District 191 crowns chess champions

William Byrne Elementary and Nicollet Middle School captured the team titles at the annual District 191 Chess Championship on Dec. 14. Fifth-grader Thiago Briceno Cerrato and seventh-grader Franklin Briceno Cerrato both went undefeated to take home the individual elementary and secondary titles, respectively. 

William Byrne is coached by Stan Kegel and Sam Zupke and the victory extended the school’s record number of team titles. Gideon Pond Elementary finished runner up in the elementary division. 

On the individual side, Alec Hiildreth, Amir Abdirahman, Max Krasnokutski and Christian Schussler finished in second through fifth place.

Elementary grade level champions were Luella Gehrke in fifth grade, Kaleb Albrecht in fourth, Gryffin Rosen in third, Ben Strand in second, and Levi Englehard in first grade. The novice award went to Theodore Sands, a first grader from Hidden Valley elementary.

At the secondary level, Samson Porta placed second individual and Gracin Mathews took third. 

Secondary grade level champions were sixth-grader Wayland Slinkard, seventh-grader Charlie Doll and eighth-grader Torin Gehrke.

Photo: The William Byrne Elementary chess team took first place in the District 191 Chess Championship on Dec. 14.