Tomcats victorious in Governor's Cup regional

Feb. 11—GRAYSON — Quick! What's the world's tallest, uninterrupted waterfall? The name of the final battle of the Revolutionary War? Who was the Venetian artist behind the portrait of Charles IV of Spain?

If one came up with the correct answers against a running clock and without the help of Google, they might be able to hang with regional middle school academic teams.

But one might struggle against Ashland Middle School's team, who is officially cruising onto a statewide showdown after claiming the first-place position in Saturday's Region 18 Governor's Cup contest in Grayson.

An undefeated run in a double-elimination quick recall tournament guided Saturday's final results in favor of the Tomcats, but the Louisa Bulldogs didn't create smooth seas for them.

The final battle came down to an ol' fashioned dog-and-cat fight between four Louisa students — suiting up with one loss already on their shoulders — and four Ashland students defending their reign with two of the youngest teammates in the competition.

Earlier in the day, Louisa proved its grit and fought its way back into the game after taking a loss to Ashland, but after coming up with the "dub" in a well-fought elimination match against Raceland-Worthington Middle, Louisa was set up for a rematch against Ashland for the championship round.

The two teams, who automatically advanced to the state Governor's Cup next month, went back and forth for much of the first half, battling it out for first and second places.

With three minutes left in the match and Ashland leading 20-18, Louisa's coach called a timeout, but the last-minute pep talk wasn't quite enough to put out Ashland's fire, which led the Tomcats to a 23-19 win and a lossless finish.

Ashland Middle School head coach Tina Chapman said she was "beyond excited" with the team's quick recall performance, as their hard work had paid off despite the team's age disadvantage with their four starters consisting of two sixth- and two seventh-graders.

"They start practicing as soon as the season is over," Chapman said. "We started four months behind so it was practice every day."

Chapman said Ashland Independent Schools prioritizing its academic team was also a bonus, as the district spares no resources to set the team up for success.

"They're super supportive," Chapman said of the district, adding if she approaches them, she's met with a receptive, "What can we do?"

In addition to earning the top points for quick recall, team members Gracie Taylor, Molly Hicks, Bristol Clark, Alex Price and Adrian Mattingly sealed Ashland's state seat with first-place scores in individual assessment categories.

Hicks and Mattingly also took part in the team's impressive quick-recall performance, joining forces with Branson Kelley and Tristan Bennett.

As far as state competition, there's no victory rest for Ashland, as Chapman said its plan is to "Keep right on the hunt ... five days a week."

Governor's Cup Region 18 Results

Quick Recall

1st Place: Ashland Middle School

2nd Place: Louisa Middle School

3rd Place: Raceland-Worthington Middle School

4th Place: Russell Middle School

Future Problem Solving

1st: Russell Middle School

2nd: Blain Elementary School (Middle Grades)

3rd: Ashland Middle School

4th: Boyd County Middle School

Mathematics

1st: Adrian Mattingly, Ashland Middle School

2nd: Spencer Gross, Russell Middle School

3rd: Ethan Wilson, East Carter Middle School

4th: Eli Craft, Russell Middle School

5th: Bryson York, The Millard School

Science

1st: Alex Price, Ashland Middle School

2nd: Adrian Mattingly, Ashland Middle School

3rd: Owlsley Wells, Boyd County Middle School

4th: Dom Romero, Russell Middle School

5th: Sam Spradlin, Louisa Middle School

Social Studies

1st: Bryson York, The Millard School

2nd: Brendyn Pope, Louisa Middle School

3rd: Mason Moore, Raceland-Worthington Middle School

4th: Simon Davis, Boyd County Middle School

5th: Tyler Easterling, Boyd County Middle School

Language Arts

1st: Bristol Clark, Ashland Middle School

2nd: Brennan Harris, Raceland-Worthington Middle School

3rd: Macy Burchett, Louisa Middle School

4th: Lane Lemaster, Louisa Middle School

5th: Raelynn Ream, Wurtland Middle School

Arts and Humanities

1st: Molly Hicks, Ashland Middle School

2nd: Lily Womack, Boyd County Middle School

3rd: Esther Burton, McKell Middle School

4th: Tylar Seasor, Boyd County Middle School

5th: Avalyn Roll, Russell Middle School

Composition

1st: Gracie Taylor, Ashland Middle School

2nd: Delanie Crump, Boyd County Middle School

3rd: Marrena Dotson, Fallsburg Elementary School (Middle Grades)

4th: Macy Burchett, Louisa Middle School

5th: Erinne Horn, Louisa Middle School

Additional Advancing Students:

DeLaney Stevens, West Carter Middle School

Esther Burton, McKell Middle School

Khloe Haywood, Russell Middle School

Gracie Justice, Boyd County Middle School

Overall Final Standings

1st: Ashland Middle School

2nd: Russell Middle School

3rd: Louisa Middle School

4th: Boyd County Middle School

5th: Raceland-Worthington Middle School