Academic Tournament Schedule 2023
Don't forget to support the Frederick County teams competing in the "It's Academic" tournament Saturday mornings at 10 AM on WJZ-TV!
See Weekly Re-Caps below.
Week One January 6, 2023 "Astronomy" |
Host | ||||
Match 1 | Middletown | Brunswick | Walkersville | Tuscarora | |
Match 2 | Oakdale | Tuscarora | Linganore | Middletown | |
Match 3 | Catoctin | Frederick | Thomas Johnson | Urbana | |
Match 4 | Urbana | Catoctin | Oakdale | Frederick | |
Week Two January 13, 2023 "British and American Romanticism" |
Host | ||||
Match 1 | Thomas Johnson | Middletown | Urbana | Linganore | |
Match 2 | Catoctin | Linganore | Walkersville | Thomas Johnson | |
Match 3 | Frederick | Tuscarora | Brunswick | Oakdale | |
Match 4 | Oakdale | Frederick | Walkersville | Brunswick | |
Week Three |
Host | ||||
Match 1 | Thomas Johnson | Oakdale | Brunswick | Frederick | |
Match 2 | Frederick | Linganore | Urbana | Oakdale | |
Match 3 | Catoctin | Tuscarora | Middletown | Walkersville | |
Match 4 | Walkersville | Tuscarora | Urbana | Catoctin | |
Week Four January 27, 2023 "World Cup Soccer" |
Host | ||||
Match 1 | Thomas Johnson | Tuscarora | Walkersville | Catoctin | |
Match 2 | Catoctin | Brunswick | Frederick | Thomas Johnson | |
Match 3 | Oakdale | Middletown | Linganore | Urbana | |
Match 4 | Urbana | Linganore | Brunswick | Middletown | |
Week Five February 3, 2023 "World Religions" |
Host | ||||
Match 1 | Catoctin | Brunswick | Urbana | Tuscarora | |
Match 2 | Frederick | Middletown | Tuscarora | Brunswick | |
Match 3 | Oakdale | Walkersville | Thomas Johnson | Linganore | |
Match 4 | Linganore | Thomas Johnson | Middletown | Walkersville | |
Week Six February 10, 2023 "Post WWII Europe" |
Host | ||||
Match 1 | 10th seed | 9th seed | 8th seed | 7th seed | 1st seed |
Match 2 | 6th seed | 5th seed | 4th seed | 7th seed | |
Match 3 | 3rd seed | 2nd seed | 1st seed | 4th seed | |
Week 7 February 17, 2023 "Marvel Cinematic Universe" |
(from week 6) | Host | |||
Match 1 | Winner match 1 | Winner match 2 | Winner match 3 | 4th match 1 | |
Match 2 | 2nd match 1 | 2nd match 2 | 2nd match 3 | Winner match 3 | |
Match 3 | 3rd match 1 | 3rd match 2 | 3rd match 4 | 4th match 1 | 2nd match 2 |
Week Eight February 24, 2023 "Greek Mythology" |
Host | ||||
Match 1 | 10th seed | 9th seed | Team ranked 3rd | ||
Match 2 | 3rd seed | 4th seed | 9th or 10th seed | Team ranked 2nd | |
Match 3 | 2nd seed | 5th seed | 8th seed | Team ranked 1st | |
Match 4 | 1st seed | 6th seed | 7th seed | Team ranked 4th | |
Match 5 | Winner match 4 | Winner match 3 | Winner match 2 | Loser match 1 |
Week seven’s Academic Team matches were a fantastic finish to an exciting year with tense matches and many players coming through in the clutch. The number of ties was not only unusual, but having so many strong teams competing led many to describe the season as unprecedented. Many teams showed great poise and consistency in handling the pressure of when to buzz in and when to not buzz in. Several schools seem to be reaching their peak at just the right time. It certainly makes next week’s one night tournament look like a don’t-miss event. Here are the recaps:
Match 1: Cougars 7, Lancers 15, Patriots 15
These three closely-matched teams jockeyed for position throughout the match. After an up and down first round on the surprise topic of candy, each turned in a perfect round two - the only time it has happened this year. After two rounds, the Cougars had a single point lead over both schools. Linganore’s excellent math team pulled 4 points in the math round to take the lead by 3 over TJ and Catoctin, who both crept closer in the Marvel Universe round. It was the final round though that proved most exciting with Linganore gaining 6 points and Thomas Johnson’s squad gaining 8 to tie at the buzzer. Linganore needed a clean victory to gain the prize for finishing 1st in the regular season, and the tie forced them to wait on their fate.
