The Gladiator Polo “Battle for North Carolina” saw Team Charlotte avenge last year’s loss to defeat Team Asheville, 13-12, after an intense battle in the George Morris Arena at Tryon International Equestrian Center last Saturday.

Team Asheville was held scoreless until the second chukker and trailed by four until the fifth, but the match came down to the final second of play: Team Asheville was able to put up a trio of points to close the gap in the fifth chukker and trailed by one heading into the sixth. Collingwood was able to slam a two-point goal to keep Charlotte’s dream alive, and when the final horn sounded, the team in teal remained on top.

Team Asheville was comprised of Santi “The Polo Kid” Torres, Nano “The Snake” Gracida and Patrick “Tricky” Uretz, in purple. Team Charlotte saw teal jerseys donned by Mariano “Nino” Obregon, Tommy “The Great White Shark” Collingwood and Kris “Colorado” Kampsen. 

Collingwood, a newcomer to Gladiator Polo, scored the first goal of the match, as well as the two-point shot that sealed the deal for Team Charlotte, ultimately being named the night’s Most Valuable Player for his efforts. Collingwood, 25, is a two-time winner of the $100,000 World Cup, and complimented his team’s chemistry. 

“This game was crazy,” he said. “Team Asheville was pretty unlucky when we took the seven-goal lead, which can sometimes come back to bite you, and it almost did. In the second half, Team Asheville played unbelievable and almost took the game right out of our hands. But luckily, we got a few quick goals at the end that gave us the lead. The great thing about our team is we all get along very well, which kept it very natural despite the intensity.”

Kampsen credited Collingwood with the victory, and acknowledged that Team Asheville did not go down without a fight.

“It got very rough and physical, and Asheville really brought it to us with physicality in the game,” Kampsen said. “They had a bad first few chukkers, and we were lucky to capitalize on that, and that helped us hang on to that lead at the end. Tommy saved us with the two-pointer at the end — that was huge. Our plan always was to play strong defense, and allowing that to lead us into offense.”

-Submitted by Tryon

International Equestrian Center