Nashua North High School Defeats Oyster River High School on Granite State Challenge

Durham, NH (March 27, 2026) – Do you know the name of the small shacks found on frozen lakes in winter? Hint: they’re not places for people named Robert to live in; they’re meant for ice fishing.  That question was one of only a handful that stumped both teams on the latest episode of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE. Nashua North High School defeated two-time champs (1999, 2001) Oyster River High School, 355 to 120.

Captain Colin Scribner, a 12th grader, led the Nashua Titans. His teammates were fellow seniors Ryan Mamos, Daniel Morcos, and Ethan Hobbs. Team alternates were 11th grader Marie Nalen and 12th grader Benjamin Kelly.

The Titans were coached by social studies teacher Timothy Bosch. Nashua North High School enrolls about 1,650 students from Nashua.

12th-grader Benjamin Boodey captained the Oyster River Bobcats. The team roster included 11th-grader Lydia Bens,  and 12th-graders Griffin Oakes-Libow and Rayan Barakat. Alternates were 9th-grader Peter Fenton and 12th-grader Carson Imperio and Felix Scarlat. English teacher John Monahan coached the Oyster River team. Oyster River High School serves the towns of Durham, Lee and Madbury and enrolls 840 students.

Nashua North dominated the game’s buzzer system to jump out to an early lead, answering seven of the game’s first ten questions. By the end of the round the score was 175 to 40, with Nashua North in the lead.

“They were very fast on the Nashua's North side,” said Oyster River coach John Monahan. “We just didn't have the chance to answer the questions.”

Nashua North coach Timothy Bosch acknowledged that, in addition to their general knowledge base, his team worked hard to fine-tune their game strategy. "We've done lots of, lots of watching past games,” he noted.  “The team has done that on their own over time, and they're aware of some of the intricacies of how things have happened.”

The next two rounds of the game—where neither team had to buzz in to answer—supported Monahan’s sense that the teams were more evenly matched than the score suggested. Both teams struggled in the strategically difficult Three Strikes and You’re Out round but finished with similar results. Nashua North answered three of the ten questions correctly, while Oyster River got two out of ten.

In the rapid-fire 60-second round, Oyster River answered six of ten questions correctly, and Nashua North got five out of ten.

Oyster River Captain Benjamin Boodey was particularly proud of his team’s performance in the 60-second round. “I felt like we didn’t leave anything on the table there.”

While Oyster River stayed gamely active throughout Round Four—where incorrect answers result in a 20-point deduction—Nashua North remained steady and focused, avoiding enough wrong answers to keep the game’s point margin largely unchanged.

Nashua North captain Colin Scribner was extremely proud of his team’s performance. “I'm very, very happy with our performance,” he said. “Last year we went on the show for the first time in our wild card round, and it didn't turn out the way we liked.”

After last season, Scribner and his teammates made it a point to strengthen the team by recruiting friends they thought would complement their skills. Throughout the game—even when they were on the ropes during the “three strikes and you’re out” round—it was clear that Nashua North was a close-knit team having a great time.

“We've actually all been in school together since elementary school, growing up together— and we're all seniors as well,” he acknowledged. “To be able to do this with them is just incredible.”

For those who aren’t ice fishing enthusiasts,  the small shacks found on frozen lakes in winter are called bob houses or bob shacks.

Hosted by Bow High School teacher and former GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE coach (Bedford High), contestant (Belmont High), and GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE crew member, Jon Cannon, GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE features some of New Hampshire's brightest high school students as they demonstrate remarkable teamwork, quick thinking, and smarts to beat the clock and buzz in first on this iconic New Hampshire game show. The game emphasizes quick recall of math, science, social studies, language arts and fine arts facts—along with questions about current events, entertainment, sports and New Hampshire.

Catch the next game of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE on Thursday, April 2nd 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 hand at daily brain teasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil, with additional funding from Safety Insurance and NEA New Hampshire.

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