Stuart Hall Chess Knights Win 3 State Titles

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This past Saturday, March 30, The Stuart Hall Chess Team competed in the Louisiana State Scholastic Chess Championship held at Kehoe France School in Metairie. This was a five-round tournament that concludes the scholastic chess season in Louisiana. In a fantastic performance, and coming on the heels of a great City League 4-peat showing earlier this year, our Stuart Hall Knights won the K2 and K4 Team State Champion titles, making this also a 4-peat Title win.

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Stuart Hall veteran John Michael Maristany ’22 also won the K4 State Individual Champion Title, making this the 3rd consecutive year that Stuart Hall has produced a State Scholastic Chess Champion in either K2 or K4 (Charlie Avin ’22 having held the title for the past two years).

In the K2 Section, all four Stuart Hall players scored in the top 10 in a field of 45 players. Coming in 4th place, Eli Weber ’24 came in 4th place and Eli Simmons ’24 took 5th place. Dave Vandenweghe ’25 placed in 8th, followed by Parker Rooney ’24 in 10th place (losing to only the 1st and 2nd place finishers). Our Knights beat out rival Lusher on tie breaks with 14.5 points each.

In the very strong K4 section which consisted of 55 players, Stuart Hall dominated to win the 1st place Team title, beating out rival Lusher 16 points to 13.5. Coming in 1st place for the State Championship Title was John Michael Maristany ‘22. This was a strong performance by the team, with Patrick Avin ’23 placing 7th, Austin Janusa ’23 in 8th, Christopher Jennings ’23 in 11th, Mike Graugnard ’23 in 12th, Declan Albro ’22 in 15th, Charlie Avin ’22 in 17th, Race Hughes ’23 in 21st, August Sauska ’23 in 34th, and Grayson Bent ’23 in 48th. This was a banner performance for this strong crew of enthusiastic veterans. 

In the very competitive K6 section, Ryan Avin ’21 had a strong performance, tying for 2nd place  but ultimately placing in 6th based on tie breaks.

We thank Coach Jeff York and volunteer Coach Al Pearson (Ryan ‘21, Patrick ‘23, and Ethan ‘27) for their brilliant coaching efforts.

Congratulations, Knights!