Match 2: Cadets 13, Railroaders 6, Lions 10
The second match began with the Lions knowing if they could pull out the win they would have a clear shot to finish in first place for the regular season, but it was the Railroaders who stormed out in round one, earning 4 points on the surprise category of words starting with C. They kept the lead after two rounds, leading 9 to 5 over both the Cadets and Lions. Both Brunswick and Walkersville slipped in the math round, and the Cadets picked up a point to make it tighter. The fourth round was key to Frederick’s comeback as they took the lead gaining 3 critical points. The final round was won by Walkersville, but they had too much ground to cover as the Cadets showed poise and grabbed 4 points and the victory. It was the second upset of the night, and Urbana suddenly had a chance to earn the first place finish with the other leaders faltering.
Match 3: Knights 12, Titans 9, Hawks 12, Bears 9
The final match started as expected with Urbana taking a lead 4-3 over Oakdale. The second round was a bit of a surprise as the Knights and Titans went 6/6 while the Hawks could only muster 4. Urbana kept its lead, but only by 1 point over the other three. The Math Round and the special topic round both went by with not much change, Urbana and Middletown were tied with 8, Oakdale had 7 and the Titans had 6. The Knights showed a new aggressiveness grabbing 4 of the final 20 points, and Urbana did the same to finish in a tie. The Titans picked up 3 points in the same final round, and the Bears nabbed 2 to create the unusual tie. It was an extremely well played round, and the Knights denying the clean victory to the Hawks meant the Lancers are 2023’s regular season champions.
The FCPS Academic Team Tournament is in its 42nd year of competition. The teams play matches in five rounds, the first round is called the Lightning round with 10 questions on a surprise topic. The second round is a team round, where without buzzers, teams attempt to answer six questions from six completely different areas. The third round is a ten question mix of math questions and regular academic trivia. The fourth round is a ten question specialty round with a topic the students study in advance for, and the match finishes off with a twenty question grab bag round. Next week’s special round topic: Greek Mythology. All matches are held in the auditorium at Frederick High on Friday nights in January and February.
Next week’s game to watch: This Friday’s matches should all be interesting, starting with the play-in match at 5:00. Both Oakdale and Middletown showed fire in their last match. Can the teams harness that same focus to win the quarterfinal match and then create drama in the first match of the semifinals? Urbana and Walkersville will go after each other aggressively, but perhaps the third team can be a spoiler? In the second semifinal match, TJ will be favored, but both of the other contenders seem to be coming into peak form at just the right time. Will Thomas Johnson continue their rise as a power team in the county? The final match will pit favorite Linganore against strong teams from Frederick and Tuscarora. Can they thwart Linganore’s great round three and five teams? All questions will be answered this coming Friday! This week’s special topic: Greek Mythology. See you at Frederick High School, February 24 with an early start time of 5 p.m.
Week six of the entertaining FCPS Academic Tournament was the most exciting yet, with each of the matches showing why there are so many fans of this game. Seven of the ten teams in the county have now won at least one match. Linganore’s victory vaulted them to the top of the standings when both Thomas Johnson and Walkersville outlasted Urbana in match three. Linganore is in first by 0.07, with Urbana, TJ, and Walkersville all tied for second. The first tiebreaker is points earned, and here Urbana has a slight lead. It should be a fantastic finish next week. But first, let’s recap three great matches.
Match 1: Bears 7, Knights 9, Cadets 10, Cougars 14
These three teams started out even and stayed that way until the final round. The Bears had a perfect round two to take the lead by one. The Math Round was controlled by Frederick, and they lead Catoctin by one after three rounds. The Specialty Round on European History was tightly contested and the Knights and the Cougars both scored 2 points. That gave Catoctin the narrowest of margins going into the final round - one point over Frederick and two points over Middletown, with Oakdale not out of it with 6. The final round was back and forth, but the Cougars pulled three points to finish with their biggest lead of the night. Congratulations to the Cougars for their first win of the season!
