Lafayette County’s Alex Dyer buzzes in on a tossup in their Round 12 game against Skyline, at the 2025 Small School National Championship Tournament in Rosemont, Ill. (Photo by Kyle Hill, KMMO News)

The Lafayette County Scholar Bowl team is still in the running for a national title, following a late rally in their final preliminary match Saturday, April 26 in Chicago.

Trailing by 45 points with two minutes to go, the Huskers claimed the last three tossups and added 50 bonus points to overtake Lawton-Bronson, Iowa, 200-160, securing the sixth win required to clinch a playoff spot at the Small School National Championship Tournament. Lafayette County found themselves in a must-win position after losses after lunch to Plymouth, N.H. and cross-state rivals Skyline. The Huskers relied on balanced scoring to wrap up Saturday with a 6-4 mark, led by junior Marshall Ridinger with 39.15 points per 20 tossups heard, and sophomore Alex Dyer with 32.55.

The Huskers start the double-elimination playoffs with the 36th seed, and will start the day against Mayfield, N.Y. A win and the Huskers will face the undefeated fourth-seed Russell A of Ky., while a loss has them in an elimination contest against either Galena, Ill. or Woodbine, Ia.

As a whole, Missouri tied a record set last year with 10 teams in the playoffs. The complete list of how Missouri teams fared in the preliminary rounds are as follows:

Traditional Public Division
Hallsville 9-1
Park Hills Central 9-1
Weaubleau 8-2
Bayless B 7-3
Skyline 7-3
Bayless A 6-4
Eldon 6-4
Houston 6-4
Lafayette County 6-4
Orchard Farm 5-5
Schuyler County 5-5
Brentwood 3-7
Bayless C 1-9

Open Division
New Heights Christian A 9-1
New Heights Christian B 0-10