WELLSVILLE - Wellsville Central School’s marching band is combining the traditional pomp of playing and performing with a modern twist that is getting the team noticed around the state.

After a win this weekend, the undefeated Wellsville Marching Lions are turning heads with precision performances and familiar tunes.

Band director Casey Vanderstouw is in his third year with the program, which has been active in competition for 22 years.

Mr. Vanderstouw said the musicians stay busy and practice throughout the year. Students can potentially play through the whole year with the school’s field band, marching band and pep band.

Preparing for the competitions is all about consistency, planning and repetition, he said.

“I think that any kid can do it, and I don’t think it’s specific to Wellsville,” Mr. Vanderstouw said. “Every kid has the ability to be successful with the right plan, the right people and the right school to be supportive.”

This season, Wellsville has won five shows, including a “thrilling” win at the 35th annual Norwich Fall Festival of Bands on Oct. 18.

The Marching Lions remained undefeated by scoring an 80.60, defeating the also previously undefeated Johnson City Wildcats, the defending New York State Field Band Conference Small School 3 champion, who scored an 80.20.

Coming into Saturday’s competition, Johnson City - a suburb of Binghamton - had the highest score of the season, while Wellsville had the second-highest score in the class.

“This past Saturday was really incredible, we went to Norwich and took on the defending state champions,” Mr. Vanderstouw said. “They were in first place all season and we beat them in their own backyard.”

This season marks just the second time in the program’s history of competition that the Marching Lions will enter the state championships undefeated.

Unlike traditional organized sports, marching bands cannot rely on one star player. Everyone must bring their best to every competition.

“Everyone is a starter, no one is less important than anyone else,” Mr. Vanderstouw said. “There is nobody on the bench ... there is no bench.”

He said the Marching Lions are distinct because they focus on performing adaptation of modern pop music. Last year, the band performed a set of Bon Jovi songs. This year, they are playing Elton John’s hits.

“My philosophy is that we have to do something that connects with kids,” he said.

Mr. Vanderstouw and a team of writers break down and rebuild the arrangements of the original pop songs. He said the results are familiar and strikingly original at the same time.

With a new focus, the Marching Lions have renewed a belief in Wellsville’s tradition of success in marching. The Marching Lions’ performances during pep rallies quickly endeared them to the student body a few years ago, according to Mr. Vanderstouw.

“We performed (at a pep rally) and as we were walking out, a drum major said, ‘We just made marching band cool again’ and that has always stuck with me because that’s the idea,“ he said.

The new approach carries on into other aspects of the team, like the color guard.

Karen Watt is in her first year as the Wellsville Marching Lions’ color guard director. She said that the modern arrangements change the way the color guard approaches their performance.

“The style of movement and what they do is completely different than if we were doing a Tchaikovsky piece,” she said. “It’s not only what they are doing, but the costuming, the equipment that they spin, everything they do is different.”

Ms. Watt said Mr. Vanderstouw has the marching band program on the right track.

“I think the kids are just working real hard, and they can see a chance to be the top band in their class,” she said.

Mr. Vanderstouw said the accolades and titles are nice, but the students earn more than just trophies as members of the Marching Lions.

“The skills that they learn here cross over to other areas of school in terms of leadership, responsibility and sportsmanship,” he said.

The Marching Lions have two engagements this week. On Thursday, they will perform a community show at the Wellsville Central School football field at 7 p.m. leading into Sunday, when the team heads for the state championship competition at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse at 8:50 a.m.

(Contact reporter Kip Doyle at kdoyleoth@inbox.com)

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