 "Photo: Aaron Gould/ The Olympian")
 "Photo: Aaron Gould/ The Olympian")
 "Photo: Aaron Gould/ The Olympian")
The Bremer Student Center gym was filled with cheers and applause when Perry’s All Stars won the Olympic College Recreation Dodgeball Tournament Wednesday.
The team, made up of Nathan Perry, David White, Patrick Lewis, Jimmy King, Dietrich Rios, Jason Gonitas and Tim Halican, was the fifth seed going into the double elimination round.
They went into the final match with a 6 - 5 record against the number two seed Pain Wagon to win the championship.
The turning point for the underdogs happened in the second round of the elimination bracket when they beat the undefeated Ginwwa’s.
“That game got them motivated,” Recreation Director Spencer Stark said.
According to Stark, the pivotal match took most of the three minutes alotted and came to to a one-on one battle.
Stark said the turnout for the championship was better than he had anticipated, with only two teams signed up just days before the tournament.
“There’s more interest out there than I thought,” Stark said. “With heavy promotion on Tuesday in the BSC we got enough teams to extend the tournament.”
With six teams signed up, Stark was able to put together a round robin tournament that then went into a double elimination round.
Stark said that giving each team multiple chances to play helped bring more students into the gym.
According to one of Stark’s staff, there was 90 people in the gym playing, cheering or helping run the game.
“I was very surprised by the number of people in the gym,” Stark said, “and the enthusiam for the event.”
Stark said the students who were there just to watch were watching intently, cheering for their favorite team and laughing, which showed that they were engaged even if that weren’t there to play.
“It was really intense and competitive and kept you on your feet,” said onlooker Sarah Carlson.
The tournament is one of many events Stark has planned for this quarter that aims at increasing student involvement.
“We are trying things that students tell us they want to do,” Stark said, “and then once we do that, we take feedback and try to improve it.”
Stark said despite the success of tournament, he wants to do better next time.
“It wasn’t the best because what we do in the future will be better,” Stark said. “It is the best for this particular sport.”
Stark said he wants to double the number of officials for the next dodgeball tournament to have more eyes on the court and prevent missed calls.
“I know we didn’t get every call,” he said. “We weren’t prepared for the seriousness.”
But Stark is already looking ahead for the next match.
"Get your arm and dodging skills ready for the next tournament,” he said.
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