By Trey LaMay’25 and Corbin Carkner’25
On Friday, October 27, the biggest event on the campus this year took place: Gunn’s Annual dodgeball tournament. The tournament was a one-game elimination tournament, where each grade had two teams, and they faced off to kick off the competition. The first game was Freshman Team One against Freshman Team Two. After a lopsided Freshman Team Two victory, Team Two got every person out without losing a player. The tournament’s second game was the sophomore class facing off against each other, Team 1 versus Team 2.
In this clash, it was a back-and-forth game where Sophomore Team 2 ended up winning the game. The Junior battle was also a very tight match, with Team 1 almost winning with two players on Team 2 being left while Team 1 had 7 players. With all this going on, Team 2 made big plays and won the game. The last game of the first round was the Seniors Team 1 vs Seniors 2. This game was the most exciting of the first round when Team 1 went down early. Then, at the end of the game, Liam Gray was left in a 6v1 and held his ground. He got multiple people from Team 2 out but got out himself. It was a valiant effort from the Litchfield native.
In round two, the Junior Team 2 faced off against a talented Freshman Team 2. It was a competitive match, but the Juniors were able to come away with the win. In the last game of the second round, it was Seniors Team 2 against Sophomore Team 2. This game was the night’s highlight, as the biggest upset occurred when the Sophomores ended up upsetting the Seniors. A great performance led by Ace Watson which propelled them to win the game. This Cinderella run is on to the next round. The final game was between Junior Team 2 and Sophomore Team 2.
It was a very tight game, extremely back and forth. Will Bartoli saved the game by catching a ball and gaining the advantage for Junior Team 2. He struck the last opponent out, winning the game for the Juniors. They immediately began celebrating with excitement and did a quick victory prayer. They then raced over to get some mozzarella sticks and used them as “cigars” for their victory. It was an epic celebration.
The Juniors were one of the most dominant dodgeball teams ever made, and they demonstrated it that night. Will Bartoli was extremely enthusiastic about the championship win, “It was a great team effort, and I was proud of this because earlier this year, I started chasing my dreams, and they were finally coming true.”
Ace Watson also had much to say about the big upset. “We did not expect to go as far as we did. Some players didn’t show up in time, which wasn’t the best for the team, but we could still pick up the win.”
Matis Molina-Ricard had this to say about Liam Gray’s performance.” “Liam had an excellent game, knocked out two kids at the end, and had excellent dodging maneuvers. It was all around a gritty performance from him. I hope to see him in the future men’s league dodgeball team.”
