NEW ORLEANS – From April 28 through May 1, the Academic Games Leagues of America hosted the 2017 AGLOA National Tournament. Teams from different U.S. states, and as far away as India, met in a four-day tournament that included a series of mathematics, social studies, language arts and logic games to determine the best individual players and teams in the country. Along with the element of competition, students involved in Academic Games learn the value of teamwork, preparation and practice and intellectual discourse—win or lose.
This year marked the 52nd annual Academic Games National Tournament and the 51st of its kind where students from either Brother Martin, St. Aloysius, or Cor Jesu attended. Five students from Brother Martin formed a team in the Senior Division, grades 11 and 12. Team members included seniors Trey Andrews, Austin Kain, Tarik Lopez, Hunter Mathas and Adam Peters.
Teams that have the best overall combined score from the different games played at the national tournament win the Team Sweepstakes Competition and are crowned “the best team in the nation.” This is considered to be one of the most coveted titles that can be earned in all of Academic Games, Brother Martin school reps said.
Brother Martin’s national Academic Games team became this year’s overall champions by taking fourth place in the game of Equations, first in On-Sets, first in Presidents, and first in Propaganda.
Along with winning accolades as a team, each Brother Martin team member received recognition individually in the Senior Division throughout the different games in which they participated. Tarik Lopez placed ninth in Propaganda. Austin Kain finished third in On-Sets. Adam Peters was seventh in Presidents and tenth place in the Individual Sweepstakes Competition. Trey Andrews took second in Presidents, first in Equations, and second in Individual Sweepstakes. Hunter Mathas placed sixth in Propaganda, second in On-Sets, first in Presidents, and first in Sweeps. This was Mathas’s second year in a row being named the overall best player in the Senior Division. With Mathas’s two first place titles this year, he brings his total individual titles to four earning himself a spot in the Academic Games Hall of Fame following this season.
The last time that a team of five Brother Martin students brought the Team Sweepstakes Championship title to their home on Elysian Fields Avenue was back in 2001. Craig Zeller ‘02, the current coach of the Brother Martin Academic Games program, was a member of that team. Zeller serves as a local board member for the New Orleans Academic Games League, as a member of the AGLOA Tournament Council that is responsible for organizing each year’s Nationals, and as a representative of the AGLOA Executive Board. He is also an Academic Games Hall of Fame coach for his years of working with nationally recognized students and teams.
The mission of Brother Martin High School is to form young people through a holistic education that fosters academic excellence in a caring, disciplined community which integrates Catholic tradition and the charism of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart to meet the needs of a changing world, Brother Martin school reps said.
