Opoku Ware School (OWASS) came into the grade finale of the 2025 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) as favourites, having dominated all their contests throughout the competition.

As an added advantage, their contestants are all returnees, with their lead, Stephen, having competed since first year.

The pressure to deliver was high, with much expectation placed on the experienced OWASS team.

When it mattered most, they crumbled, and defending champions Mfantsipim School (Kwabotwe) were there to collect the pieces.

The Cape Coast giants came into the contest with one goal, to defend their title and defend it, they did!

They dominated the contest from start to finish, and OWASS could only watch on as the now back-to-back champions and their rivals St Augustine’s College (AUGUSCO) battled for bragging rights.

AUGUSCO fought hard and took the game to the wire.

But in the end, Mfantsipim wanted it most and proved same in the final round of the contest, they answered three of four riddles posed to all three schools simultaneously and carried the day with a margin that would seem unfair to AUGUSCO, having competed better than the scores reflect.

The final round featured riddles and the second question had chichinga, a Ghanaian label for barbecue on a stick, as one of the clues. The answer was charcoal.

The final question required the contestants to solve a riddle with clues being a something which featured sequences, the answer to that was “an argument”.

“Madam, you are an argument,” the Mfantsipim contestant said, sealing their glory.