Wooster Fusion leads local effort at Wooster Invitational
By Brian Questel
May 29, 2011
337
Anyone driving by the soccer fields at the corner of Burbank and Oldman May 28-29 would have seen a rainbow of colors, and for once this spring there wasnt a pounding thunderstorm to go with them.
Instead, 29 teams came to Wooster for the 10th annual Wooster Invitational Soccer Tournament, drawing teams for the tournament, which featured u-7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14 teams from the Wayne County area.
With over 80 games lined up, it made for a long weekend. When it was over, five different communities had claimed team titles. In the u-7-8 girls age group, the Mansfield Flames defeated the Northwestern Bombshells.
Northwestern defeated Buckeye Red to win the girls 9-10 age group, while Chippewa topped Buckeye on the boys side of the bracket as well. In the 11-12 girls bracket, the Wooster Fusion defeated Smithville Green 3-1 and went to the third tiebreaker to take the title, while the Chippewa boys topped Buckeye for the title.
In the lone contested title in the 13-14 age group, Buckeyes girls defeated Northwestern on penalty kicks.
Each team was guaranteed three games; teams played two games Saturday and one on Sunday, said tournament director Pete Philippon. We had a good team of organizers running it - Mitch Sleek, Rod McMichael, Jeff Battig, Bobbie Ludington, Tamara Gabalski, Cindy Miko and Nikki Fehrenbach – and with the addition of the concession building and restrooms, this is a nice location to run a tournament.
I know the younger age groups were pleased. We had trophies for first and medals for second, and the u-7-8 girls were extremely happy to get trophies.
Philippon was pleased with the turnout, which featured teams from Mansfield.
If you drove by the fields, the teams all had their tents set up in the middle and there, he said. It was really colorful almost like a festival.
Most of all, Philippon was happy with a rarity for this spring as the sun dominated the weekend.
The weather cooperated, he laughed.
