Middlesex Middle School (MMS) Quiz Bowl earned their spot at nationals earlier this month by placing second and fourth place.
The wins came during the 7th annual Charter Oak Scholastic Open Quiz Bowl tournament held at Middlesex.
The competition included 34 teams from a dozen schools from the tri-state area, including 10 teams from Middlesex.
“This year’s field was quite possibly the toughest we’ve ever faced, but I am proud to announce that Middlesex captured 2nd and 4th place, and have qualified for the Quiz Bowl Nationals in Chicago in May,” said teacher and Quiz Bowl Adviser Ken Romeo.
The Middlesex A team (8th graders Kiran Ebrahimi, Michael Dong, and James Leone and 7th grader Nick Yoo) made their 7th consecutive trip to the finals, but fell to the champions from Greens Farms. The B team (8th graders Rhea Bhat, Luke Smith, Evan O’Rourke, and Noah Mobarik) had a deep run in the playoffs which included impressive wins over Western (Greenwich) and Tuxedo Park (New York).
Competing in the Novice Division (for 6th graders and other first-timers), the Middlesex G team (6th graders Sophie Bickford, Grace Liu, Leyton Tucci, Grant Wang, and Liam Tomaszewski) finished 8 – 1 on the day, placing 2nd in the division. Individually, Evan O’Rourke was the 4th overall leading scorer, 8th grader James Leone was 9th, and 8th grader Andy Lin was 10th, and in the Novice Division, 7th grader Tabby Auster was the 2nd leading scorer, Grace Liu was 4th, Sophie Bickford was 5th, 6th grader Adi Pai was 6th.
Along with Romeo, the Quiz Bowl coaching staff includes: Mike Bowersox, Barbara Ivey, Pat Mendoza, Liisa Petersen, and Andrew Turriago.
The next competition is Saturday, February 3, 2018 in River’s Edge NJ.
“We are looking forward to a rematch with Greens Farms, and to continue demonstrating our pride in our school and our community,” said Romeo.
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— Marc Marin is district director of instructional technology. This article is republished from the Darien Public Schools News of the Week newsletter.