Nationals 2005 was the qualification event for the FAI World Meet 2006, where DeLand Fire won the gold medals. Last year's USPA Nationals qualified SDC Rhythm XP for the FAI Mondial 2020 in Tanay next year, where they will challenge NMP PCH HayaBusa for the next gold medals.

SDC Rhythm XP were not yet on the 4-way landscape, and NMP PCH HayaBusa were in their second year when Matt Davidson competed for the Golden Knights in 4-way and went into the jump-off round in 2005. SDC Rhythm XP were his new opponents for the extra round last year, and NMP PCH HayaBusa witnessed his next jump-off round, this time with Arizona Airspeed and one again for the USPA 4-way gold medals.


USPA Nationals 2005
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total Avg
Rank 4-way Open 2,A,19 F,20,D,9 C,21,N,11 15,M,8 4,6,P 5,1,H 22,7,12 3,K,16 E,17,14 13,18,J O,G,B,L,Q Total Avg
1 DeLand Fire 22 27 22 20 18 21 17 21 22 20 36 210 21.0
2 Golden Knights 21 27 21 20 22 22 17 19 23 18 34 210 21.0
3 Airspeed Odyssey 21 26 20 19 20 20 17 20 22 18 - 203 20.3
4 DeLand Majik 20 25 19 19 17 20 16 20 18 18 - 192 19.2
5 Fastrax 20 26 20 19 18 18 15 19 19 17 - 191 19.1
6 Airspeed Velocity 21 23 21 16 17 17 15 18 22 18 - 188 18.8
7 Phugoid 18 20 12 15 16 16 12 16 17 15 - 157 15.7
8 Perris Fury 17 19 17 15 13 14 14 15 17 15 - 156 15.6
9 Perris Synchronicity 16 19 17 15 15 15 12 15 17 13 - 154 15.4
10 Spaceland Thunder 15 19 15 16 15 15 13 15 16 13 - 152 15.2
11 Fastrax Select 16 17 15 15 15 15 11 14 14 13 - 145 14.5
12 Spark 14 18 13 15 14 16 13 13 14 14 - 144 14.4
12 GKOG 16 18 13 16 16 10 12 15 16 12 - 144 14.4
14 Arizona Directe 14 17 15 14 15 13 11 16 14 13 - 142 14.2
15 Aerodyne Mamba 14 14 12 13 11 13 12 11 13 12 - 125 12.5
16 Dallas Mojo 12 15 13 10 13 13 11 13 14 10 - 124 12.4
17 Element Perris 14 14 13 11 12 12 10 13 12 10 - 121 12.1
18 Kachina 10 14 10 11 11 12 9 10 13 10 - 110 11.0

DeLand Fire and Golden Knights with Round 10 at the USPA Nationals 2005 - NSL-TV Unfiltered of the same event
DeLand Fire and Golden Knights at the Shamrock Showdown 2005
The history of Matt Davidson's teams at both events was different, as he was the challenger in Perris 2005 while competing for the defending 4-way champion at Paraclete XP last year.

The Golden Knights 4-way lineup of 2002 (Eric Heinsheimer, John Hoover, Kurt Isenbarger, Chris Talbert, Sean Capegreco on camera) had won the USPA 4-way title and lost it a year later against DeLand Majik. The U.S. Army team still continued with the focus on 4-way and came back with a new lineup, including Matt Davidson (John Hoover, Brian Krause, Brooks Weiner, Larry Miller on camera), and they ended up once again behind DeLand Majik in 2004. However, the U.S. Army team was aiming at the 4-way title in 2005, which would qualify the team for the FAI World Meet in 2006.

Matt Davidson continued with the same lineup, while the opponent was a different one a year later. DeLand Majik member Gary Smith, new 4-way world champion of 2004, was back as a player-coach with DeLand Fire (Natasha Montgomery, Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Eric Taylor on camera).

The Golden Knights knew that DeLand Fire would be a worthy opponent after finishing three points behind at the Shamrock Showdown 2005. It was probably still a surprise that the new team was tied with the experienced U.S. Army team after Round 10 in Perris.


USPA Nationals 2019
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total Avg
Rank 4-way Open Class 7,C,H,P J,21,20 O,3,11 B,2,K,E 8,Q,10 15,D,F,12 N,L,M,14 6,1,9 A,18,13 G,4,5 17,16,22 Total Avg
1 NMP-PCH Hayabusa  BE  45 -1 24    27    37    21    25    34    25 -1 26 -1 25 -4 -     289 28.9
2 SDC Rhythm XP  US  41    22    21 -1 33    21    23    27    25    24    25    21 -1  262 26.2
3 Arizona Airspeed  US  40 -1 24    22 -2 32    19 -2 24    29    25    21 -2 26 -1 20 -2  262 26.2
4 Defiance  US  30 -1 21    15 -4 28    16    19    22 -3 21    18 -1 18 -1 -     208 20.8
5 Ranch 2nd Generation  US  26    19    19    24 -2 16 -1 17 -1 24    18 -1 19    19    -     201 20.1
6 Kinetix  AU  26    18    17    22    13 -1 17    18 -1 17    17    17    -    182 18.2
7 Lite XP  US  24 -1 17    17    22    15    17    20 -2 16 -1 14    17    -    179 17.9
8 No Name  US  22 -4 17    14    19 -2 12 -2 13    14 -3 15    14    16    -    156 15.6
9 Aviatrixx  US  21    14    13 -1 18 -1 12 -2 15    17 -1 14 -1 12    14    -     150 15.0
10 Perris Force  US  20    13 -1 14    18    11 -1 11    18 -1 13 -1 12    12 -1 -     142 14.2

SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed at the USPA Nationals 2019
SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed after Round 11 at the USPA Nationals 2019
Matt Davidson's second jump-off for USPA gold in 4-way Open had a very different background. Arizona Airspeed were the defending 4-way champions and had not lost against a U.S. team at an outdoor competition since 2007, and the 2018 lineup (Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine, Thiago Gomes, Ari Perelman, David French on camera) had finished only two points behind NMP PCH HayaBusa at the FAI Outdoor World Meet 2018.

Arizona Airspeed were the undisputed favorites going into the 2019 season with the same lineup and finished well ahead of SDC Rhythm XP at the first three indoor meets last year (Wind Games, Paraclete XP, World Challenge), even though the U.S. challenger performed on a higher level.

Things changed and brought Matt Davidson into the picture when Ari Perelman left Airspeed after the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019. The lineup with substitute Matt Davidson in the point slot had only a few months of outdoor training to get ready for the USPA title defense.

It was still a close call, as Airspeed's new lineup kept up with the well trained Rhythm lineup of the last four years (2016 - 2019) throughout the ten rounds. Then came the second extra round in U.S. 4-way history for Matt Davidson, and the new drama at Paraclete XP had the same ending for him. However, this time he will still compete at the world meet that he missed in 2006. Airspeed XP8 represents the United States in Tanay next year.

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