LEMON SPRINGS, NC - B.T. Bullock’s chess team dominated the second annual Lee County Schools Elementary Chess Championship, winning back-to-back titles in convincing fashion. For the second year in a row, the Bengals were without their top seeded player in the tournament, as this year’s top seed was battling the flu, similar to their story from a season ago.
The Bengals defeated Tramway in the Finals by a 63-5 count despite having their top-seeded player Henry Liggett unavailable. Noah Benson slid up a spot from the number two position to top-seed and performed admirably, posting a 5-1-0 record in the event with his only loss coming in the semifinals to Killian Johnson from J. Glenn Edwards.
The Bengals cruised through Pool B Play, shutting out Deep River in the opening match before convincing wins over J.R. Ingram and Broadway. B.T. Bullock players only conceded points in two individual games of pool play matches, establishing their spot atop the quarterfinal bracket.
Tramway once again advanced to the finals to grab second place after falling to B.T. Bullock in the Finals 63-5. The Tigersharks also advanced from pool play with a spotless 3-0 team record in the opening rounds. Tramway battled through a tight first contest nipping J. Glenn Edwards 39-29 in their opening match before only allowing points in three individual games during the final two rounds of Pool A play against W.B. Wicker and Greenwood.
Sawyer Paderick at the number three position for Tramway won his first five games of the day before slipping in the Finals to B.T. Bullock’s Maci Houchins. Paderick scored 50 points for Tramway through his victories throughout the day.
J. Glenn Edwards secured third place in the tournament with a strong 46.5-21.5 win over Deep River in the 3rd Place Match. Killian Johnson led the way for Edwards, posting a perfect 6-0-0 record throughout the tournament and earning 72 total points for the Bees in his six matches as the top seed.
Deep River finished fourth just one year removed from not winning a single match in the inaugural event a season ago. This year’s Gators were 3-3 in the tournament, winning three straight matches after an opening loss to B.T. Bullock in pool play. The Gators dispatched Broadway 42-26 in their second match before defeating J.R. Ingram 59-9 in the final pool play match. Deep River handled W.B. Wicker 46.5-21.5 in the Quarterfinals before falling in the closing two matches.
The Gators were led by Liam Ciampa who played to a record of 5-0-1 from the number two chair on the team. Ciampa managed to win every game except for his quarterfinal draw against W.B. Wicker’s Jacob McLean, which ended in a stalemate.