Firelands Challenge: 'A close match'

SANDUSKY — Three teams stayed neck and neck in the second match of the Firelands Challenge championship. Two teams remained tied at the end of the march. And one appeared to be in the driver's seat in the pursuit of its 13th consecutive title. Firelands Challenge is an academic competition for local high schools organized by North Point Educational Service Center. The students compete to answer questions from numerous academic subjects. Thanks to their efforts in the regular season and playoffs, Edison, St. Mary Central Catholic School and Norwalk have a chance at this year's title. Each match of the championship is hosted at one of the competing schools. Match two was hosted at Sandusky Central Catholic School. The match concluded with a tie between Edison and St. Mary. Both teams scored 48 points. Norwalk followed with 36 points. "Talk about a close match," the competition's coordinator, William Muthig, said. Edison still has a lead in the cumulative championship round scores. The Chargers have a total of 97 points, the Truckers have 66 points and the Panthers are close behind with 64 points. Match two highlights All three teams started the match by answering their questions in the current events category correctly. By the halfway point of the match, all three teams were separated by only four points. Edison and Norwalk both had stand-out moments during the match. Edison answered both toss-up questions correctly and Norwalk had a clean sweep in the first lightning round by quickly buzzing and answering every question. Both teams earned eight points for these efforts. Word from the players St. Mary's team captains, Gianna Pelz and Bailey Woodruff, admitted the first match did not go the way they were hoping, but their efforts leading into the second paid off as they prepared to compete in front of their classmates and school's staff. "I am very happy with how we played," Bailey said. "It's a lot better than what we performed last week and so there's a lot of things to celebrate but there's also a lot of things that I think we can still work on for that next match." Pelz said she is proud of her team's performance in front of St. Mary's student body, but the crowd added to the pressure to do well. "I think its almost a disadvantage because it makes you nervous," Pelz said. "It's also nice to hear them clapping when you get an answer right. It's good motivation." The captains said they will focus on physics going into the final match because the other two teams also struggled with this category. St. Mary can use this to its advantage by picking up questions other teams will answer incorrectly. When it comes to competing against Edison knowing there is a possibility of ending their long line of titles, Woodruff said she believes every team has a pressure to outperform the opponent. "We were definitely more confident before the first match because we beat them in the regular season," Woodruff said. "Now it's just trying to even the playing field." Norwalk's captains, Samantha Chappell and Lilly Farmer, similarly to St. Mary, said their team has some improvements to make before the final competition. They will specifically focus on answering their own questions and the math and physics categories. Chappell and Farmer's team finished the regular season with the highest number of points which means their school will host the final match in front of their classmates. The team captains said they were excited to compete at their own school and show their classmates their performance in this "nerdy" competition. They said it will be different competing in front of a crowd size larger than their two opponents. Also similarly to St. Mary's team, Chappell and Farmer said their team can see Edison has its heart set on its next win, but they want it too. "A win would be really big for us," Farmer said. "We haven't won before and we got so close in years before. We got second place last year." Edison's team captains, George Rhodes and Maylie Weilnau, said they will continue to focus on everything they have been doing to get them this far in the competition. Edison's advisor, Amy Facemire, said they will run through the challenge's categories in the days leading up to the final match, but they will also work on staying relaxed and focused. Facemire said she will continue to be "cautiously happy" but is glad to see the results from the second match still leaves Edison with a sizable lead for the final match. She added that she knows anything can still happen before the champion school is named and backed this up by speaking highly of her team's opponents. "This was an amazing match from all three teams," Facemire said. "It was super close all the way through — Norwalk's lightning round and St. Mary's bounce in its score. It really shows why all three teams are here." Same as the other teams, Edison is no stranger to the pressure associated with winning the challenge. Facemire said the start of the season was not her team's best, but once the students started to feel the pressure, she said they began to step up to the plate. She admitted she also feels pressure in her position, but the school district is in her corner. "There's always that pressure but it's great to see the support the school has for us," Facemire said. "People are always coming up and asking how we did." Scoreboard The first match was hosted last month at Edison Schools. At the start of the second match, challenge coordinator William Muthig announced an update to the first match's scores after teams submitted appeals for corrections. Edison and Norwalk's scores both went up by four points. Match 1 scores after corrections: Edison 49 Norwalk 30 St. Mary 16 Match 2 scores: Edison 48 Norwalk 36 St. Mary 48 Cumulative: Edison 97 Norwalk 66 St. Mary 64 The third and final match of the championship takes place Feb. 12 at Norwalk High School.