The Relentless Bobcats: Texas State Quadball 2026 Season Recap

By Solomon Nash  

KTSW Sports Reporter

SAN MARCOS, Texas – “Relentless- showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace.” For us the word relentless is just that, but for the Texas State Quadball Team the word is their way of life. That way of life has made them go from a program that was fighting to stay alive during a pandemic to being runner ups at the National Quadball Cup. We’ll be taking a look back on the 2026 Texas State quad ball team, and how they showed the country their relentlessness.  

The Bobcats have been known to play the game like they have a chip on their shoulders, but they would be going into the 25’-26’ quadball season with exactly that after their semi-final exit to the eventual champions Creighton in the previous Quadball Cup. With the team able to retain a good majority of the core from the previous season they would eventually set the chip on fire as the Bobcats had a scorching start to their season.  

The Cats had two tournaments before the USQ Regional Qualifier and they began their new campaign with a loss to Sam Houston Quadball, but they would run the table and take UTSA and UT to secure the Lone Star Cup for a second year in a row.  

The team hoped to do the double as they were set to host their annual Diamond Cup where most predicted they would get to see a semifinal rematch as Creighton would be making the trip to San Marcos. And they got exactly that as the teams met in the final where Creighton would shock the hosts with a snitch pull to win 155-130.  

It was another tough loss but the Bobcats had to get past it quickly as they had their eyes set on Garland, Texas where they were seeking to become back-to-back Southwest Regional Champs and secure their spot in the Nationals Quadball Cup.  

The Bobcats would set the tone for the tournament as they outscored their day one opponents 885-280. They would go on to make the final where they beat Sam Houston once again 235-190 and secure a back-to-back regional championship and an automatic bid into Nationals.  

After making a statement in the Qualifiers they would try to keep that momentum going as they had two more tournaments before the big one in Roseville. They would end up going 6-1 combined in Alamo Cup and Death Row Invitational tournaments winning both(with the loss coming against club team Texas Hill Country Heat).  

There was only one tournament left and it was the one they had been working towards all year, and as April arrived the team would travel to Roseville, California for the 2026 National Quadball Cup where a lot of people had them as the favorite to win it all now it was time to make it a reality.  

The team would be ranked number three in the country heading into Nationals. Only behind Creighton(2) and Virginia(1).  

The team didn’t miss a beat as they had a dominant showing during pool play as they outscored their opponents 585-160 which included Mizzou, Boston, and Rutgers. Their performances were able to nab them the 2nd seed where they would face Brandeis, a team that has given the Bobcats trouble in the past.  

Bracket play would begin regardless and the game between Texas State and Brandeis ended up being a lot closer than many predicted but the Cats pulled through with a 170-125 victory. They would now head to the semis to take on the Illini Ridgebacks from Illinois, a team who had made noise in the tournament earlier as they upset NO. 1 Virginia in pool play the day before.  

Texas State would prevail 145-90 after an insane snitch pull from Bao Hoang punched their ticket to the Finals where they would once again face off against the reigning champions Creighton.  

Unfortunately the Bobcats just didn’t have enough to get it done as they would fall in a close 170-130 loss to the Blue Jays.  

Even though the Bobcats couldn’t take home the gold they still celebrated a historic season where they went 22-4 while going 17-1 against collegiate clubs in 2026. Alongside the regional dominance the team had as well, you can make an argument that this ends up being one of the greatest quad ball teams to not win a championship.  

I was able to sit down with long time Texas State quadball player and current Captain David Avila, alongside long time player and former Head Coach Manny Bustos, and lastly current player and rumored next Captain Nate Targonski to ask about the historic season and possible questions about the future.  

“I really do believe this team embodied being relentless because when the final whistle blew on the Creighton game I went over to my friend David Avila and I had to almost carry him off cause he was hurting, and we were all hurting but we gave it our all through the very end.”, said Bustos.  

“This team is very good and the best part about this team is that they are young, hungry, and ready to get better, like these kids are constantly looking to get better like they are watching film on their phones the second it’s posted.”, said Avila.  

A team so good that the only thing that could stop them was time. With a good half of their core leaving due to Graduation there are concerns about the future of this team and their ability to compete.  

Nate Targonski shared his thoughts on the topic, “Even though we are losing a lot of seniors I believe we have a good core returning and I believe we can still compete at the national level, but we gotta recruit good as well.”, said Targonski.  

Avila had a similar opinion, “What makes this team different is how much they are willing to learn and they have such a tight knit family dynamic and if they are able to recruit well I think they can keep competing,’’ said Avila.  

This is an end of an era for Texas State Quad ball as such an iconic core is moving to the next stage, players like David Avila, Catherine Hay, Brandy Gomez, Bao Hoang, Izzy Ramirez, Manny Bustos, etc.  

They were key pieces of an amazing process to rebuild Texas State into National contenders now their legacies will carry on into the teams of the future and will look to guide the next generation just as their predecessors did before them.  

Texas State was a team that only knew how to get better and they showed it every year seeing better and better results, “I think we have a bunch of great leaders and we have people who are so bought in on getting better, I think after that D2 final loss against ASU in 2023 everyone was hungry for success and this group wanted to be the ones who achieved high level success for this program and it what’s defined us over the last two years.”, said Bustos. 

Despite the silver medal finish this team and core had left its legacy on the game of quadball and as they look ahead to the future the team will look to continue its way of life and keep their diamonds shining and to remain relentless. 

If you are curious about the game of Quadball here at Texas State follow @txstquadball on Instagram for more information. Thank you so much to Texas State Quadball and congrats on the great season.