On Saturday, January 28th, 9 cadets from the NJROTC Academics Team visited Gaither High School to participate in the State Brain Brawl Competition. This is the first State competition that North Port has competed in, and we were lucky to be one of the lucky 32 competitors to participate in this competition.

Competitors were introduced to a new Brain Brawl system developed by Commander Patrick Thurman, which hasn’t been used prior to this round. As with most Brain Brawls, competitors were divided into 2 teams.

Team 1 consisted of Cadets Kevyn Dufresne, Austin Nottingham, Jordan Wager, and Aaliyah Floyd.

Team 2 included Cadets Isaiah Owens, Alicia Stewart, Danny Gonzalez, and Lauren Wolfe.

The competition began at 8:30 AM after a short brief at 8:00.  There were 32 teams in attendance from all around the state of Florida. Each team participates in 3 rounds before lunch, when the top 24 teams continue on into the afternoon.  Right after Lunch ends at around 1, the top competitor from the top 16 teams competes in an individual competition called “Brawlstars”. One of our cadets, Kevyn Dufresne, went on to win a 3rd place bronze metal in this intense competition. Team 2 was unfortunately knocked out of the competition, but Team 1 continued on through a hard-fought afternoon, securing a respectable 7th place in the statewide competition.

We are all very proud of the hard work and dedication that our cadets did to get to this point, and we wish them luck at a successful season next year!