Match 2: Titans 5, Railroaders 12, Lancers 14
The second match of the night was also a back and forth affair. The Titans and Railroaders both grabbed two points from the opening surprise topic of Pop Music. Brunswick took the lead alone after the second round, getting the second (and last) perfect Round Two of the night. With a 4 point lead, the Railroaders were able to hold on when the Math Round was won by the Lancers excellent math team, and Brunswick kept the lead after the Specialty Round by tying Linganore. At the end of four rounds, it was Brunswick 12, Linganore 9, and Tuscarora 5. The final round was tightly fought, but the Lancers had more in the tank, pulling 5 points while the other two stayed even. Linganore’s win put them in excellent position to be regular season champs if they can duplicate the results next week.
Match 3: Lions 7, Patriots 7, Hawks 5
The final match of the night was worth sticking around for, as these three strong teams (at the time ranked #1, #2, and #3 in the county) went at it hammer and tongs. The surprise topic of things that are round gave the Hawks the early lead, but just by one point. Both the Hawks and the Patriots scored 5 of 6 points for the second round to open up the lead on the Lions. After the Math Round, Walkersville looked like it wasn’t their night, finishing the round in the negative, while TJ picked up two to have 7, with Urbana right behind at 6. The Specialty Round was all Walkersville, as they moved into the plus column with 4 points, while Thomas Johnson held even and Urbana moved back one. The Final Grab Bag Round was again hotly contested, but Walkersville got on a bit of a roll to tie TJ with the final answer. The match shook up the standings, and makes next week’s matches decisive for Regular Season Champion.
The FCPS Academic Team Tournament is in its 42nd year of competition. The teams play matches in five rounds, the first round is called the Lightning round with 10 questions on a surprise topic. The second round is a team round, where without buzzers, teams attempt to answer six questions from six completely different areas. The third round is a ten question mix of math questions and regular academic trivia. The fourth round is a ten question specialty round with a topic the students study in advance for, and the match finishes off with a twenty question grab bag round. Next week’s special round topic: Marvel Universe. All matches are held in the auditorium at Frederick High on Friday nights in January and February. The first match starts at 6:00 p.m.
Next week’s game to watch: This Friday’s matches will all count, as it is the last week of the regular season and the top four teams are so close! If Linganore can win their first match, they cannot be caught by the others, but if Linganore finishes second, we could come down to tiebreakers for the regular season champion, and the seeding for Final Tournament Night. This week’s special topic: Marvel Universe. See you at Frederick High School, February 17 at 6 p.m.
Week five of the Academic Tournament season has passed, and teams begin to jockey for the big finish. Four teams are standing out as the ones to watch, with three teams trying to be in the final scramble. Two wins for TJ this week put them back in 2nd place, and set up a fun match of top seeds for next week. The special category of World Religions was the best played special round thus far, and the players were obviously very knowledgeable about their topic. With their win, Urbana still holds the top spot, but will take on #2 and #3 next week in a match that may decide the regular season winner. Here come the recaps!
Match 1: Cougars 9, Railroaders 9, Hawks 19
Urbana was ready on the buzzers from the start, dominating the surprise category on Florida. At the end of the first round they were up by 6 over Catoctin and 7 over Brunswick. Both Catocitin and Urbana pulled a perfect 6/6 in round two and the Railroaders were able to tie the Hawks in the Math Round both adding a single point. The special topic of World Religions was all Urbana, as they picked up 6 points to lead by eleven after four. Catoctin stayed focused in round five and won the final round to pull into a tie for second. Urbana has only lost once this season and maintained their hold on first place.
Match 2: Cadets 6, Knights 11, Titans 15
The Titans pulled off their second win of the year, but they had to fight for it. Frederick jumped out to a four point lead after one, getting question after question correct on the surprise topic of Detectives. The Titans began to close with a perfect second round, and won the Math Round to trail the Cadets by 2 after three rounds. Middletown and Tuscarora both earned 2 points in the round on World Religions, while Frederick went backwards. At the end of four, it was 10-8-8 with Titans leading. Carefully aggressive on the buzzers in the final round brought Tuscarora the win, as they closed winning 5 points in the last round. Next week, the Titans will have to face Linganore and Brunswick as they try to win out the last three weeks.
