The state-wide Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament held on December 14 at the Derryfield School in Manchester was open to students from all 350 middle and high schools in New Hampshire. Each of the participating schools sent a single Champion to represent their school in the final tournament. Thirty-five schools were represented from across the state, with Aiden Cox representing Andover Elementary/Middle School.

After four thrilling rounds of intense hand-to-hand competition, a winner emerged from the nail-biting tumult. The 2013 State Champion is Rebekah Johnson. Rebekah is in ninth grade and attends Concord Christian Academy in Concord.

The blue bandana-clad Rebekah gave an impressive performance, delivering over 150 skillful individual throws and scoring a record 10 personal victories against other Tournament participants. A skillfully thrown Rock which crushed Scissors earned her the final win, thus becoming New Hampshire’s Rock-Paper-Scissors State Champion.

In addition to the thrill and glory of the event and the highly revered title, Rebekah also received a trophy and collected a $500 cash prize. Congratulations, Rebekah.

In second place was an enthusiastic Matthew Shipley, a sixth grader who hails from the Lebanon Middle School. Matthew’s exuberance, confidence, and early performance was very strong out of the gate, but alas, he fell just shy of his goal of ultimate victory. As second place finisher, Matthew collected a $250 cash prize.

The third place finisher, Sean Healy, arrived from the Newmarket High School. Sean collected a $100 cash prize.

Fourth place went to Courtney Comeau from Sanborn Regional High. Courtney was unable to attend the event in-person and competed by proxy, and thanks goes to Lauren Rolfs from Derryfield who acted as Courtney’s stand-in.

Other tournament semi-finalists included:

Noah Marshall from Derryfield

Keynan Lewton from Oyster River

Aiden Cox from Andover Elementary/Middle

Katie Killam from Hopkinton

Congratulations to all who participated. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s Tournament.