Undefeated: BGCA beats Elmwood for tourney title

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BLOOMDALE – Bowling Green Christian Academy ended its quiz bowl season undefeated, and after two years, finally bested Elmwood to be crowned champions.

BGCA entered Wednesday’s Northwest Ohio 2023 Quiz Bowl Tournament for firth/sixth graders as the top seed. Elmwood was ranked third.

But Elmwood had defeated the academy each of the past two years to take the trophy.

“The kids couldn’t wait. They wanted redemption,” said BGCA Coach Happy Brooks. “They knew going in, that’s who beat us last year. They talk, they know.

“They’re smart kids,” she said.

The academy beat Elmwood in all three rounds: 52-24, 40-30 and 50-30 for a final score of 142-84.

Each match consisted of three rounds and each round has 25 questions. Teams got four points for a correct answer; a team that answered correctly on redirect got two points.

Caroline Cooley, who is a fifth grader at BGCA, said she had hoped her team continued what it had been doing all season – beating every other team.

Classmate Nathan Malanga wasn’t as confident.

“Most of the time whenever I think we’re going to win, we lose. I jinx it,” he said.

Sixth grader James Keylock rejoiced.

“It feels good,” he said, “because we lost to them last year.”

Brooks said she has two sixth graders on her team of nine, and she expects her fifth graders to return next year.

“They love this,” she said.

Her team also included Eli Stalica, Austin Long, Jack Herr, Alaina Baker, Atticus Genson and Trenton Grills.

BGCA, which entered the tournament with a bye, defeated Fostoria, 120-76, before entering the championship round.

Fostoria had automatically advanced after the team from Otsego Elementary didn’t show.

Elmwood had defeated North Baltimore’s Powell Elementary in the quarterfinals, 148-36, and then defeated second seed Hilfiker Elementary from Gibsonburg in the next round, 116-86.

Students faced questions on geography, music, history, math, and spelling.

Shipley Morlock, an Elmwood sixth grader, said this is his last year with quiz bowl, and he would have preferred to exit as a champion.

“I worked hard to be here,” he said.

Madeleine “Lainie” Brubaker, whose area of expertise is mythology, hoped Elmwood would win.

Paxton Reynolds said he’s really strong in naming countries because that’s what he does when he’s bored.

Elmwood only had three sixth graders on its team of 10, but got plenty of support from first-year members.

“I had amazing fifth graders,” said Coach Sandy Laborie. “I’ve never had so many scoring fifth graders their first year.”

The Elmwood team also included Julia Cruz, Elijah Henning, Brielle McCune, Maggi Pitchford, Ryder Rothenbuhler, Blake Salyers and Casten Syzch.

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