On Jan. 10, 2024 Del Val kicked off its winter pep rally with its first annual Wing Bowl.
Judges Stephanie Rifflard, Sean Lynch, Ryan Murphy, Amanda Matlee, Jennifer MacDade and Nicole Stoudt entered the gym, followed by contestants Alex Apgar, Ben Rader, Skylar Regep, Nicole Polo, Luke Brogan, and Mr. Kurtz, followed and sat down in front of their wings.
Alex Apgar raised the most money for the Hunterdon Food Bank, so he got the first round bye. Things started to get messy quickly as each contestant ate the wings.
At the end of round one, Polo, Regep and Brogan moved on, with Apgar joining them for round two.
In between rounds, the crowd voted for best entourage, crowning Polo’s entourage with the title.
The Wing Bowl ended with Alex Apgar winning the contest.
Del Val held its first, and hopefully not last, Wing Bowl at the winter pep rally. This year’s pep rally saw Tuffy replaced by a giant chicken in honor of the first annual Wing Bowl competition.
To make things extra exciting, each contestants entourage was able to run out into the gym after being announced.
Certain teachers volunteered to help provide the contestants with more wings, if they were to run out. These teachers dressed as chickens and helped set up the wing bowl.
Contestants who did not earn the first round bye, had to participate in the first round. To keep this wing bowl competitive, not every contestant in the first round made it through, being eliminated.
To ensure the competition was fair, the teachers went around to make sure each contestant fully ate the wings, leaving no meat behind.
Not only did students get creative with the Wing Bowl, but Mr. Kurtz, a Del Val teacher and Voorhees wrestling coach, kept his cool as he challenged Del Val students in the Wing Bowl.
The crowds fan favorite team may not have won overall, however they did win best enterouage. This team s still being talked about around the school as everyone wants them to make a re-appearance at another school event.
Sophomore, Alex Apgar, was able to secure the win and the first round bye! Apgar collected the most money from the community securing his first round bye and overall win. Del Val hopes to continue the Wing Bowl for years to come, as it was a huge success.
Afterward, Vox Blue sang “Traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo, with soloists Audrey LaRue, Farrah Roberson, and Swara Modi.
Dakota Krause and Owen LaRue spoke about this year’s musical, “Newsies,” before the coaches of the different winter sports spoke to the students about their teams.
Boys basketball coach Mike DePaolo introduced the varsity players and congratulated Frankie Denvir on his 1,000th career point.
Girls basketball coach Ben Ibach was not able to attend the pep rally, so seniors Linsey Godown and Courtney Janetzko spoke about their season.
Unified basketball coach Dan Casserly introduced his players and talked about their upcoming game. He also thanked the students in Buddies club for their support before wrestling coach Andy Fitz introduced the wrestling teams.
First, he introduced the school’s first girls wrestling team. There are seven girls, and next year he wants to double or even triple the amount of wrestlers. Fitz then announced the boys team, which is ranked 12th in New Jersey with two tournament titles.
Fitz then went on to introduce the seniors including Anderson Olcott, who is ranked eighth in New Jersey, and Matt Roche, who is ranked fourth in New Jersey.
Principal Kays thanked ShopRite for donating the wings for Wing Bowl and shared that the $845 raised by the contestants of the Wing Bowl would be going to the Hunterdon County Food Bank.
Later that night, the community gathered in the Hutch to watch the 17th annual Gold Rush.
As the lights dimmed, the wrestlers ran into the auditorium and began warming up before the Del Val choir sang the National Anthem.
The first bout was weight class 165. Del Val wrestler Luke Sinkiewicz and Voorhees wrestler Logan Wiecoreck faced off with Wiecoreck controling the majority of the match, but Sinkiewicz played good defense.
Voorhees won the bout, making the score 0-3 Voorhees.
Voorhees forfeited the second bout to give Del Val a 6-3 lead.
The third bout saw wrestlers Anderson Olcott for Del Val and Dimonsthenis Maroulis for Voorhees face off at 190 lbs.
Olcott put up a winning fight, eventually pinning Maroulis and putting Del Val ahead 12-3.
At 215, Del Val’s Branden Sozanski faced Voorhees’ Trevor Zabroski.
Sozanski put up a good fight, but Zabroski got the upper hand, pinning Sozanski. Del Val’s lead was cut to 12-9.
The fifth bout was a forfeited by Voorhees, extending Del Val’s lead to 18-9.
Del Val’s Tristan Fawthrop went against Voorhees’ Tyler Ondovik in the sixth bout.
Both 106 lb. wrestlers put up a great fight, but Fawthrop took the win, making the score 21-9 Del Val.
113 lb. Del Val wrestler Lucas Beyers took on Johnny D’Andrea of Voorhees. Both wrestlers put up an equal fight, tying the first round. D’Andrea got the upper hand and Beyers struggled the remaining two rounds. D’Andrea won the seventh bout, cutting Del Val’s lead to 21-12.
At 120 lbs., Jake Taylor of Del Val defeated Christian Bollette of Voorhees, and 126 lb. Del Val wrestler Jaden Perez pinned Voorhees’ Joseph Gardner, putting Del Val ahead 31-12.
The tenth and 11th bouts were both forfeited by Voorhees, and Del Val’s Jackson Bush pinned Charlie Cole, widening Del Val’s lead to 49-12.
Del Val 150 lb. Ben Levy pinned Cole, who wrestled up a weight class, and the 14th and final bout was a forfeited by Voorhees.
Del Val won the Gold Rush 61-12, and tallied Del Val’s 845 win for the program.
