In an unexpected turn of events, the George Mason Scholastic Bowl team clearly and confidently defeated Clarke Country and Strasburg in the first and third games of Monday night’s match, but lost by a slim margin in the second game to Manassas Park – a team that Mason had defeated by over 100 points in each of the last two competitions.

Despite this perplexing loss, the team did exceedingly well in its other two games. The first game pitted George Mason against Clarke County, and resulted in a score of 200-130. The third game, which involved GM and Strasburg had a final score of 220-70. But the second game of the night ended with a final score of 160-145, in Manassas Park’s favor. Several members of the George Mason team noticed that the Manassas Park team seemed to have very suddenly made incredible improvements with the math-related questions. The Masonites also acknowledged that their own hesitancy to buzz-in quickly likely cost them the game. Leading the team were senior captain Dan McDonald, senior Alex Douglas, and sophomore Margaret Lipman. Freshman Peter Davis, juniors Bjorn Westergard and Hilary Colton, and senior (and Scholastic Bowl veteran) Casey Smirnitopoulos also made vital contributions to the team’s success. And, as always, there was an extremely wide variety of topics, ranging from laproscopes to colons, Lord Wellington to Amherst College, equilateral triangles to Edward Albee, Jack Nicklaus to Abstract Expressionism, and so on.

Scholastic Bowl team members Alex Douglas, Dan McDonald, Margaret Lipman, and Casey Smirniotopoulos prepare for the next round of competition during Monday night’s Scholastic Bowl match. The team defeated Clarke County 200-130 and Strasburg 220-70, but lost to Manassas Park 160-145.

Monday night’s competition was Mason’s only home match of the season, and the team was supported by their families, friends, and other members of the Scholastic Bowl club. Several past members of the team also came out to help run the competition, including ’04 graduate Joe Mauro. Mr. Dickson and Ms. Johnson served as the evening’s "Quizmasters," while Scholastic Bowl coach Jamie Scharff was always on hand to bolster the team’s morale and urge them on.

Nine games into the season, the Mason Scholastic Bowl team now holds a 6-3 record. However, the largest margin of loss has only been 15 points. Reflecting the team’s sentiments, Dan McDonald said, "6-3 is a record that doesn’t really reflect our potential. When we’re on, I think we can beat anyone in the district."

The team’s last meet of the season will be on January 3^rd at Clarke County High School, with the Bull Run District Tournament coming up on January 29 at Rappahanock High School.