Cortland students took the court at the Park Center gym on Friday for a dodgeball tournament hosted by SUNY Cortland Intramural Sports. The event was capped at eighteen teams, but only eight attended.
The event was highlighted by rule changes. The courts were made smaller in comparison to previous tournaments. In addition, players would now be ruled as “out” if they stepped out of bounds trying to avoid a ball being thrown.
“Preliminary feedback from our participants was that they enjoyed the court setup and format a lot more than last year,” said Matthew Nuesell, Assistant Director for Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs. “We shortened the courts, added the walls, and made watching the games easier for spectators with the open space between the courts. It was also fun to have two games going on side-by-side.”
Each team participated with between six and ten members. The event was played in a co-rec format, meaning at least two men and two women must be on the court for each team at all times.
The night started at 6 pm, with an eight-round round-robin to determine the seeding for the tournament. Chest Hair ended up with the #1 seed, followed by the West Court Warriors, Nate an em, Balls to the Wall, the Dawgs, Royal Flush, Show Us Your TDs, and the Bitterbaum Bitterballs.
“I’ve played in the dodgeball tournament for the past two years,” said sophomore Leah Masi. “It’s always fun and competitive!”
While teams were off the court, staff provided snacks and drinks to the participants. This included Doritos, Cheez-Its, cookies, apples, oranges, and bananas.
Following the eight-round round-robin, tournament play began. In the first round, the #1 seed Chest Hair faced off against the #8 seed Bitterbaum Bitterballs, with Chest Hair ultimately taking the win. Meanwhile, the #5 seed Dawgs pulled off an upset against the #4 seed Balls to the Wall. After these games had ended, the #2 seed West Court Warriors defeated the #7 seed Show Us Your TDs, and the #3 seed Nate and em stormed past the #6 seed Royal Flush to end the first round.
“Unfortunately we did not come out on top,” said Masi, a member of Balls to the Wall. “Our performance was not up to par but we can hopefully improve and have a successful run next year!”
In the second round Chest Hair took on the Dawgs, and the West Court Warriors took on Nate and them. Chest Hair and Nate and em pulled off victories, securing their spots in the finals.
In the third and final round, Nate and em were able to perform a major upset, as they defeated #1 seed Chest Hair to win the tournament.
The SUNY Cortland Intramural Sports program hosts several tournaments in addition to the many intramural leagues organized throughout the semester.
“Next big tournament for us is volleyball on Friday, April 12,” said Nuesell. “As of next week, we’ll also have four of our five spring leagues running at the same time, so things are pretty crazy right now. In a good way though!”