District 127 holds its second annual dodgeball tournament this year, and teams are eager to try and win for free prom tickets. Seven teams with rosters of 10 showed up on Saturday, February 25 to compete for the big prize.

The first team, It’s Too Easy, held the roster of the Grayslake Central baseball team all committed to play baseball for the College of Lake County, and The Dudars led by team captain Chase Bollinger would hold the first game of the tournament. 

“Before the game it didn’t seem like we were going to go far when looking at the schedule,” said Dudars player Cody Rekoncay. 

As the first game commenced, numbers on each team began to fall quickly as the Dudars were down numbers 6 to 3. As time winds down, the Dudars climb back and pull the upset against Garrett Guenter and “It’s Too Easy” with three players remaining. 

“I think we performed really well that game which got it going for us the entire tournament,” said team captain of the Dudars Chase Bollinger.

As the tournament continues, the Sleepy Sleepers and the Minions were the first teams to exit in the tourney leaving four teams remaining. In the quarter finals, the Dudars faced defending champions 83 Roosters led by team captain Dylan Peterson. Hoping to win back to back, 83 Roosters had almost the same roster as last year with replacing graduating seniors. During the games, the Dudars had complete control throughout the game beating 83 Roosters with six players remaining.

“Beating Roost wasn’t really a big shock considering we were the better team,” Bollinger said.

On the other side of the bracket, Team Lacrosse led by captain Christian Taylor played the Mambas led by Brady Carlson in the quarter finals. In the game, Team Lacrosse would almost sweep the Mambas with eight players remaining giving them an easy victory heading into the semi-finals.

“I think I performed pretty well from a few mistakes,” said player on Team Lacrosse Nathan Newburgh. “Besides the dodgeballs weren’t the best, I’m still happy with how I performed.”

Team Lacrosse then played the Dudars in the winners bracket semi-final losing to the team with five players remaining on the other team. Team Lacrosse would fall down to the loser bracket but will win against It’s Too Easy in the loser bracket semi-final making it a rematch against the Dudars in the championship final. But the rematch of these two teams had the same conclusion as The Dudars win the second annual District 127 Dodgeball Tournament.

“Winning the entire tournament felt pretty good; (it’s) always good to win titles with your friends,” Bollinger said. “I think we performed very well and I’m glad to go out as champs.”