Middletown High School’s academic team came out on top when they took a trip to Baltimore for a televised match.

The team is led by MHS history teacher John Kirkendall, science teacher David Thomas and seniors Jan Michalowski, Isaac Hoehn and Collin Fields.

This match was on the state level, where Middletown went up against state teams Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and Bel Air. Usually the teams play on a county level, making the competitiveness all the more thrilling. “Isaac was on fire,” said Academic team co-leader John Kirkendall.

Hoehn said the team had a “rough start” on Saturday, “but it was exciting to see us come back at the end.”

Last year Middletown lost to Urbana in the first round and Urbana later went all the way. “It feels good to start out on top,” said Thomas.

This match doesn’t affect the teams regular season but, because they won, the team will be playing another match like this in February, in the city of Baltimore.

The event will be televised November 21st on WJZ Baltimore.