Match 3: Bears 5, Lions 9, Patriots 23
Thomas Johnson controlled the buzzer for much of their match, winning four points in the first round on the surprise topic of the Middle Ages. The Patriots padded their lead in the team round and then watched the Lions creep closer in the Math Round. The last two rounds were all TJ as they pulled away with 11 points in the last two rounds, while Oakdale ended with 2 more and Walkersville could only add 1. The Patriots buzzer speed enabled them to break 20 points for the second time this season. First place Urbana is the only other to accomplish that this season. Next week, they will go against each other with Walkersville trying to be the spoiler.
Match 4: Lancers 13, Patriots 16, Knights 6
The final match had TJ race to the lead and then scramble to hold off Linganore. The Patriots started well, up 2 over the Knights and 4 over the Lancers after one. Both Linganore and TJ went 5 for 6 in the team round, but Linganore and Middletown picked up a point in the Math Round, while Thomas Johnson stayed even. TJ padded their lead in the specialty round - they had an excellent round four in both matches. Still, even with a big lead, the Patriots had to hold off a highly focused Linganore team that grabbed 9 points in the final round, but Thomas Johnson held them off with 5 of their own, for a well played last round.
The FCPS Academic Team Tournament is in its 42nd year of competition. The teams play matches in five rounds, the first round is called the Lightning round with 10 questions on a surprise topic. The second round is a team round, where without buzzers, teams attempt to answer six questions from six completely different areas. The third round is a ten question mix of math questions and regular academic trivia. The fourth round is a ten question specialty round, and the match finishes off with a twenty question grab bag round. Next week’s special round topic: Post WWII European History. All matches are held in the auditorium at Frederick High on Friday nights in January and February. The first match starts at 6:00 p.m.
Next week’s game to watch: The third match this week will be a confrontation between the current top three seeds. It will be interesting to see how the match plays out. At times, these teams have gone on a roll and dominated the opposition - all three have broken the 20 point barrier, and TJ and Urbana have done it twice. At other times, these teams have been super aggressive, and gone backwards in their scoring. The winner of this match may very well be the regular season champion. This week’s special topic: European History from 1945. See you at Frederick High School, February 10 at 6 p.m.
Week four of the Academic Tournament season is in the books, and the pace of play has really quickened. Teams are beginning to show patterns and styles in their play, and while all teams begin to play better, the best ones keep improving week to week. The special category of World Cup soccer was very popular, and many players dressed for the occasion. Urbana held on to the top spot, though their first place lead shrunk, while the standings continued to shift underneath them.
Match 1: Patriots 3, Titans 8, Lions 15
The first match was one of two highly anticipated games of the night. Thomas Johnson and Walkersville were dueling in the standings, being the 2nd and 3rd placed teams at the start of the match. And the Titans had just won their first match the week before. The first round finished dead even - 2 points for each team. The Titans won round two, picking up 5 points for a one point lead over the Lions. The Math Round was a big win for Walkersville as they moved up while Tuscarora moved down. Both TJ and THS moved up in the specialty round of World Cup soccer, but Walkersville’s Round Five team put it away in the last round. TJ will get another chance to move back to their winning ways next week when they take on Walkersville and Oakdale in the third match, and Linganore and Middletown in the nightcap.
Match 2: Cougars 11, Railroaders 13, Cadets 10
Brunswick jumped out to a huge lead after the first round 5-2-0 over Frederick and Catoctin respectively. The Railroaders extended their lead in Round Two to 4 points, but watched it dwindle in the Math Round. Brunswick showed their sports knowledge in the specialty round, building their lead to five. In the final round, the Cougars and Cadets both showed some fight and closed the gap, but it was not enough. Statistically, it was the best played match of the night and Brunswick was happy to get back to their winning ways.
