Calvary Church wins 2021 Teen and Junior titles, first time in AG Bible Quiz history; Atlanta Tamil Church wins Challenger Division in playoff

By Robert Carter

Note: This update of our original story includes corrections and adjustments to the Challenger Division individual standings that were made later Thursday afternoon.

ST. LOUIS, MO — Calvary Church of Naperville, Illinois has a long and storied history in all levels of Assemblies of God Bible Quiz, both Teen and Junior versions. But at the 2021 Teen National Finals, they did something that their BQ ministry had not done before, and in the process did something that no other church has done before. (Good two-part question in the making, eh?)

Naperville’s teen team, coached by Jolene Papendick Powell and consisting of four of her children, took the title with 17 wins and two losses, including two crucial victories on the final day of play Thursday to seal the championship. They finished two games clear of the Deeper Church “Ponraj Family” team from Burien, Washington and Central Assembly of Houston, Pennsylvania, who tied each other with a 15-4 record. Burien takes second place overall by virtual of a head-to-head tiebreaker, thanks to their 200-75 win over Houston in Round 7.

Trinity Church of Cedar Hill, Texas’ #1 team placed fourth with a 14-5 mark. Two other family teams tied with 13-6 records, with the Ramsey family of Springfield, Missouri taking fifth place over the Brookbanks of Colorado Springs, Colorado thanks to a 125-75 head-to-head win in Round 2.

The Challenger Division title came down to a playoff match, as Atlanta Tamil Church of Norcross, Georgia made the playoff on the very last question of the 19th and last game in round robin play. With two teams tied at 16-2, they then went immediately into the playoff game against Living Waters Bible Church of San Diego, California, and won the trophy with a 155-70 victory.

Braeswood Assembly of Houston, Texas was third with a 15-3 record. Lexington (Kentucky) First Assembly was fourth at 14-4, and The Bridge from Mustang, Oklahoma took fifth with a 13-5 record.

In the individual quizzer standings of the Championship Division, Zachary Ponraj of Burien emerged at the top, but it was down to the wire. Ponraj score 2,140 points in 19 rounds, beating out Joshua Barajas of Cedar Hill by just 30 points. The two were tied going into the final game, with Barajas scoring 120 points in the tilt against the Ramseys. But Ponraj played to absolute perfection — literally — with five correct questions and a perfect 150-point quiz-out in his team’s win over Journey Life Church of Holt, Michigan. Ponraj and Barajas each had 16 quiz-outs, but Ponraj had a slightly better conversion percentage, answering 83% attempted questions correctly compared to Barajas’ 81%.

Samuel Jebaraj of Bethel Church, San Jose, California placed third with 1,985 points. Shreanna Powell of Naperville was third with 1,975 points, and Nigus Dawit of Word of Life Assembly in Springfield, Virginia came in fifth with 1,955 points.

In the Challenger Division, Gideon Thomas of Lakeview Church in Indianapolis was the top individual scorer. He tallied 2,120 points over 18 rounds of play for an average of 111.6 points per game, plus 16 quiz-outs and an 86% conversion percentage. Precious Cyrus-David of Houston Braeswood was second with 2,015 points, Kyli Ladd of Open Bible Church in Rapid City, South Dakota placed third with 1,810 points, Elizibeth Li of San Diego took fourth with 1,780 points, and Shreya Joy of Atlanta Indian Prayer Fellowship in Marietta, Georgia was fifth with 1,755 points.

Thursday’s competition concludes with the Individual Tournament, where quizzers compete on their own against three other quizzers in a bracket-format playoff. The 2021 National Finals ends with Friday evening’s awards ceremony at the Renaissance Airport Hotel in St. Louis.

CHAMPION DIVISION TEAM FINAL STANDINGS

Pos	Team / Church	W / L	Pts	Avg	Q/O
1	Calvary Church “J,” Naperville, IL	17/2	4030	212.1	34
2	Deeper Church “Ponraj Family”, Burien, WA	15/4	3880	204.2	31
3	Central Assembly, Houston, PA	15/4	3310	174.2	23
4	Trinity Church #1, Cedar Hill, TX	14/5	3525	185.5	29
5	Ramsey Family, Springfield, MO	13/6	3245	170.8	27
6	Colorado Springs, CO Assembly “The Brookbanks”	13/6	3335	175.5	26
7	Trinity Church “Terrifying Sights,” Cedar Hill, TX	12/7	2475	130.3	19
8	Redeemer Church, Utica, NY	12/7	2880	151.6	23
9	Bethel Church, San Jose, CA	10/9	3110	163.7	24
10	Living Hope Church, Swedesboro, NJ	9/10	2315	121.8	17
11	Calvary Church “S,” Naperville, IL	9/10	2310	121.6	18
12	Radiant Life Church, Dublin, OH	8/11	2395	126	15
13	Journey Life Church, Holt, MI	8/11	2075	109.2	14
14	Bellevue Church, Bellevue, WA	7/12	2175	114.5	13
15	Cedar Park Church, Bothell, WA	7/12	2180	114.7	15
16	Carolinas Christian Assembly, Charlotte, NC	6/13	1895	99.7	14
17	Word of Life Assembly, Springfield, VA	6/13	2625	138.2	20
18	First at Firewheel, Garland, TX	5/14	2200	115.8	18
19	CrossPoint AG, Portage, WI	3/16	1265	66.6	4
20	New Life Assembly, Sparta, WI	1/18	1315	69.2	8

