Bedford High faces off against Hopkinton High on the next game of Granite State Challenge

New Hampshire PBS

Durham, NH (March 24, 2025) - The Bulldogs of Bedford High meet the Hawks of Hopkinton High in the final Round One game of Granite State Challenge on Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 8:30 p.m. on New Hampshire PBS.

Bedford High is fielding its first team since Granite State Challenge host Jon Cannon was the coach of the team. They are also fielding the youngest team of the season.  Playing for Bedford High are team captain and 9th grader Matthew Ruggiero along with 10th graders Tabitha Arp, Alina Chausovsky and 9th grader Sumedh Godavarthy. Team alternates are 10th grader Samantha Arp and 9th grader Tristan Albano.

Team captain Matthew Ruggiero was confident about his team his young team’s prospects. “I think we have a lot of range. And I think that we work great as a team, we know our strengths and weaknesses and we know how we can work together.”

Team coaches are Destination Imagination coordinator Kelly Chausovsky and parent volunteer Sherry Arp. Bedford High has an enrollment of 1,492 students. They made it to the championship game in 2017, under the direction of Jon Cannon, where they fell to Nashua High South.

Being new to the game, team coach Kelly Chausovsky said, “This is all of our first time to do it, so we're just really interested to see how it works and have fun.” When asked about the makeup of the team, coach Chausovsky said, “We have a lot of different strengths depending on the kid. We've got a good handle on geography, literature, pop culture, and sports, so it's a pretty good range.”

Playing for Hopkinton High is the team captain and 12th grader Flo Dapice, 10th grader Lucy Beardmore, 11th grader Tad Stokes and 12th grader Michael Pantano. The team’s alternate is 11th grader Rebecca LeWine.

There was a lot of great energy coming from the Hopkinton High team. “We’re feeling great,” said team captain Flo Dapice.

Fellow teammate Michael Pantano chimed in and said, “We have a lot of talent on this team. If you look at our roster, it's good.”

Hopkinton High is coached by social studies teacher Liam Callahan. Hopkinton High enrolls 271 students. The team made it to the semifinal game last season, where they fell to Plymouth Regional High.

When asked about how the Hopkinton High team prepares, coach Liam Callahan has a multi approach strategy. “We meet at least once a week. We have a buzzer set in the classroom and we just go over questions from old games and practice all the different rounds and buzz in,” said coach Callahan.

Plymouth Regional High Faces Trinity High in the First Quarterfinal Game of GRANITE STATE  CHALLENGE on Thursday, April 3,  2025, at 8:30 p.m. on NHPBS. You can also stream it on the PBS App, the NHPBS YouTube channel, or online at nhpbs.org/gsc.

Test your knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page, or try your hands at daily brain teasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil with additional funding from Bangor Savings Bank, Safety Insurance, NEA New Hampshire and Aroma Joe’s.

About Host Jon Cannon: GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is hosted by Bow High School teacher Jon Cannon.  Cannon has a long history with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE. You might say he grew up with the game.  He was a member of the Belmont High team when he was in high school, was a member of the NHPBS GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE crew when he was in college at UNH and was the coach of the Bedford High GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE team.

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