The Associated Students of Wyoming (ASUW), in collaboration with the University of Wyoming Athletics Department, hosted its first flag football tournament to fundraise for charity on Friday, October 7.
The “Mad Dawgs,” also seen as the red-shirt freshman team, won, officially raising $340 for their chosen charity of Feeding Laramie Valley. The team consisted of Keaton Stone, Karsten Stone, Nick Begeman, Christian Robinson, Rowen Gallardo, Reece Andre, Grayson Osmon, and Manny Diaz.
“It’s cold, it’s fun, and the Dawgs are out,” Freshman and member of the Mad Dawgs Manny Diaz said.
The event consisted of twenty teams, including the Mad Dawgs, competing in a bracket in the hopes of emerging victorious. Each team paid an entry fee of 20 dollars, with all the money going to the winning team’s charity of choice.
The teams were from all over the university. There was representation for Greek Life, ASUW, the UW wrestling team, the Health Ed department, the Health Sciences department, the UW cross country team, and some red-shirt freshman from the football team; the other teams were made up of students from all across the university.
“I played because it’s fun to get back out there, play, and be competitive again,” Member of the Goat House team Will Blythe said.
Although initially, only six teams were ready to compete, by the start of the event, many more showed up in the hopes of winning. Thanks to the number of teams, many charities were also represented, including but not limited to Safe Project, St.Judes, Make-A-Wish, and the Wyoming Wildlife foundation.
“I am impressed with the turnout. It was planned to be a pretty small event, and a lot of people ended up coming, so I’m happy,” Event director Anthony Castronova said.
“It started out as an event to try and improve relations between ASUW and UW athletics. Then we opened it up to everyone, and here we are,” Castronovo said.
“I also want to give credit to the people who helped me plan this event: Madyson Willis, Kosta Pappas, Kameron Murfitt, Kaycee Clark, Cameron Craft, and Lucus Hansen.”