CHAMPIONSHIP INDIVIDUALS

Pos	Quizzer	Team / Church	Pts	Avg	Q/O
1	Zachary Ponraj	Deeper Church, Burien, WA	2140	112.6	16
2	Joshua Barajas	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	2110	111.1	16
3	Samuel Jebaraj	Bethel Church, San Jose, CA	1985	104.5	16
4	Shreanna Powell	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	1975	103.9	16
5	Nigus Dawit	Word of Life Assembly, Springfield, VA	1955	102.9	15
6	Cameron Ramsey	Ramsey Family, Springfield, MO	1745	91.8	12
7	Seth Robertson	Central Assembly, Houston, PA	1665	87.6	12
8	Sheldon Powell	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	1655	87.1	17
9	Camden Haney	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	1610	84.7	12
10	Toby Hill	Living Hope Church, Swedesboro, NJ	1580	83.2	10
11	Rachel Brookbank	The Brookbanks, Colorado Springs, CO	1535	80.8	10
12	Jayden Nimako	Radiant Life Church, Dublin, OH	1525	80.3	10
13	Sam Clinston	Bellevue Church, Bellevue, WA	1490	78.4	12
14	Shawn Timothy	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	1445	76.1	9
15	Alex Jarrell	Cedar Park Church, Bothell, WA	1320	69.5	10
16	Kaitlyn Ramsey	Ramsey Family, Springfield, MO	1305	68.7	15
17	Darcie Harr	Journey Life Church, Holt, MI	1305	68.7	6
18	Zane Brown	First at Firewheel, Garland, TX	1245	65.5	13
19	Graham Hoffmann	Redeemer Church, Utica, NY	1180	62.1	12
20	Christian Stevens	Redeemer Church, Utica, NY	1080	56.8	9
21	Jehosh Jebaraj	Carolinas Christian Assembly, Charlotte, NC	1025	53.9	9
22	Noah Claunch	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	1015	53.4	11
23	Hadassah Brookbank	The Brookbanks, Colorado Springs, CO	1010	53.2	8
24	Cole Abbott	New Life Assembly, Sparta, WI	970	51.1	8
25	Joanne Ramesh	First at Firewheel, Garland, TX	950	50	5
26	Simeon Ponraj	Deeper Church, Burien, WA	915	48.2	10
27	Emma Schoessow	CrossPoint AG, Portage, WI	895	47.1	4
28	Hansel John	Bethel Church, San Jose, CA	885	46.6	7
29	Logan Webb	Central Assembly, Houston, PA	870	45.8	5
30	Elaina Ponraj	Deeper Church, Burien, WA	845	44.5	5
31	Josiah Brookbank	The Brookbanks, Colorado Springs, CO	825	43.4	8
32	Harrison Stevens	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	790	41.6	9
33	Amaya Kocher	Central Assembly, Houston, PA	775	40.8	6
34	Janelle Nimako	Radiant Life Church, Dublin, OH	760	40	5
35	Jonathan Mafe	Journey Life Church, Holt, MI	755	39.7	8
36	Micah DeSanto	13 Living Hope Swedesboro, NJ	740	38.9	7
37	Emily Thomas	Carolinas Christian Assembly, Charlotte, NC	715	37.6	5
38	Josi Haugo	Cedar Park Church, Bothell, WA	605	31.8	4
39	Seth Christopher	Word of Life Assembly, Springfield, VA	570	30	5
40	Elizabeth Godavarthi	Bellevue Church, Bellevue, WA	445	23.4	1
41	Aaron Hoffmann	Redeemer Church, Utica, NY	420	22.1	2
42	Joseph Barajas	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	410	21.6	4
43	Joy Escobar	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	360	18.9	3
44	Shaymis Powell	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	355	18.7	1
45	Bryce Helgerson	New Life Assembly, Sparta, WI	350	18.4
46	Ava Schoessow	CrossPoint AG, Portage, WI	305	16.1
47	Krysle John	Bethel Church, San Jose, CA	270	14.2	1
48	Julia Sullivan	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	265	13.9	2
49	Lilli Haugo	Cedar Park Church, Bothell, WA	255	13.4	1
50	Glory Stevens	Redeemer Church, Utica, NY	215	11.3
	Ryan Matta	Bellevue Church, Bellevue, WA	215	11.3
51	Alyssa Ramsey	Ramsey Family, Springfield, MO	195	10.3
52	Elijah Lee	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	145	7.6
53	Jacob Thomas	Carolinas Christian Assembly, Charlotte, NC	140	7.4
54	Abel Karthik	Radiant Life Church, Dublin, OH	125	6.6
55	Aulora Sullivan	Trinity Church, Cedar Hill TX	100	5.3
	David Kwabi-Addo	Word of Life Assembly, Springfield, VA	100	5.3
56	Maddie Clements	CrossPoint AG, Portage, WI	65	3.4
57	Shaylee Powell	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	60	3.2
58	Reagan Stevens	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	55	2.9
59	Avinash Poguluri	Bellevue Church, Bellevue, WA	50	2.6
60	Cierra Convis	Journey Life Church, Holt, MI	35	1.8
61	Pierce Stevens	Calvary Church, Naperville, IL	20	1.1
62	Ndubueze Echefu	First at Firewheel, Garland, TX	15	0.8
	Eric Carty	Living Hope Church, Swedesboro, NJ	15	0.8
	Jerusha Jebaraj	Carolinas Christian Assembly, Charlotte, NC	15	0.8

Challenger Division stats to be posted shortly.