Correspondent photo / John Patrick Gatta Members of the Hubbard High School Prep Bowl team celebrate Saturday after winning the 46th Academic Prep Bowl at Lordstown High School.

LORDSTOWN — Like the recent College Football Playoff National Championship that wound down from a dozen squads to crowning the Indiana Hoosiers as the best of the best, the annual Academic Prep Bowl relies on teamwork to create a winner.

Saturday’s tournament at Lordstown High School featured students in grades 9 through 12 from 17 districts who went through two brackets before Hubbard and Howland remained to engage in the final.

They included Bloomfield, Bristol, Brookfield, Champion, Girard, Howland, Hubbard, LaBrae, Liberty, Lordstown, Maplewood, Mathews, McDonald, Niles, Trumbull Career & Technical Center, Warren and Weathersfield.

“Just as schools compete to demonstrate athletic prowess through sports, the Prep Bowl is an opportunity for those students with academic and cognitive abilities to showcase their talents,” said Jaclyn Bingham, Supervisor of Gifted and Talented at the Trumbull County Educational Service Center (TCESC), which hosted the event.

“It encourages students to broaden their horizons and explore subjects that go beyond their standard school curriculum. The competition allows students to develop critical thinking under pressure, communication and teamwork ” she said.

She pointed out that students often join Prep Bowl in fifth grade and compete year after year until they graduate high school.

Like the earlier matches, the final consisted of three rounds — category, alphabet and lightning. Altogether, the members answered questions from American literature, world literature, mathematics, fine arts, life science, physical science, world geography, world history, U.S. government / economics and U.S. history.

Then, after each team received the same printed set of 20 questions, they had four minutes to collaboratively write answers that all begin with the same letter of the alphabet.

In the last round, teams aimed to be the first to buzz in and answer 20 questions that could be related to any of the prior subjects as well as mythology, spelling, popular culture, current events, world religion, world literature, philosophy, earth and space science, social science, computer science, famous quotations and theater.

Following the completion of rounds, with a score of 55-51, the 11 members of Hubbard’s team emerged as the winner of the 2026 High School Prep Bowl.

For senior Jackson Corbett, the victory concluded his Prep Bowl years on a high note. He originally got involved in middle school.

“I feel great. It’s been four years leading up to this,” he said. “Our first year, we didn’t even make the playoffs. Sophomore year, I think we lost by one point in the final. So, we got second place. Last year, we got stuck in the semi-finals. That was disappointing. This year, it’s finally first.

“It was my last year. I wasn’t even originally going to be here. I was going to be at an event in Columbus, but they canceled. So, I was able to come, and I’m super glad I did.”

For Hubbard’s second-year coach, Michael Brekoski, going from not making the finals in 2025 to winning it all makes this year’s event especially gratifying.

“It feels fantastic. I know that we had the talent. I know that we had what it took. It just all came down to getting the points that we needed to and getting the questions that we could answer.”

While he prepared the students over the past two months for Prep Bowl, he gives credit to them for their dedication to learning.

“We had practices an hour a week, and that’s once a week, but what really comes down to it is the preparation these kids do behind the scenes. Each and every one of them is such a voracious learner. They’re so intensely curious, and it’s that that really put us on top.

“We’re familiar with the categories. We know what the tournament’s looking for. It all comes down to individual preferences, what they find interesting and what they choose to learn by themselves.”

On Feb. 7, seventh and eighth graders from 21 local schools will compete in the Junior High Prep Bowl, followed by the Elementary Prep Bowl on Feb. 21 for grades five and six students from 19 schools.

This is the 46th year that the Curriculum and Instruction Department of the TCESC hosts Prep Bowl Tournaments for their districts.