07-02-2025
Bridgeport and Grafton high schools win regional Academic Showdown
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — The regional competition for the Academic Showdown at Fairmont State kicked off on Thursday, where students from local high schools met to see who was the most knowledgeable in things like history, science and current events.
Teams from Bridgeport, Fairmont Senior, Grafton, Lewis County, Liberty, and Lincoln high schools competed, with the teams from Bridgeport and Grafton taking the day. Both will advance to the finals in Charleston on April 30.
12 News spoke with two Bridgeport High School students halfway through the day of the competition, including Junior William Northey, who said he enjoys the combination of trivia and competition that Academic Showdown provides.
'We all seem confident which is the most important thing. Confident in ourselves. Answering those lightning round questions, which that's kinda half the battle is being confident enough to ring in,' Northey said.
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This was the first year Senior Brynn Radabaugh participated in Academic Showdown, and she told 12 News that she came at the request of a friend. She said that she's enjoyed the showdown and explained how she studied for it.
'A lot of people make different types of study guides, so I know me and my friend Jay, we both made these like Quizlet of a bunch of different authors. We have people studying for their math and their science and a bunch of other things or once in a while we just look up a random fact online just to like lock it in there,' Radabaugh said.
Academic Showdown Coordinator Karen Linville stood 12 News said that the competition allows for a chance to celebrate academic achievement in West Virginia schools.
'I enjoy the competition because I think that we feature a student in sports a lot and I think that it's wonderful to have the opportunity to also focus on academics and we want to give the students a chance to shine. We have such intelligent students in West Virginia and we wanna be able to shine a light on what all they can do,' Linville said.
The Academic Showdown will continue on Friday with a regional competition at West Virginia University in Morgantown. You can learn more about the competition here.
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