The 36th annual Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce took place at the Wickliffe Italian-American Club this weekend, featuring nearly three days of bocce, entertainment and more. Tournament play began Friday evening and was scheduled to culminate on Sunday in a women's championship at 4 p.m. and men's championship at 6 p.m. The top prize was listed at $8,000, with a total of over $21,000 in prize money available to top-placing teams.

Larry Koval, media director for the tournament and the Wickliffe Italian-American Club, mentioned that there were just 16 teams when the tournament was first played at the club."Then one of our members — Tony Continenza — had the idea to make the event more than just a bocce tournament by adding entertainment and expanding the food options. He also looked for various sponsors to help us ramp up our marketing efforts. We built three more courts, and then covered those."