The
Great Lakes Chess Association hosted its 2013 GLCA Scholastic Open chess tournament March 23 at Bowling
Green Middle School. More than 100 students participated in this year’s event, representing 26 schools from
elementary through high school.This year’s overall team champion was Gesu Elementary School from Toledo with
15.5 points who edged out the Montessori School of Bowling Green and Perrysburg’s St. Rose School, who
placed second and third, respectively.Local schools rounding out the top teams were BG Christian Academy,
finishing in sixth place, St. Aloysius in seventh place, BG Middle School in ninth lace, and Crim Elementary
School in 10th place in their first-ever tournament.Other local schools participating in the event were
Conneaut, Kenwood, Fort Meigs, Toth and Perrysburg High School.Schools traveled from as far away as
Cleveland, Ft. Wayne, and Lima to compete at the event.In the Open Section, it was Perrysburg High School’s
Ben Hirt defeating BG’s Nick Van Vorhis in the final round to win first place among individuals. In the
Grades 6-12 Section, BG Middle School students Peyton Keeran and Erick Schempf took third and fourth place,
respectively. In the Grades 3-5 Section, BG Montessori’s Bryan Li and Isabelle Broman won third and fourth
place, while Perrysburg’s Alex Perez and St. Aloysius player Noah Horn finished in sixth and eighth place,
respectively, out of almost 50 students.In the K-2 Section, it was Perrysburg St. Rose 7-year-old Addison
Wilhelms who went undefeated on the day to claim first place among the tournament’s youngest players.
Addison was one of only two players in the entire tournament to finish with a perfect 5-0 record.Area
participants included:vBG High School: Zach McCurdy and Nick Van VorhisBG Middle School: Peyon Keeran, Erick
Schempf and Mitchell DrummBG Christian Academy: Sam Atkinson, Timothy Atkinson, Carter Creps, Matthew Fyfe,
Sam Hise and Caleb PraterBG Conneaut Elementary: Mathias Drumm, Eli Reinhart and Rose WaltersBG Crim
Elementary: Kaleb Davis, Silas Green and Elijah LundquestBG Kenwood Elementary: Cole Bechstein, Juli Becker,
Andy Nelson and Duncan SchulzMontessori School of Bowling Green: Isabelle Broman, Sam Challu, Jackson
Krueger, Bryan Li, Aiden Skinner and Yelia XuSt. Aloysius School: Joe Boyle, Cooper Feehan, Edward Flores,
Noah Horn, Ramiro Lafuente, Rodney Lafuente, Abigail Rich, Brendan Teiken and Tretter KateOther Bowling
Green students were Eli Barber, Isaac Rogers, Spencer Rogers and Ben SchetterOtsego Junior High School:
Joshua Lamb and Zach JonesPerrysburg Ft. Meigs: Alex Perez and Duane Quade Jr.Perrysburg High School: Adam
Chen, Ross Grilliot and Ben HirtPerrysburg Junior High School: Ethan HohmanPerrysburg St. Rose: Claire Hoyt,
Katie Hoyt, Ramya Talla, Saumya Talla, Joey Veltri, Addison Wilhelms and Jada WilhelmsPerrysburg Toth
Elementary School: Duncan Jones and Sparsh Shah