15-0 Scholastic
Bowl Team Wins Districts,
To Compete at Regionals
Feb. 14
By Stephen Twentyman (February
12, 2004)
The indomitable George Mason Scholastic
Bowl team completed yet another undefeated season with a formidable performance
at the Bull Run District competition, which took place at Clarke County
High School on January 31.
 |
With their three decisive
victories, Mason’s record improved to 15-0 as they now prepare for the
regional competition at Riverheads High School, 10 miles outside of Staunton.
Mason entered Districts with a 12-0
regular season record and continued that run with impressive matches against
Clarke County, Manassas Park, and Rappahannock. The Clarke game ended 275-85
in Mason’s favor and the second game, against Manassas Park, finished 290-120
for the Mustangs. The latter was a much closer game than the score would
indicate: Manassas Park fared well in the opening two rounds, providing
tight competition. However, the Cougars’ team imploded in the third round
and the Mustangs pulled away to clinch the game and a berth in the district
final. |
Proudly displaying their Bull Run
District Tournament
trophy, members of the still undefeated Scholastic
Bowl
Team celebrate before preparing for their upcoming
regional
tournament competition that will take place at Riverheads
High School. From left to right, are Stephen Twentyman,
Evan Cunningham, sponsor Jamie Scharff, Rahul Gupta,
and
Joseph Mauro. (Photo by Angelyn Wood) |
George Mason returned to dominant
form in their third match, routing Rappahannock 240-80 to seize the district
title. Both teams will advance to the regional competition.
The Mustangs were without senior
Kaitlin Bottock and junior Casey Smirniotopoulos for the tournament; both
had prior engagements, leaving the George Mason team to a bare-bones lineup
of senior team captain Evan Cunningham and seniors Rahul Gupta, Joseph
Mauro, and Stephen Twentyman. Mason proved itself resilient and put in
a dominant performance regardless.
| Cunningham, Gupta, and
Twentyman return to NBC-4 studios on February 21, a week after regionals,
to tape a second-round match of It’s Academic. All George Mason
students and faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend this free taping.
See Mr. Scharff (trailer 8, on B days only) for details. The state Scholastic
Bowl tournament takes place on the weekend after the taping, Feb. 28, at
the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
The reader may have noticed that
five of the six team members are seniors. Indeed, the team faces a potential
crisis after this current season. Mr. Scharff encourages all underclassmen
with the "slightest bit of interest" to come to his trailer (#8) directly
after school on Wednesday or Thursday, whichever is a B day. |
 |
A few pieces of cake are missing,
but the members of
the undefeated Scholastic Bowl Team can still
decipher the congratulatory message in the large
sheet cake that was part of the celebration of their
district tournament victory and their undefeated
season. (Photo by Emir Parrotta) |
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