Match 3: Bears 8, Knights 9, Lancers 19
The third match of the evening was tight until the finish. The Lancers started in a little hole as the Bears and Knights tied to win Round One. The Knights were alone in first after two rounds, leading 8-6-6. It was the only perfect round two of the night. Linganore’s fine Math Round team tied it up after Round Three, and took a lead after the specialty topic round, leading 10-8 over Middletown. In the final round, the Lancers got on a roll and would not stop. They pulled out 9 points in the last round to win going away. Linganore’s win gave them just the momentum they needed heading into their second match against undefeated Urbana.
Match 4: Hawks 3, Lancers 9, Railroaders 3
The final contest was another highly anticipated match, as Urbana was undefeated and Linganore and Brunswick had both won their first games earlier in the evening. This Academic game can be funny because it is hard to predict at times. All three teams played very aggressively, taking many chances throughout the match, which led to early buzzes, but also some incorrect guesses. The opening round score of Hawks -2, Lancers -1, and Railroaders 1 was amusing to the audience but the teams knew the game would be a dogfight. Round Two’s no-buzzer format was welcome as all three showed strong diversity in their knowledge, getting 5 points each. Brunswick’s math team surprised the other two gaining three points while Linganore stayed even and Urbana fell back. It was the second negative round of the match, and Urbana was unable to recover after this Math round. Again, the aggressive play in the specialty round led to few points, but the Lancers tied with the Railroaders at 6. The final round was more of the same, but Linganore was able to keep the score positive, winning 3 points out of the final 20 questions to earn the win. It was the lowest winning score of the year thus far, but the win put the Lancers in a virtual tie with the Lions for 2nd place in the county.
The FCPS Academic Team Tournament is in its 42nd year of competition. The teams play matches in five rounds, the first round is called the Lightning round with 10 questions on a surprise topic. The second round is a team round, where without buzzers, teams attempt to answer six questions from six completely different areas. The third round is a ten question mix of math questions and regular academic trivia. The fourth round is a ten question specialty round, and the match finishes off with a twenty question grab bag round. Next week’s special round topic: World Religions. All matches are held in the auditorium at Frederick High on Friday nights in January and February. The first match starts at 6:00 p.m.
Next week’s game to watch: The second match this week between the Cadets, Knights, and Titans should be interesting. No clear favorite in the game as the teams try to break out of the middle tier. While Tuscarora has won once this season, both Frederick and Middletown will be looking for their first victory of the season. This week’s special topic: World Religions. See you at Frederick High School, February 3 at 6 p.m.
Week three of the Academic Tournament season is in the books, and teams began to show some true stellar play. Middletown, Thomas Johnson and Walkersville all had perfect 2nd rounds. The teams’ study of the geography of Oceania was apparent, and there were some very exciting matches. On to the summaries!
Match 1: Patriots 18, Bears 9, Railroaders 12
The Thomas Johnson Patriots continued their strong play this year with a match where they won the first four rounds. Brunswick’s Round 5 team continued to show its strength by winning the last round, but the TJ lead was too much to make up.
Match 2: Cadets 9, Lancers 7, Hawks 12
At first, it looked like an upset in the making as the Lancers won the first four rounds. They led 12-7-7 over Urbana and Frederick. The Hawks kept their cool and chipped away at Linganore’s lead. The Hawks moved up while the Lancers moved down and Frederick could not keep pace. While not the most exciting match of the night, the Lancers showed they can go toe-to-toe with the best the Hawks have to offer. And Urbana’s round 5 team played poised and focused.
Match 3: Cougars 14, Titans 15, Knights 14
The third match was the thrill of the evening with the teams trading wins throughout the game. The Titans won the first round 3-1-0, and the Knights came back in round two. The Titans won round three and tied the Knights in round 4 to make the score Titans 12, Knights 10 and Cadets 6 going into the final round. A furious finish by the Knights almost nipped the Titans at the wire, but they held on for the win. Collectively, this was the highest scoring match of the evening.
Match 4: Lions 12, Titans 3, Hawks 21
The final match of the evening was the only one where the victor went over 20 points. The Hawks jumped out of the gate on Round 1, taking the lead 4-0-0. They would not relinquish their lead, though the Lions made a game of it. Walkersville trailed Urbana by 4 after one, 3 after two, and 4 after rounds 3 and 4. In the final round, the Lions tried to push the issue, but the Hawks stayed calm and collected, piling up 8 points in the final round to win going away. Urbana is now the only undefeated team. Can they pull off Brunswick’s feat from last year when they won both the regular season and the final night’s tournament? We’ll be watching next week!
