Chess club checks competition

Sparta — The Sparta Chess Club won the eighth and tenth grade state championship titles at the New Jersey Grade Level Championships. These represent the fourth and fifth titles for the club in the last three years. The eighth graders were led by the duo of Scott Vander Veen and Colby Isenberg, assisted by Natasha Sica, Joe Giacobbe and John Irwin. Vander Veen was cited for excellent play. Steven Matchett won four games to pace the tenth graders. His teammates were Kyle Ross and Bryce Bartling. Matchett received the second place individual award. The remainder of the club was not far behind, with trophies won by the first graders at Helen Morgan, the fifth graders at Mohawk Avenue and the sixth and seventh graders at Sparta Middle School. There are currently over 100 children playing at both Helen Morgan and Alpine Schools, since the club started its program in October. The club entered teams in grades 1-4 from each school. Brian Mason, Katie Irwin and Keith Johnson placed second in the first grade championship. Dillon Mendel (fourth grade) and John Mooney (third grade) received awards for individual effort. Other participants include Griffin Mendel, Max Carlson, Matt DeRitter, Rebecca Wiltshire, Ravi Malik, Tim Clauss, Veronica Labelle, Jason Levalley, Matt Davis, Harry Tanzola and Allison Sledge. The Mohawk Avenue team placed second and Michael Mooney and Ian Clark received awards for their efforts. Adam Banatt and Sean Decker completed the team. Patrick Mooney, Luke Giugliano, Sasha Jouravlev each won three games for the sixth graders. Mooney and Giugliano were given individual awards. Eryk Banatt was also on the team. The seventh grade team was led by Chris Avarella, assisted by Brian DeRitter, Nicki Schluter, Robert Tessier and Eric Jordan. Avarella was cited for outstanding play.