Montana High School Champion: Matteo Nero – Bozeman
Montana Middle School Champion: Eliel Bodonyi-Kovacs – Kalispell
Montana Elementary School Champion: David Wilson – Kalispell
Montana Girls Champion: Tirien Bodonyi-Kovacs – Kalispell
The Montana Scholastic Championships took place in Butte on Saturday, April 27th.
The 32 players participated in 3 sections, High School, Middle School, & Elementary School. Each section had one player win all 4 of their games to take the championship.
David Wilson of Kalispell is the Elementary Champion, finishing 1 point ahead of Jace Yellowrobe, Doretta Bodonyi-Kovacs, and Isaac Eddy who finished in a 3-way tie for second.
Eliel Bodonyi-Kovacs of Kalispell is the Middle School Champion, finishing 1 point ahead of Jack Williams and Chase Rands who tied for second.
Matteo Nero of Bozeman, the Middle School Champion the last 3 years, is the High School Champion in his first year moving up to the high school section. Aden Fisher finished second, losing only to Matteo, while Sebastian Cardullo and Emanuel Intara tied for third.
Tirien Bodonyi-Kovacs of Kalispell is the Girls Champion – determined by rating since we didn’t have enough players to have a separate section. Her sister Doretta is the 2nd highest rated.
Tirien, David, Eliel & Matteo will all be representing Montana in the National Tournaments of State Champions in late July in Norfolk, VA, along with Richard Hobbs who will be playing in the senior tournament.
Thanks to the Comfort Inn of Butte which provided the space for the tournament, Gabor Bodonyi-Kovacs & Josh Wilson for playing rated games against players with forced byes, Dan McCourt for being assistant TD and hauling the equipment from Missoula, and Zach Eddy for instructional help.