The FCPS Academic Team Tournament is in its 42nd year of competition. The teams play matches in five rounds, the first round is called the Lightning round with 10 questions on a surprise topic. The second round is a team round, where without buzzers, teams attempt to answer six questions from six completely different areas. The third round is a ten question mix of math questions and regular academic trivia. The fourth round is a ten question specialty round, and the match finishes off with a twenty question grab bag round. Next week’s special round topic: World Cup. All matches are held in the auditorium at Frederick High on Friday nights in January and February. The first match starts at 6:00 p.m.
Next week’s game to watch: Two games look pretty intriguing as we make it to the halfway point of the season. The first match will pit the Titans, fresh off their first win of the year, against the #2 and #3 ranked teams in the Patriots and the Lions. This should be a good one. Also, the last match of the night will rematch Linganore, who almost pulled off the upset last week against Urbana, the only undefeated team in the county. Even more interesting is the third team - last year’s champion Brunswick team. Last week Urbana used their round 5 team to pull out both matches, but with Brunswick’s excellent round 5 team there, it could be a fantastic finish! Next week’s special topic: World Cup Soccer. See you at Frederick High School, January 27 at 6 p.m.
Week two of the Academic Tournament season is in the books, and teams showed much more aggressiveness this week, as they attempted to anticipate more answers. This game is fun because it is tricky to balance aggressiveness with listening and knowledge. It is a game where successful teams take risks, yet there needs to be a balance between risk and reward. While last week three of the winning teams scored over 20 points, no team did so this week.
Match 1: Patriots 10, Knights 6, Hawks 18
This first match featured the two highest scoring teams from last week and the first few rounds were extremely tight. TJ led Urbana by one after the first round, and Urbana tied it up in round two. In the Math Round, Urbana began making their move and increased their lead in the Specialty Round. The Hawks dominated the fourth round winning 5-0--1. Thomas Johnson was game in round five, but could not put together enough correct answers in a row and the Hawks glided to victory. Urbana is now one of only two unbeatens.
Match 2: Cougars 7, Lancers 18, Lions 14
In the second match, two unbeaten teams faced off, and judging by the points won, it was the best played match of the night. Linganore and Walkersville jumped out from the start and traded the lead for the first three rounds. After round one 4-3 Lions, after two 9-7 Lions, after three 12-11 Lancers. That third round was big for Linganore, as they earned 5 of the 10 points awarded in the Math Round. Linganore also showed off their preparation, earning 3 points to Catoctin’s 2, while Walkersville came up empty on points for the fourth round. The final round was played aggressively by the teams, but the Lions could only tie the Lancers with three points. Linganore is now one of only two unbeatens, and they will play unbeaten Urbana next week.
Match 3: Cadets 8, Titans 4, Railroaders 11
The third match of the evening turned out to be the most interesting. This match had two negative rounds, where the teams’ score collectively went backwards. This shows very aggressive play, and indeed, the game was tightly contested. The Railroaders started with a big lead 5-1-0 on the surprise topic of Beverages. Both Frederick and Brunswick had a perfect second round, 6 for 6. In the third round, the Cadets pulled one point and the Railroaders lost two (for the first negative round) which made the score 9-8-3 favoring Brunswick. In the special round on Romanticism, all the teams gained points, with Brunswick leading 11-9-4 leading to the final round. The final 20 question Grab Bag was a fascinating negative round. Teams hammered away at the buzzer but had trouble stringing consecutive correct answers together and Brunswick survived with the fewest winning points of the year thus far.
Match 4: Bears 5, Cadets 12, Lions 19
The final match of the evening was a matchup of three teams that have yet to have their best match. The Lions were able to narrowly win four of the first five rounds, and when the Cadets came back to win the final round, it wasn’t enough. Interesting to note that the team that won Round 4, the special topic round, won all four matches. In week one, that was only true for 2 of the 4 matches.
