On the road with the Minnesota Wind Chill, James Kittlesen often is asked what brings him to town. When the 25-year-old says he's an athlete, the follow-up question is inevitable.

What sport?

Depending on the age of the inquisitor, Kittlesen knows his best bet is to lie.

"I'm a basketball player," he'll say, which is an easy sell when you're 6-foot-3.

That's because, were he to reveal his actual sport, he'd likely be greeted by blank faces. Kittlesen is a veteran defender for the Wind Chill, a professional ultimate Frisbee team. The Wind Chill - who ironically concluded their sixth regular season in the American Ultimate Disc League with a pair of home games last weekend at the National Sports Center in Blaine amid temperatures in the 80s and 90s - specialize in a game typically associated with beaches and barbecues.

Frisbee? Yes, Frisbee.

Think razzle-dazzle football - the field dimensions are nearly the same - but with a disc, nonstop action and loads of scoring. The Wind Chill average 26 goals, or trips to the end zone, per game. During a June 30 win over the Chicago Wildfire, the Wind Chill established a new AUDL record by completing 90 consecutive passes on a single point.

Catch-and-release, indeed.

"The strategy is just keep moving it back and forth along the field until you find a hole," said Kittlesen, a 2015 Minnesota Duluth graduate who didn't start playing "ultimate" until he arrived at UMD.

Call up league highlights on the AUDL website, and you'll see precisely what Kittlesen is talking about. Not only is the disc perpetually in flight, but with a nonchalant flick of the wrist it can soar 60, 70 and even 80 yards, over the defense and into the hands of a streaking "cutter" - ultimate's version of a football receiver.

Players are "down" wherever they land following a catch, then immediately begin scanning the field for an open teammate, bending and bribing the Frisbee to do things that defy logic via forehand throws, backhands or overheads (called "hammer throws").

Kittlesen played soccer and hockey and ran track at Faribault (Minn.) High School. When he came to Duluth for college, he never thought he'd one day be a professional athlete. Granted, the term "professional" is used liberally. Kittlesen and his Wind Chill cohorts are paid $25 per game, and all travel expenses are covered.

"I still put it on my resume," Kittlesen's teammate, Tristan Grovender, another 2015 UMD graduate, said of his status as a pro.

While Kittlesen, who set the Wind Chill record for most blocks in a single season (32) during his 2015 debut, is apt to call himself a basketball player to avoid stifling the conversation, Grovender takes a different tact.

"I usually say I play soccer," the 27-year-old cutter said.

The Wind Chill finished the regular season 8-6 and open the playoffs Saturday at the Indianapolis AlleyCats.

Kittlesen and Grovender are two of three former Bulldogs on the Wind Chill; "handler" (similar to a quarterback in football) Matt Burkhardt is the other. The trio helped UMD's club team reach its first national tournament in 2012.

Kittlesen, who works at UnitedHealth Group in Duluth and also tends bar a couple nights a week, said when he first started playing at UMD, about a third of his teammates had previous ultimate experience. Once he took over as the squad's coach in 2015, almost every incomer was familiar and well-versed with the game and its nuances.

That's, in part, because Minnesota boasts the largest high school ultimate league in the country, with more than 85 teams. The sport's hot spots are concentrated in the metro area.

"Up north, it's not nearly as big," said Grovender, who played in high school at Minneapolis South. "In the Twin Cities, it's huge."

Said Kittlesen: "It's boomed in the last 10 years."

And why not? Who doesn't like throwing a Frisbee?

Though playing catch with a Frisbee is a far different endeavor than what goes on in the high-scoring AUDL. There is no shortage of athleticism, and many of the goals leave spectators shaking their heads. Especially skilled handlers look like they're doing little more than snapping their wrists around a defender, only to send the disc sailing. Maybe 60 yards away, a cutter comes down with it, stops running and establishes a pivot foot, then fires again. And on it goes until either a score or a turnover.

Because it's a fringe sport, not everybody knows about it.

"Most people over 40 think I'm talking about disc golf," Kittlesen joked. "It hasn't quite hit the upper age groups yet. Once I show them clips, they think it's pretty cool. A lot of them want to come see a game."