Four Horace Mann history buffs beat the opposing Sissonville team by two points, with a close final score of 23-21. This was the second year the two teams made it to the final round in the third annual West Virginia State History Bowl.

Sissonville took top honors at the regional tournament last year, defeating the Horace Mann runner-up team. They went on to win second place in the state finals.

"They're both very good teams. Last year Sissonville won so it's interesting this year they got to swap. They battled it out and they've got a real good chance at state," said Bryan Ward, assistant director of Archives and History at the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, which hosts the bowl.

"For me, as a former teacher, its' exciting to see how excited they get and the effort they put in to learning about West Virginia's history. It's very rewarding and fun."

Eighth-graders in public, private and home-school education programs were eligible to compete on the four-person teams in double-elimination tournament play held at Horace Mann Elementary School in Kanawha City.

The winning team and runner-up team from each of the eight West Virginia Regional Education Service Agency districts will compete at the state level in April.

Horace Mann winners -- Zane Lewis, Isaac Liu, Mary Keeton Lane and Hattie Rowe -- said they are excited to compete at the state competition and are prepared to study even more. To get ready for the History Bowl, the four eighth graders said they used flashcards, quizzed each other daily and studied a binder full of state facts that their coach helped them organize.

Sissonville student Kelli McClanahan, said she studied maps and travel guides with her fellow teammates -- Allison Hayes, Ethan Laucharc and Regan Sands - to get ready for the tournament.

"We learned a lot just studying as we walked down the hall [during school]," McClanahan said. "We would also meet after school every day for an hour to study."

The West Virginia History Bowl features questions about the state's history, culture, heritage, tourism and people. The staff of the Archives and History Section of the WV Division of Culture and History compiles the questions with help from the West Virginia Division of Tourism.

Participants are encouraged to study the more than 1,600 questions available on the Division's website for daily trivia questions, quick quizzes and a Golden Horseshoe study guide as helpful tools.

Answers to questions at Saturday's competition ranged from Mothman and The Greenbrier to The Strawberry Festival and Jerry West. As WV Division of Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith read each question aloud, the nearly 30 onlookers, including parents, coaches and teachers alike, held their breath and then let out a sigh of relief when their prospective team answered correctly.

Each eighth-grader who competed in the competition gets a $100 savings bond and certificate, with the idea that they will save the money for a higher education, hopefully in state, said Caryn Gresham, Deputy Commissioner at the WV Division of Culture and History.

Teams from Andrew Jackson, George Washington and Charleston Catholic middle schools also competed Saturday.

Both winning teams will advance to the April 24 state championship held at the Culture Center on the State Capitol Complex in Charleston.

Reach Megan Workman at megan.work...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.