Oak Hall dominated the Florida State Scholastic Tournament in Orlando this past weekend, winning six of the six sections the Eagles entered. 

Eagles coach Tim Tusing said the Oak Hall Chess Club made history as the first team to win six sections. It’s the 19th year in a row that the chess club returns with a team championship and brings the club’s total state championships to 35.   

Two Oak Hall players also earned the top individual spots in their sections, crowning the state champions. For the K1 Championship, Suraj Jani defeated teammate Hayden Webb for the title. Jani ended the tournament 5-0, and Webb finished 4-1. 

The K1 team also earned first place with teammates Gary Fernandes in fifth place and Milan Agarwal in ninth. 

Celine Chen won the K3 Championship with an undefeated run. Fellow Eagles James McDonald (eighth individual) and Addison Baumstark (10th individual) joined Chen to earn the team title as well, with the closest competitors five points behind. 

In the K5 Championship, Sophie Li earned third place with a 4-1 record and the team took gold. Four other Oak Hall players broke into the top 11 places for this section, with Damian Alexander in fifth, Akash Jani in sixth, Ishir Kumar in 10th and Henry Thomas in 11th. 

The other three victories for Oak Hall came in the under sections. These sections are open to anyone in the grades with a rating under a certain number. Ratings are used in chess to show the player’s strength.  

Before heading to the state championships, Tusing told Mainstreet that each under section would be a tossup, and the matches proved close.  

In the K3 Under 600 rating section, Oak Hall pulled ahead of Audubon Elementary by half a point. Eagles Aiden Kropp and Stella King led the team with sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively.   

In the K5 Under 700 rating section, Oak Hall tied for first place against Lake Highland Preparatory School. Since Oak Hall won against higher-rated players, the Eagles earned the top spot. 

The section takes players in fifth grade and below, and Oak Hall featured a young team. The Moguillansky brothers, first grader Daniel and fourth grader Julian, led the team with four wins each. Second grader Nora Thomas and kindergartener Harry McLellan both scored 2.5 points to round out the team.  

In the K8 Under 1000 rating section, the largest of the events, Oak Hall tied with Miami Country Day and Divine Savior Academy. But the Eagles won tie breakers to keep first place.  

Second grader Andy Fu earned four wins for the team followed by fourth grader Ryder Davenport, second grader Teddy Mawdsley and third grader Myka Solberg and third grader Jack Eisenmenger with three wins and a draw each. 

Asher Austin, Nico Vu and Ayuna Phillips followed just behind with three wins apiece.