PERRYSBURG – Four teams from Perrysburg Court Law & Government Explorer Post 2306 have
registered to compete in the 2013-14 annual statewide mock trial competition.District competition will take
place on Jan. 31. District winners from throughout the state will advance to the regional competition on
Feb. 21. The state finals are March 6-8 in Columbus.The Ohio Mock Trial Program, established by the Ohio
Center for Law-Related Education in 1983, is a statewide educational program designed to allow students to
become aware of their constitutional rights and responsibilities. It provides students the opportunity to
learn first-hand about the law, court procedures and the judicial system while also building interpretation,
critical thinking and public speaking skills.The Perrysburg Court Explorers have participated in mock trial
since 2003. This year’s team members include Team Casey’s "Legal Lightning:" Areeb Ahmed, Ceimoani
Bumrah, Ben Hirt, Steven Hugg, Michael Kepner, Ryan McConnell, Alexandra Phlegar, Joseph Rakowski and Henry
Yang.Members of Team Nowland "Justice League" are: Megan Galle, Julia Gonzales, Ross Grilliot,
Savannah Guy, Alex Katko, Mahnur Khan, Kaity Laumann, Amanda Parent, Meric Pope and Noah Rossler.Members of
Team Riesen "Sugar Daddies" are:  Emily Cottle, Michael Gerber, Alex Leong, Sam Malhas, Zack
McKenna, Alex Miller, Will Robinson, Irsyad Sjah, Clara Thornberry and Niara Williams.Members of Team Weiss
"Freedom Fighters" are: William Baldoni Jordan, Alex Buzzell, Nate Dobbs, Ali Kopp, Alisa Leong,
Nehal Methi, Alisha Ohanian, Nathan Rowland Miller and Savannah Stein.Attorneys Peter R. Casey III, Adam
Nowland, Kent Riesen and Dan Weiss are coaches for the teams. Coaching is also supported by Judge S. Dwight
Osterud, University of Toledo law student Jake Studer, Explorer alumni Krista Huff, Kaylyn Weisenburger,
Nick Bade and Russ Quick, drama consultant Pinky Edens and teaching adviser Dr. Beth Rohrbacher.In this
year’s case, Phillips High School agrees to license naming rights of its field to a large corporation. In
response, students organize protests both in school and on the field. The school district responds by
installing security cameras, searching lockers of the students involved and filing a lawsuit seeking an
order authorizing the school to remove the students from the field. The students claim that the school
district’s actions violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights."One of the reasons our program is
so successful is due to the cooperation Dr. Short gives us to allow these Perrysburg High School students
release time to compete in this state-wide competition. We thank Dr. Short and the Perrysburg School
District for working closely with us," Osterud said.