Competing at the Gateway Athletic Conference Scholar Bowl meet on Saturday, March 9, at Winfield High School, Washington High School won its fifth straight GAC title and eighth in the last nine years.
During the past nine years, Washington has posted a 69-2 game record.
Washington, coached by Davis Dennis, was represented at the GAC meet by Sour Bade, Hayden Ley, Vincent Hoang and Nathan Oreskovic. Noa Nappier was the scorekeeper.
The top-scoring players were awarded all-conference medals, which saw Senior Vincent Hoang make the first team (second place overall) and senior Hayden Ley make the second team (eighth place overall).
Washington defeated Winfield to claim the GAC crown. The match was close the whole way through. Washington led by 20 at the half, then pulled away a bit, only to see Winfield come back and take a 10-point lead with only four tossups remaining. Washington claimed tossup 17, Winfield tossup 18, and Washington tossup 19. Going into the last tossup cycle, Washington led, 290-285.
On the science question, Winfield's best player decided to risk it and buzzed in after only the first sentence of the question. He did not pull the correct answer and therefore his team was locked out from buzzing in. Washington calmly waited until the end to be sure to grab it and then pulled 20 points on the bonus to win, 320-285.
Of the 18 schools in the GAC, 11 schools fielded teams, which were seeded into two preliminary brackets. The top three teams from each bracket competed in the playoffs.
In prelims, Washington defeated Ft. Zumwalt West 395-150, then beat future playoff team Holt, 545-160. A 450-145 win over North Point came before a win over the playoff-bound Orchard Farm, 420-140. As Washington’s bracket only had five teams, they had a bye round before entering the lunch break undefeated and earning a spot in the playoffs.
The top-scoring players were awarded All-Conference medals, which saw Senior Vincent Hoang making the first team (second place overall) and senior Hayden Ley making the second team (eighth place overall).
Following lunch, there were three more games to play. First came the second place team from the other bracket, eventual fourth place Ft. Zumwalt South. After a 485-140 victory, Washington then beat Francis Howell North, 575-70 to set up the last round between the two undefeated teams on the day, Washington and Winfield.
Washington has nine total GAC titles (2004, 2016-18, 2020-Current), Francis Howell Central has five (2002-03, 2006, 2008-09), Francis Howell has four (2011-14), and Orchard Farm (2015) and Ft. Zumwalt North (2019) both have one.
Washington next competes on April 6 at Moberly before heading to districts at North Point on April 13.
GAC Scholar Bowl Champions
Washington High School won the Gateway Athletic Conference Scholar Bowl title on Saturday, March 9, at Winfield High School. Team members, from left, were Sour Bade, Hayden Ley, Vincent Hoang and Nathan Oreskovic.