The fourth annual Paul Revere Middle School ping-pong tournament started on February 19 with 64 players, and ended on March 8 with seventh grader Andrew Friedman taking the top prize. He defeated Jake Sands, last year’s winner, 21–12 and 22-20.
Third place went to seventh grader Nikko Papageorge, who edged eighth grader Grant Ebner (third last year) 21-19.
“I’ve played ping-pong for about a year,” said Friedman, who transferred to Revere this year. “I was nervous to play Jake because I knew he played in the championship last year and would be a fierce competitor.”
The initial rounds of the single-elimination tournament were held in town hall. The Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four matches were played in the school gymnasium during lunch to packed crowds, as students rooted for their favorite student or teacher.
“The big crowd for the championship made me more nervous than usual, but I feel like I did a good job staying focused,” Friedman said.
History teachers Michael Fulling and Darren Bates (no longer at the school) came up with the idea of a tournament that was loosely based on the NCAA’s March Madness basketball playoffs. The teachers also wanted to give students an opportunity to interact with faculty on a non-academic footing.
Eight teachers participated this year: Fulling, Catherine Perez (physical education), Robert Schwartz (English), Brent Augenblick (science), Jonathan Hyman (history/English), David Steenhoek (special education), Milt Oberman (history/English) and Steve Tokeshi (science/math), who lost in the Elite Eight to Ebner.
“I found this year’s ping-pong tournament to carry a buzz around campus I have never seen before,” Fulling said. “The quality of players has grown, the competition has become fierce, and the students are beginning to knock the staff members out early.
“The crowds of students who come to watch have grown and the ‘oohs and ahhs’ have become louder,” Fulling added. “The tournament has become something for students to look forward to in the spring.”
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