Northwood mayor Edward Schimmel competes in the obstacle course challenge during the XLII Italian Bowl Mayors Cup Challenge on June 25 at Central Catholic High School in Toledo. The event kicked off a week of festivities leading up to the Italian Bowl game featuring the two best teams from the Italian Football League playing American-style football on July 1 at Glass Bowl Stadium in Toledo. This will be the first time the game is played outside of Europe. (Scott W. Grau/Sentinel-Tribune)
TOLEDO — A historic event for Italian and European American football will take place Saturday, as the University of Toledo’s Glass Bowl Stadium hosted the XLII Italian Bowl.
It marked the first time in Italian Football League history that Italy’s national championship will be played outside of Europe.
During the weekly celebration leading up to Italy’s ‘big game,’ four Wood County mayors got into the action.
Mayors from several cities across the region competed in a football skills competition at Central Catholic High School’s Gallagher Stadium on Sunday, June 25 with the winner awarded the inaugural Mayors’ Cup during halftime of the big game.
The event kicks off a week of festivities leading up to the Italian Bowl game featuring the two best teams from the Italian Football League playing American-style football on July 1 at Glass Bowl Stadium in Toledo. This will be the first time the game is played outside of Europe.
(Photo by: Scott W. Grau – Sentinel-Tribune)
City of Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz invited Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan mayors to participate.
Two former college football players, Matt Shanahan, who is the mayor of Tontogany, and Tim Pedro, who is the mayor of Waterville, committed to the event.
They were joined by mayors from Findlay, Oregon, Defiance, Northwood (Edward Schimmel), Port Clinton, Risingsun (Rick Whetsel), Clay Center, Millbury (Michael D. Timmons), Rossford (Neal A. MacKinnon III), Lima, and Luna Pier.
Kapszukiewicz tweeted that he was “challenging his inner Chuck Ealey (former UT quarterback) during the competition, even taking first in the passing competition, but Oregon Mayor Mike Seferian was the overall winner.
The event kicks off a week of festivities leading up to the Italian Bowl game featuring the two best teams from the Italian Football League playing American-style football on July 1 at Glass Bowl Stadium in Toledo. This will be the first time the game is played outside of Europe.
(Photo by: Scott W. Grau – Sentinel-Tribune)
The “Spaghetti Bowl”, the first American football game played in Italy, took place on January 1, 1945 in Florence, and featured the United States Fifth Army and Twelfth Air Force.
Nearly eight decades later, a group of American businesspeople and football fans are bringing the best Italian teams to the birthplace of the game for a first of its kind championship event.
In the game Saturday, Guelfi Firenze and the Parma Panthers were to face off, serving as the climax of a 14-day celebration of Italian culture, sport, and international camaraderie.
For the teams, the XLII Italian Bowl offered total immersion in the unique atmosphere only the United States can create around championship football.
The event kicks off a week of festivities leading up to the Italian Bowl game featuring the two best teams from the Italian Football League playing American-style football on July 1 at Glass Bowl Stadium in Toledo. This will be the first time the game is played outside of Europe.
(Photo by: Scott W. Grau – Sentinel-Tribune)
Participants, mostly Italian locals, were welcomed to the U.S. with a dinner at the Glass Bowl stadium, travel to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in nearby Canton and play in the state-of-the-art 26,000 seat facility on gameday.
“Taking the IFL final to Toledo in the United States, where the game originated, has the hallmarks of an epic adventure for Italian American football,” said FIDAF Deputy Vice President Fabio Tortosa.
“We are grateful to have this extraordinary opportunity for growth as it will positively impact the entire federation as well as the two teams in the final.”
The Parma Panthers and Guelfi Firenze both finished the IFL regular season with 7-1 records. While Guelfi leads the teams’ all-time matchup 9 wins to 3, the Panthers delivered Firenze their sole loss during the 2023 season.
The Panthers, who boasted the No. 1 defense this season, are tied for the most IFL championship wins all-time at five and lifted the Gionni Colombo trophy as recently as 2021.
The event kicks off a week of festivities leading up to the Italian Bowl game featuring the two best teams from the Italian Football League playing American-style football on July 1 at Glass Bowl Stadium in Toledo. This will be the first time the game is played outside of Europe.
(Photo by: Scott W. Grau – Sentinel-Tribune)
Local product Tommaso Mondardi led their offense in 2023 with 15 touchdown passes and just one interception. John Grisham, who was to be in attendance Saturday, famously featured the Parma Panthers in his novel,
Playing for Pizza, Guelfi Firenze are looking to repeat as champions after their 2022 Italian Bowl victory over the Seamen of Milan.
The dynamic quarterback product out of Dartmouth, Jared Gerbino, leads Guelfi Firenze, rushing for 13 touchdowns and adding nine more through the air during their 2023 campaign.
The XLII Italian Bowl offered fans so much more than the game itself. Celebrations kicked off with the “Passport to the Taste of Italy”, a week-long showcase of Italian cuisine at nearly 40 different restaurants in the Toledo region.
NFL players and alumni hosted a youth football camp on June 30 and local businesses had a chance to network with Italian companies at The Italian Bowl Business Forum, which was to promote the Toledo/Italy trade and investment pipeline
“The IFL final, and all that comes with it, will facilitate more exchanges and greater understanding between different cultures, further cooperation, and more positive interactions for thousands of people,” said Kapsukiewicz.
Fans can visit local and Italian artisans and vendors at a special edition of the Toledo Night Market that will start at 4 p.m. in the Flatlands next to the Glass Bowl on game day.
After the new IFL champions are crowned, the crowd will head to the Toledo riverfront to watch the city’s July 4 fireworks presentation.
