NASHUA HIGH SOUTH BEATS BEDFORD HIGH

WINS SECOND GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP IN TWO YEARS

(DURHAM, May 13, 2017) - 49-16-8-4- 2 - that’s how the 2017 season of Granite State Challenge progressed! The season started back in November 2016 at Manchester Community College when teams from 49 New Hampshire high schools gathered to compete for one of only 16 spots on the 2017 season of Granite State Challenge. After 14 matches, only two teams were left standing - Bedford High School and Nashua High South.

This was Bedford High's first appearance in a Granite State Challenge SuperChallenge match. For Nashua High South, this was their second appearance in two years. Both teams had made it past some tough competition to make it to the final game – Bedford had defeated Salem, Merrimack, and Fall Mountain Regional High. Nashua High South won games against Raymond, and two recent SuperChallenge champions, 2013 champion Plymouth, and 2015 champion Bishop Guertin.

The Bedford High Bulldogs were represented by captain Jon Hill, Bailey Ellis, Josh Taranto, Neelam Sandhu and alternates Jacob Nover and Luke Knedeisen. The Bulldogs were coached Robby Zeller and Jon Cannon. The Nashua High South Purple Panthers were represented by captain Nisha Devasia, Ankita Devasia, Jack Leatherman, Ben Telerski McCann and alternate Waithira Kiritu. The Panthers were coached by Gregory Montine and Neil Claffey.

Nashua High South came out of the gate ready to play and at the end of the first round led by a score of 120-30. Nashua South continued their aggressive play and at the end of the third round led with a score of 390-190. Despite Bedford’s best efforts, Nashua South dominated in the final round and won the game by a final score of 610 to 210, making them the first team in the history of Granite State Challenge to win two back-to-back championships!

"This year's Granite State Challenge was amazing - New Hampshire students have a staggering amount of brainpower," said Carol Valianti, Unitil's VP of communications and public affairs. "It seems as though the competition gets tougher every year! Our congratulations go out to Nashua South and to all students that participated this season."

Watch this and all the matches online >>

New Hampshire's top high school academic teams demonstrate remarkable teamwork, quick thinking and extensive knowledge as they play GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE. 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 England.

If you missed the game, you can still catch encore presentations - airdates on NHPTV PRIME and NHPTV EXPLORE. All GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE games are available to watch online at video.nhptv.org. Online GSC quizzes keep students and audiences involved in the fun. www.nhptv.org/gsc

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is generously funded by lead sponsor Unitil, a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England. Additional funding is provided by NEA-New Hampshire, Heinemann Publishing, D.F. Richard Energy, Measured Progress, Pax World Donor Advised Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the NHHEAF Network Organizations, New Hampshire Magazine, and our Super Sunday partner, Manchester Community College.