Edison and St. Mary CC to Share Championship
...Competitive Season comes to a Close
What was a razor-thin finish to the 2024-2025 Firelands Challenge season became even closer this week. The teams from Edison and St. Mary CC will now be co-champions after a very competitive season.
The final match was held at Norwalk High School last week. When the match ended, Edison High School was proclaimed the winner of the championship. It had a one-point margin over St. Mary.
However, under the rules of the competition, teams are allowed to file written appeals regarding the correctness of responses given to questions used in a match. St. Mary’s team appealed a response it gave in the World History category.
The question involved the economic theories debated during the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Team members from St. Mary answered “Marxism” and that was ruled as incorrect.
After the appeal was filed, it was reviewed by an Appeals Board made up of team advisors not involved in the match. The board approved the appeal.
The successful appeal gave St. Mary one more point in its cumulative score. It tied Edison with 122 points. Norwalk ended the championship series with 101 points.
William Muthig, coordinator of the Firelands Challenge program, commented: “This result reflects the work teams put into preparing for these matches. They have to not only use what they learn in their classes, but they also have study new material for the question categories used in the program.”
“These were quality teams that made this season one of the closest ever.”
The Firelands Challenge program will resume next fall. Eighteen high school teams participate in this annual competition.