The Western Middle School Quiz Bowl Teams competed in the Charter Oak Regional Quiz Bowl Tournament on Saturday as part of the National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC (NAQT).
Western’s A team has qualified for the National Tournament, after ranking 4th in Saturday’s competition. The team was comprised of 8th graders Toby Hirsch and Spencer Macri (captain), 6th grader John Trudeau and 5th grader Brandon Yu.
WMS Quiz Bowl Western Middle School’s A Team with Coaches. Back row (from left to right) – Jones, Giorlando DeRosa. Front row (from left to right) – Hirsh, Trudeau, Yu, and Macri.
Yu, who attends Parkway Elementary School, was a top scorer at the competition, ranking 5th for overall correct responses in the preliminary rounds.
In the preliminary rounds Western’s A team defeated teams from Tuxedo Park, NY, River Dell, NJ, Ben Franklin Middle School, PA, and Darien, CT, falling only to Tenafly, NJ. In the championship round, they fell to Middlesex’s B team, from Darien, but defeated North Canaan, CT and Middlesex’s D team. In the third place match, they fell again to Tenafly, NJ.
Western also sent another team to the tournament comprised of 8th graders Lucas Gazianis (captain) and Ryan LaPietra, and 7th graders John Fredette and Dylan Maloney. The team went 1-4 in the preliminary rounds, defeating a team from Easton, CT.
Western’s team lost to Boston College High Middle School, MA and Middlesex Middle School, in Darien by extremely small margins.
Gazianis led the team in individual questions answered correctly.
The team is coached by two Western Middle School teachers, Michele Giorlando DeRosa and Ryan Jones, who teach 7th/8th grade English and Social Studies respectively.
The tournament was hosted by Middlesex Middle School in Darien. Western’s Quiz Bowl teams will compete again in March. The National Tournament will be held in Atlanta Georgia, May 6-8, 2015.
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