St. Raphael Academic Team Finishes Second at State Quiz Bowl Championship

The St. Raphael School Academic Team earned a second-place finish at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) Middle School State Championship tournament held Saturday, March 14, at Copley High School near Akron.

The tournament featured 32 teams from across Ohio, including multiple teams from some schools. St. Raphael’s strong performance throughout the day advanced the Bay Village Catholic school’s team to the championship match, marking the best finish in the program’s history.

Team members included Colin Bennett, Brooklyn Bizga, Peter Grady, and Connor McGivney. McGivney led the Raiders individually, powering eight questions and answering 40 toss-up questions during the competition.

One of the team’s standout performances came in the semifinal match against Revere, where St. Raphael recorded a team-record average of more than 20.9 points per bonus question. This statistic reflects strong collaboration among team members to convert toss-up answers into bonus points.

Copley Middle School, the host school, won the tournament championship for the second consecutive year.

St. Raphael also fielded a second team in the competition, which finished 17th overall.