The FCPS Academic Team Tournament is in its 42nd year of competition. The teams play matches in five rounds, the first round is called the Lightning round with 10 questions on a surprise topic. The second round is a team round, where without buzzers, teams attempt to answer six questions from six completely different areas. The third round is a ten question mix of math questions and regular academic trivia. The fourth round is a ten question specialty round, and the match finishes off with a twenty question grab bag round. Next week’s special round topic: The geography of Oceania. All matches are held in the auditorium at Frederick High on Friday nights in January and February. The first match starts at 6:00 p.m.
Next week’s game to watch: Everyone will want to be in their seats for the second match this week, with Linganore and Urbana, the only unbeaten teams left, will square off against each other. Frederick will be the third wheel in this match but victory could still be theirs if the other two teams get too quick with their buzzing. It should be a fun match of speed and strategy. What did these teams learn about the right kind of aggressiveness from week 2? Next week’s special topic: The Geography of Oceania. See you at Frederick High School, January 13 at 6 p.m.
Week one of the Academic Tournament season is in the books, and many fans and players were very happy to be back showing their knowledge in front of a live audience at Frederick High School. The teams seemed well prepared for the special topic of Astronomy, which was a holdover from last year’s weather wipeout. Opening night had some interesting matches as the teams start to jockey for best in the county. Three teams broke the 20 point barrier, and we’ll see if they can continue their winning ways next week as the matchups shift in week 2.
Match 1: Knights 8, Railroaders 18, Lions 21
This first match featured Brunswick as last year’s regular season and tournament champion, and the audience was curious to see if their team would maintain the brilliance of last year. The Lions immediately announced their presence by winning the first three rounds and held a comfortable lead 17-5-3 after three rounds. Both Middletown and Brunswick woke up in the special round on Astronomy earning 3 and 4 points respectively, while WHS could only muster 1. Still at the end of round 4, Walkersville held a nine point lead on the Railroaders. The defending champions showed their mettle with a blistering final round, scoring nine points while the Lions could only muster three. The Lions lead held up, but Brunswick showed their round 5 team is once again to be reckoned with.
Match 2:Bears 8, Titans 11, Lancers 16
In the second match, the Lancers showed they were ready to go by winning round one 3-0-0. The three evenly matched teams traded points for the next three rounds with the Bears winning round 2, and the Titans winning round 3. The Lancers stumbled in the Astronomy round, moving down 3 points, but the Bears and Titans could not take advantage in a tough round and led Linganore 9-7-6 after four. The Linganore team saved its best for last, earning an impressive 10 points in the final round to win going away. Fans will be looking to their match next week, between a tough Catoctin team and an improved Walkersville team to see if they can continue their winning ways.
Match 3: Cougars 14, Cadets 7, Patriots 27
Both the Cougars and the Cadets were strong teams last year, so this was the surprise of the night as TJ put up the most points of any team for the evening. Both Catoctin and Frederick showed mettle throughout, answering tough questions and collectively the teams were only 9 points short of a perfect night. The Patriots won every round for the evening, a rare feat. Next week they will play Urbana and Middletown and will try to keep their winning ways going.
Match 4: Hawks 25, Cougars 6, Bears 11
The final match of the evening was tightly played for the first two rounds until the Hawks’ math team earned 7 of the 10 points for the math round. They didn’t look back, winning the Astronomy round 4-1-0 and finishing the final round strong. Urbana looks to be a power in the county again as they scored the second highest points total of the week. All eyes will be on the match of the week between the Hawks, Knights, and Patriots this coming Friday.
The FCPS Academic Team Tournament is in its 42nd year of competition. The teams play matches in five rounds, the first round is called the Lightning round with 10 questions on a surprise topic. The second round is a team round, where without buzzers, teams attempt to answer six questions from six completely different areas. The third round is a ten question mix of math questions and regular academic trivia. The fourth round is a ten question specialty round, and the match finishes off with a twenty question grab bag round. Next week’s special round topic: British and American Romanticism. All matches are held in the auditorium at Frederick High on Friday nights in January and February. The first match starts at 6:00 p.m.
Next week’s game to watch: First match TJ vs. Middletown vs. Urbana will pit the two highest scoring teams against each other with the Knights hoping to play spoiler. It should be a great start to week two! Special topic: British and American Romanticism. See you at Frederick High School, January 13 at 6 p.m.