RELEASED MAR. 22, 2022
Contact: Jim Mehrling 440-463-2557
Headline: WILDCARD VICTORY OVER AVON LAKE ADVANCES KEYSTONE TO QUARTERFINALS ON SCHOLASTIC GAMES QUIZ PROGRAM
Two schools whose academic teams were runner-ups the first time around competed as wildcards in this week’s broadcast of Lorain County’s high school quiz show, the Scholastic Games, now in its 32nd year on WEOL radio (AM930 and FM 100.3). It was a come-from-behind triumph for Keystone High School, to win a quarterfinal slot in this year’s playoffs for the county championship. The program, presented weekly on Mondays from 6-7 p.m., exhibited strong performances from both schools, but a burst of scoring in the final rounds gave Keystone a 420 to 220 victory over Avon Lake High School.
Keystone’s team included captain Tristan Magel, Landon Horner, and Noah Weaver, who won the program’s “Standout Scholar Award,” presented each week by judges to the student determined to have contributed the most to his or her team. The honor includes a $50 award. The team from Avon Lake consisted of Madeline Waggoner, Mikhail Pyltsov, and team captain Dylan Missal.
Avon Lake started with higher scores and appeared to be on the road to victory. The “Initial Round” required mostly geographic answers beginning with the letter “G” ranging from the Ganges to Guatemala. Both teams did well, resulting in a 50 to 40 lead for Avon Lake. In the Current Events round Avon Lake maintained its 10-point lead, concluding with a 70 to 60 tally. The third round ias the first to use buzzers, giving the advantage to the team responding first, and Avon Lake widened its lead to 100 to 70, with a series of questions with the word “saint” part of each answer (from Edna St. Vincent Millay to the play “Saint Joan” plus a number of place names.
The fourth round presents a series of clues for each answer, with a correct answer to a first clue yielding fifty points, with diminishing point values for up to four additional clues, the last of which is ten points. It was here that Keystone turned the tables, racking up points by winning four of the five items, 50 for William the Conquerer, 30 for Maryland, another 30 for George Marshall, and 30 for Stradivarius violins. Avon Lake’s only score was 30 points for naming the city of Cairo. Adding 100 points more than their competitors, Avon Lake led by 200 to 130 entering the final round.
It was not an insurmountable lead, but Keystone maintained its quick buzzing and correct answers. Avon Lake turned in a respectable performance, adding an additional 90 points, but Keystone more than doubled its score, as Weaver earned his “Standout” status, ending with the third highest score of the year and good prospects for the quarterfinals.
The broadcasts will end in May with the program’s 32nd annual County Academic Championship. One more playoff will be broadcast next week to determine the last of the eight quarterfinalists. Following broadcast the station archives the programs online (http://weol.northcoastnow.com/2022-lorain-county-scholastic-games/ ). Programs air between 6 and 7 p.m. on Mondays. Here is the playoff schedule, subject to modification if conflicts with live sports coverage occur:.
3/28 Playoff: Avon vs. Elyria Catholic
4/4 —Quarterfinal #1: Lake Ridge Acad. vs. Vermilion
4/11—Quarterfinal #2: Firelands vs. Olmsted Falls
4/18 – A rebroadcast to be determined
4/25 –Quarterfinal #3: Amherst vs. Brookside
5/2—Quarterfinal #4: Avon OR Elyria Catholic vs. Keystone
5/9, 5/16, 5/23 – Semifinals and Championship
Over the years, twelve different schools have won the championships. Defending champion Lake Ridge Academy’s 2021 win was its third (with earlier wins in 2006 and 2010). Other championship winners have included Amherst Steele (1991, 2015), Avon Lake (2001, 2005, and 2020), Elyria (1992, 93, 94, 97, 2000), Admiral King (1995, 1998), Oberlin (1996), North Ridgeville (1999, 2002), Midview (2003), Keystone (2004), Vermilion (2007, 08), Avon (2009, 16, 17,19), and Olmsted Falls (2011, 12, 13, 14, 18).
The program has enjoyed long-term support from Nordson Corporation and various funds of the Community Foundation, this year including the Steve Boyza Fund, the Patsie C. Campana Sr. Fund, the Schaeffer Family Fund, The Stumphauzer, O’Toole, McLaughlin, McGlamery & Loughman Co. Fund, the “Touch the Future” Fund, the Al Hillegass Fund, the Ford MacArthur Endowment Fund and the Madeleyn Metzger Fund. Additional support is from the Nord Family Foundation and the Community West Foundation. The radio sponsors this year are EcoTree Services and the Elyria Public Library System, which has provided venue space for program sessions for several years.
Area colleges and universities participate by providing $1000 tuition credit awards for allocation by participating high schools. Participating for all or most of the program’s thirty-year history were Lorain County Community College, Oberlin College, Ursuline College, Ashland University, Heidelberg University, John Carroll University, with more recent additional awards from the University of Findlay, Lake Erie College, Tiffin University and Notre Dame College of Ohio.
The program’s host and producer, Jim Mehrling, is a veteran northeast Ohio broadcaster. After seven years as Chief Announcer at WEOL, he was Production Manager for, first, Cleveland’s WERE-AM and later at Cleveland’s WCLV-FM. He was recipient of a 2019 President’s Award from the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters. Again this year, most Scholastic Games programs will be followed by a talk feature, “Dialogues in Education,” which presents education success stories with its host, award-winning journalist Bob Tayek.
BROADCAST ON AM 930 – WEOL – From MEHRLING STUDIOS, BEREA, OH, 44017-2449, Telephone 440-463-2557