Bow High School Pulls Off Last Minute Win Against Hopkinton High School on Granite State Challenge

Durham, NH (March 20, 2026) –  Two evenly matched teams from Merrimack County went head-to-head in an intense and lively match on the latest episode of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE. The competition came down to the wire, with Bow High School edging out Hopkinton High School in the final seconds by just 15 points, 350–335.

Captain Matthew Kropp, a 12th-grader, led the Bow Falcons. The young Bow team also featured 11th-grader Matthew Mampuzha and 9th-graders Ollie White and Max Lewis. Team alternates were 9th-grader Anna Mampuzha and 11th-grader Jayden Kropiewnicki. The Falcons were coached by humanities teacher Michelle Hlavaz. Bow High School enrolls about 650 students from the communities of Bow and Dunbarton.

The Hopkinton Hawks were captained by 11th-grader Lucy Beardmore. Team members included 12th-grader Tad Stokes, 11th-grader William Shepard and 12th-grader Fin Murphy. Alternates were 12th-graders Rebecca LeWine and Julia Martel. The team was coached by Social Studies teacher Liam Callahan. Hopkinton High School serves the town of Hopkinton and enrolls about 300 students.

Hopkinton jumped out to an early lead in Round One, buzzing in quickly to capture the first three questions of the game. But by question five, Bow had asserted its presence and stayed close behind its rivals. The first round ended with Hopkinton leading, 115 to 90.

Rounds Two and Three of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE—both fast-paced sets of ten rapid-fire questions—can give a trailing team the chance to build momentum. Bow delivered a particularly strong performance in both rounds, answering seven of ten questions correctly in the Three Strikes and You’re Out round. They also became the first team of the season to go a perfect 10 for 10 in the 60-second round.

Any momentum they had was short-lived, as Hopkinton nailed seven of ten answers in the Three Strikes round and quickly became only the second team this season to achieve a perfect 10-for-10 in the 60-second round.

In the game’s fourth and final round—where wrong answers cost 20 points—both teams played aggressively. Hopkinton clung to a narrow lead until the last two questions, when two mistakes handed Bow the advantage just as the clock ran out.

Bow captain Matthew Kropp summed up the tension in the studio: “It was an insane game, especially with both of us getting all 10 questions right in the 60-second round. It was super close. Honestly, if there had been two more questions, it could’ve gone either way.”

Coach Liam Callahan of Hopkinton echoed those sentiments. “I don’t think there was anything we could have done differently. It just broke the way it did,” said Callahan. “We’ll keep doing what we’re doing and hope luck’s on our side next time.”

While disappointed by the game’s outcome, Hopkinton captain Lucy Beardmore made sure to praise her team. “I was happy about our 10 out of 10 in the 60-second round. I knew we had to do that to keep up with Bow after they did the same.”

Bow Coach Michelle Hlavaz also praised the Hopkinton team. “Hopkinton played a great match. They played till the end. It was excellent.”

While proud of her own team’s effort, Hlavaz said the close game highlighted areas to improve as they gear up for the quarterfinals against GSC powerhouse Plymouth Regional High School.  “I think we missed a few questions because we weren't fast enough on the buzzer, so we're going to work on that,” she said. “Plymouth is a hard team to go up against. We've played them before, so we're looking forward to our next round.”

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, March 26th 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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