Defiance wins WBL scholastic tournament

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LIMA — Defiance took home top honors in the Western Buckeye League Scholastic Bowl Tournament held on Friday at The Ohio State University at Lima. This is the third year in a row that Defiance’s varsity team has won the championship title and the fifth of the last seven. 

The winning varsity team from Defiance included George English, Chris Brinkman, Zack Wieland, Matthew Walter and Katherine McDonald. The team finished with a perfect 8-0 record, beating the reserve champion team from Shawnee by one point in head-to-head competition. The runner-up varsity team from Shawnee included Jonah Briggs, Georgianna Damschroder, Ezra George, Angie Karapondo and Abigail Zabonik. Shawnee varsity finished with a 6-2 record. 

The winning JV team was Shawnee and it included Smith Collins, Jonny George, Tommy Hedges, Duleeka Kularatne, Yanni Southibounnorath, Jake Thompson and Jackson Wenningand. They finished with a 7-1 record. The runner-up JV team from Celina finished with a 6-2 record and included Katherine Goldsberry, Leon Melendrez, Austin Muether and Liam Stewart.

The Defiance coach is James Kerr and the Shawnee coach is John Young.

The WBL Scholastic Bowl All Tournament Team was chosen by the coaches and made up of one member from each school. The 2026 All Tournament Team members are Lacey Carpenter from Bath, Mischa Snow from Celina, George English from Defiance, Railee Ronshausen from Elida, Presley Wilson from Kenton, Noah Brinkman from Ottawa-Glandorf, Jeremy Bary from St. Marys, Ezra George from Shawnee and Graham Shively from Wapakoneta. English, Brinkman and Shively have earned all-tournament honors in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Van Wert did not compete in this year’s tournament.