The gym bustled with anticipation as the crowd gathered in for Windsor’s dodgeball tournament. Fourteen teams were prepared to face off against one another, armed with dodgeballs and filled with high spirits. 

Thirteen student teams and a teacher led team all battled it out in the student council fundraiser. The rounds were organized as pool play, so they were in a round robin fashion until all the teams were ranked for a bracket to be made. The event raised around $500 in total, and all proceeds go towards this year’s Special Olympics.

While the games were very fast paced, and full of excitement, there were a few disputes. The Shirk brothers were torn on two separate teams. In an epic showdown, a questionable call was made against Ethan Shirk’s team. A large dispute occurred between the teams until the leader of the tournament, Jamie Kovach, stepped in. After a long debate, the game continued, and Brenton Shirk’s team came out victorious. 

“He (Ethan Shirk) only had one person left and the ref made a wrong call, then Mrs. Kovach stepped in to overrule it. But my team would have won regardless,” said the older brother, Brenton Shirk.

The teachers’ team had a successful run against the students. The team consisted of Jeff Stoffey, Jeff Funston, Alex Moss, Kelly Isaacson, Shannon Hyde, and Kim Schmidt. They held their own against the students for as long as they could, but in the semifinals, the students finally took them down. 

“We went 4-2, and we lost in the semifinals to the Tigers. They were a great team for sure,” Stoffey said. 

In the end, the Tigers won in the finals against the Gamecocks. As one of the most underestimated teams, their win came as a shock to many of the onlookers. The team consisted of AJ Patrick, Duncan Gross, Brayden Pfaff, Anthony Fletcher, Adam Striker, Brady Hirth, and their manager Elijah Kazerian.

“We started out as underdogs and came out as champions,” AJ Patrick said.