Merrimack Meets Portsmouth

(DURHAM, May 11, 2021)  - Tune in to see who takes home the well-deserved Granite State Challenge Championship trophy on Saturday, May 14 at 6 pm on NHPBS as the two-time defending champ Merrimack High meets Portsmouth High. The two teams met last season in the semifinals. This is the 40th season of Granite State Challenge and the championship game will feature a question based on the very first question ever asked on Granite State Challenge, which will be asked by a very special guest.

This is the second season in a row that was impacted by COVID. Usually, Granite State Challenge starts in November with an in-person qualifying event when teams from high schools across the state gather to take a one-hour qualifying test. This season teams took the test at their own schools. We started with 33 schools and now we are down to the final two.

Merrimack High defeated Kingswood Regional high in Round One, Plymouth Regional High in the Quarterfinals, and Nashua South High in the Semifinals. Playing for Merrimack High are Captain and junior Jack Pikora, senior Connor Bobbitt,  junior Aris Corman-O'Reilly, and junior Alli Pikora. The team alternates are junior Rainier Murray and sophomore Kishan Sreenivasan. Sara Campbell coaches the team.  Merrimack High is located in Merrimack, NH in Hillsborough County, and enrolls around 1,170 students.

Portsmouth High beat Mascoma High in Round One, ConVal High in the Quarterfinals, and Londonderry High in the Semifinals.  Playing for Portsmouth High is captain and senior Francis Powell along with seniors Rio Marcus and Josie Sedam, junior Nick Dahlen, and alternate senior Karina Havaleshko. Portsmouth High is coached by Hannah Dul and enrolls 1,084 students from Rye, Newcastle, Newington, Greenland, and Portsmouth.

Granite State Challenge features New Hampshire's top high school academic quiz teams 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.

You can follow your favorite team, test your own knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page or try your hands at daily brainteasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil; with additional funding from NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, New Hampshire Lottery, D.F. Richard, Cognia, and HRCU.

Pressroom Contact

Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339